Getting Really Depressed When People Who Just Started Making Music Get Famous

  On 3/1/2010 at 11:03 PM, idrn said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 10:54 PM, margaret thatcher said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 10:20 PM, idrn said:

WTFJIMMYRECORDS

 

oh good lord i remember that. i had a track on yr valentines ep thingy if i remember correctly. "i think i'm alone now". mostly me and a mate sitting on a keyboard, and slightly overdriven drums...

 

geehehehe, good times! were you dj wankfoot? and do you still have it? i dont have any of it anymore... i wanna share "elaborate ploys to get in your pants" with my gf

fuck yeah, i really wanna get the full discography ive lost millions of tracks from that era of my professional career

  On 3/2/2010 at 1:26 AM, Hoodie said:

 

awesome

  On 3/1/2010 at 10:18 PM, Dan C said:

C collab up in this bitch.

Alcofribas C "LOL JIMMY WTF," acid tracks in faux-leather binder.

$75 a track (200 tracks total).

boomkat "the best record of all years. essential purchase. recommended. you should totally get this."

pitchfork: "imagine luke vibert, gloria estefan, marilyn monroe/manson, perry mason, BBD, fred mcgriff go over to thome yorke's palace and are like, "show us your electronic mastery" and johnny greenwood pulls out some gloriously beat-up telecaster and makes sick beats playing with it through max/msp and kid a. the best album in the world is when grizzly bear shows up with panda bear and pedo bear ( )and subtle electronics are placed betwix classic beach boys harmonies (which makes sense b/c obv brian wilson is just over there hanging out with jeff mangum who is just pumping out the next greatest 10/10 record using just a saw and some old crap). then, as though you haven't guessed it, rdj shows up with a 8 pack of beers (where the fuck does he even get this shit?) and just lays down one of the most important 303 bassline beats since eno first started using the studio as an instrument. alcofirbas puts all this in a blender (w/ sandpaper) and does the unspeakable, makes an ambient record that shuns all the tropes of ambient, it's loud, it's sexy, it's hip, it comes with a free pass to PBR, it rides a fixie, it loves pantha du prince, it thinks the leylan kirby 6LP set was rubish, it plays live. 6.7"

NYRB: the best book.

sean both: i wish i were dead after hearing this. *burns ae catalog*

  On 3/1/2010 at 11:23 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

i would think that being able to send your works to the King of Poland, and working in the court of the King of Prussia makes you fairly famous.

 

i.e.:to be famous does not require the majority of the world to love your works, not even by a longshot.

Nope. He wasn't famous. Actually, the work of a musician at the time was a lowly position. And even though he wasn't unknown, he was not FAMOUS.

Now Franz Lizst. That guy was like the first international superstar.

  On 3/2/2010 at 2:15 AM, Braintree said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 11:23 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

i would think that being able to send your works to the King of Poland, and working in the court of the King of Prussia makes you fairly famous.

 

i.e.:to be famous does not require the majority of the world to love your works, not even by a longshot.

 

Nope. He wasn't famous. Actually, the work of a musician at the time was a lowly position. And even though he wasn't unknown, he was not FAMOUS.

 

Now Franz Lizst. That guy was like the first international superstar.

what constitutes famous though? im not really willing to let go that bach was not well-known at his time.

i've thought about this a little, once a while ago when i released some shit and thought my "career" was going to ZOMG TAKEOFF

and then again more recently when i've found myself in a sort of local-ish community of musicians with some opportunities for networking/selfpromo and still remained largely apathetic

my 2 cents:

1. i think it would be great for anyone in this thread who is bumming about popularity to do some dubstep/130-bpm tunes and just see what happens. first of all because you could bring a unique perspective to the genres and maybe actually get some creative shit going therein, but also because writing some purpose-built shit is a good musical exercise (think of all the forms the classical dudes we've mentioned earlier in thread had to conform to, not to mention all the pieces they wrote "for" particular purposes or occasions). i mean, the genre's just a bpm, that's it—do what you want with it

2. my impression is that you will have MUCH, MUCH better luck getting your music heard if you network with people. that's not to say that you should spam them, but if you think about all the music blogs and shit out there—they actually NEED and perhaps even LIKE IT when people contact them out of the blue with promo files, new release info, previews, press, whatever. i mean, they want to get readers, and they need stuff to post. if you aren't total shit then probably someone is going to be interested in covering it.

i totally agree that doing this kind of networking bullshit is majorly painful, and personally i hate it and it makes me feel like shit. but from everyone i've talked to (that is, in real life) about this .. that's how they do it. start up a "label", press up some CD-Rs, get them on store shelves, DJ at a "night", whatever. it's all about becoming a part of some sort of "community", whether real or online, that you can bro-down with.

MP3s are just so worthless at this point. if you think you are going to write a neat electronic tune, upload it somewhere, and then it's gonna happen for you .. well i don't think so. i mean, think of all the wacky underground stuff that is hot these days and it's ALL got some sort of angle to it, whether it's dubstep & grime with tons of dubplates going around, or shit like OneohtrixPN or Ghost Box with "edgy" pseudo-hippie imagery or elaborate packaging or viral videos of fucking psychedelic moss growing or whatever.

EDIT: the point is, do weed and film plants, then fuck with the contrast. mission accomplished

  On 3/2/2010 at 4:18 AM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

  On 3/2/2010 at 2:15 AM, Braintree said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 11:23 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

i would think that being able to send your works to the King of Poland, and working in the court of the King of Prussia makes you fairly famous.

 

i.e.:to be famous does not require the majority of the world to love your works, not even by a longshot.

 

Nope. He wasn't famous. Actually, the work of a musician at the time was a lowly position. And even though he wasn't unknown, he was not FAMOUS.

 

Now Franz Lizst. That guy was like the first international superstar.

 

 

what constitutes famous though? im not really willing to let go that bach was not well-known at his time.

During his life Bach was in high-demand as an organist throughout much of Europe. He wasn't 'famous' as a composer until like the 1800s.

  On 2/28/2010 at 11:55 PM, we_kill_soapscum said:

 

  On 2/28/2010 at 11:53 PM, kaini said:

it's always been the way, and most of these people will be dismissed to the dumpster of history shortly enough, like the flashes in the pan that they are. maybe 5% will go on to have any lasting career or notable impact. remember babylon zoo? no, thought not.

 

 

ill always remember you tho kaini. will you, remember meee?

i'll certainly remember you after this thread ..

bles be young failsure, too young

luv dleetr

;-] :: [-;

(yes, what i said was a nice thing, not a thing, nor a thing)

  On 3/2/2010 at 4:54 AM, Ascdi said:

i've thought about this a little, once a while ago when i released some shit and thought my "career" was going to ZOMG TAKEOFF

 

and then again more recently when i've found myself in a sort of local-ish community of musicians with some opportunities for networking/selfpromo and still remained largely apathetic

 

my 2 cents:

 

1. i think it would be great for anyone in this thread who is bumming about popularity to do some dubstep/130-bpm tunes and just see what happens. first of all because you could bring a unique perspective to the genres and maybe actually get some creative shit going therein, but also because writing some purpose-built shit is a good musical exercise (think of all the forms the classical dudes we've mentioned earlier in thread had to conform to, not to mention all the pieces they wrote "for" particular purposes or occasions). i mean, the genre's just a bpm, that's it—do what you want with it

 

2. my impression is that you will have MUCH, MUCH better luck getting your music heard if you network with people. that's not to say that you should spam them, but if you think about all the music blogs and shit out there—they actually NEED and perhaps even LIKE IT when people contact them out of the blue with promo files, new release info, previews, press, whatever. i mean, they want to get readers, and they need stuff to post. if you aren't total shit then probably someone is going to be interested in covering it.

 

i totally agree that doing this kind of networking bullshit is majorly painful, and personally i hate it and it makes me feel like shit. but from everyone i've talked to (that is, in real life) about this .. that's how they do it. start up a "label", press up some CD-Rs, get them on store shelves, DJ at a "night", whatever. it's all about becoming a part of some sort of "community", whether real or online, that you can bro-down with.

 

MP3s are just so worthless at this point. if you think you are going to write a neat electronic tune, upload it somewhere, and then it's gonna happen for you .. well i don't think so. i mean, think of all the wacky underground stuff that is hot these days and it's ALL got some sort of angle to it, whether it's dubstep & grime with tons of dubplates going around, or shit like OneohtrixPN or Ghost Box with "edgy" pseudo-hippie imagery or elaborate packaging or viral videos of fucking psychedelic moss growing or whatever.

best post in thread, you speak the truth

  On 3/2/2010 at 5:07 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 3/2/2010 at 4:18 AM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

  On 3/2/2010 at 2:15 AM, Braintree said:

  On 3/1/2010 at 11:23 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

i would think that being able to send your works to the King of Poland, and working in the court of the King of Prussia makes you fairly famous.

 

i.e.:to be famous does not require the majority of the world to love your works, not even by a longshot.

 

Nope. He wasn't famous. Actually, the work of a musician at the time was a lowly position. And even though he wasn't unknown, he was not FAMOUS.

 

Now Franz Lizst. That guy was like the first international superstar.

 

 

what constitutes famous though? im not really willing to let go that bach was not well-known at his time.

 

During his life Bach was in high-demand as an organist throughout much of Europe. He wasn't 'famous' as a composer until like the 1800s.

This.

He had plenty of work in his lifetime, but he didn't reach the status he has now until his compositions were rediscovered.

yeah i think the whole idea of an international renowned artist, especially a musician was not really very common before the 1800s

argh, but internationally renowned is only one type of famous.

you can be famous within a country.

anyway, i will yield, because you probably are better versed in music history

ive recently done an essay on the way fame worked with classical composers, and in terms of the way the world works today, no they werent very famous, but its essentially due to the way communication has improved. If you looked at it from a point of view taken at the actual time he was alive, bach was famous as fuck.

also bearing in mind classical music was almost exclusively a pastime of the upper/ruling classes until around the time that liszt and paganini introduced the idea of the musician as a virtuoso, an experience to watch and admire rather than just seeing them as live cd players, as they did in the days prior to beethoven etc.

My link

"Machaut was born c. 1300 and educated in the region around Rheims. Though his surname most likely derives from the nearby town of Machault, 30 km to the east of Rheims in the Ardennes region, most scholars believe his birthplace was in fact Rheims. He was employed as secretary to John I, Count of Luxemburg and King of Bohemia, from 1323 to 1346; in addition he became a priest sometime during this period. Most likely he accompanied King John on his various trips, many of them military expeditions, around Europe (including Prague). He was named as the canon of Verdun in 1330, Arras in 1332 and Rheims in 1337. By 1340 Machaut was living in Rheims, having relinquished his other canonic posts at the request of Pope Benedict XII. In 1346, King John was killed fighting at the Battle of Crécy, and Machaut, who was famous and much in demand, entered the service of various other aristocrats and rulers including King John's daughter Bonne (who died of the Black Death in 1349), her sons Jean de Berry and Charles (later Charles V), Duke of Normandy, and others such as Charles II of Navarre.[1]"

I mean, I agree with you that musicians weren't given a ton of respect, but you can definitely become famous and not be respected at the same time.

  On 3/2/2010 at 6:04 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

 

 

 

I mean, I agree with you that musicians weren't given a ton of respect, but you can definitely become famous and not be respected at the same time.

lady gaga does that

lady gaga is more talented than y'all think. not necessarily music wise. but fame-wise.

also, beethoven was very famous/infamous and had a whole MJ style funeral when he finally passed. big personalities were cool back then too.

soapscum, i think the best way to get respect from other musicians is to keep releasing, keep trying to make some kind of income from your music. keep it pure and true to you and do other stuff for money if that's a big concern of yours. but if you really put the effort in to make a presence and a voice, your music will flourish as a result. (god knows i need to take this advice)

  On 3/2/2010 at 6:53 PM, A/D said:

lady gaga is more talented than y'all think. not necessarily music wise. but fame-wise.

And apparently a fan of Roisin Murphy.

  On 3/2/2010 at 7:07 PM, scones to die for said:

  On 3/2/2010 at 6:53 PM, A/D said:

lady gaga is more talented than y'all think. not necessarily music wise. but fame-wise.

 

And apparently a fan of Roisin Murphy.

A much less attractive fan.

I remember in the show Extras, and I'm paraphrasing here, his agent said something like "You can be rich and famous or maintain your integrity, only a few people can do both and you'll never be one of them."

It's a realistic but oddly encouraging way of looking at things. Just focus on the sincerity of your audience.

Make the music you want to and share it on this or similar forums, try to get a local DJ gig, release something on a small label, get vinyl pressed. The people who will buy your music or listen to it on that level are the ones who will appreciate it more than anyone else. Sure someone like Tiesto is famous, makes a shitload of money off DJing, and arguably a "celebrity" electronic producer. But most of his audience are the same folks who listen to strictly to top 40 radio and downloaded his "techno" songs from limewire.

i think some people have missed the point. i have had a successful monthly, an FM radio show for years, done the CD-R pass out rounds, etc etc. what scares me more than doing nothing and never really making waves is doing all the aforementioned shit and still not really making waves.

if you love what you do, fuck it.

  On 3/2/2010 at 9:53 PM, we_kill_soapscum said:

i think some people have missed the point. i have had a successful monthly, an FM radio show for years, done the CD-R pass out rounds, etc etc. what scares me more than doing nothing and never really making waves is doing all the aforementioned shit and still not really making waves.

throw all your gear away and take up golf. that's what i'm going to do anyway.

sell it and get very nice clubs

  On 3/2/2010 at 11:19 PM, sneaksta303 said:

sell it and get very nice clubs

i'm just going to throw it all into a river in disgust.