Do you have to be unapproachable to have success in music?

I see this trend that people are getting more and more unapproachable the more they are successful in music. why is that? Is it to make people focused on your product instead of your person? What do you think?

i guess suffering fools gladly can get tiresome and having a name for yourself means you will attract a lot of fools wether you like it or not

i find if you talk to famous folk like a regular dude and show your not full if shit or have an dodgy motive (ie press) then you'll get the defence sheild down and see more of the real person but then again some famous folk simply dont have the time

Yeah, I think it's the other way around, being very succesfull in music makes you less aproachable to a certain extent.

No, you just need to be good at what you do, understand how to utilise it, compromise, but be true to what you believe in.

You just wouldn't have the time to respond to everything being pitched at you. You either draw an arbitrary line and upset some people, or simply stop responding. Though every now and then it's probably good PR to buck this trend; pop out of the woodwork with personal messages or blog posts, as that'd create a stir, I'm sure.

But if you're lucky enough to create a buzz with your music, then the worst thing would be to step in with humility; give the myth-machine some room to work. Most of us don't have that luxury though, and need to be seen keeping busy with tweets/blog posts etc., or risk being forgotten about completely.

I always thought that anyone who enjoys producing music in a room for hours on end by themselves would be less likely to be intensely extroverted individuals, whether successful or not. I think the loss of anonymity is akin to the loss of a loved one... or so I would suppose it to be..

are you an annoying watmm fanboy? do your myspace messages to your favorite idm superstar go unanswered? if so, this might help:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/07/how-to-network-with-busy-people/

i remember Laurent Garnier used to respond to everyone he could on his site

theres no excuse to be an arshole imho especially when you depend on a fanbase to put bread on the table and generally I've been told by promoters that most medium famous folk are ok except the bloke from 16bit who is a complete dick

I guess in a way they become unapproachable if they feel pressure that you want something from them. Better to come from a non fan boy vibe like just being friendly. Giving good energy and not sucking it away if that makes sense.

Publicity has its atrocious sides especially with all the media provided today. I for one would like to avoid that until the very end and let the music speak for itself. But I see a lot of good posts above and I'm sure they are all correct.

There was also this rather lengthy quote which pretty much said that the lonely (and introverted?) soul is the best artist. I think it was by some classical musician, but I can't remember who.

i think one gets tired of the same banal questions and so on from every person (s)he meets; if good music only attracted good people this issue wouldn't exist

I think celebrity of any sort (major and minor) brings a lot of shit with it. If everyone wants a piece of you won't have enough to go around, especially if you're approached when hanging out with friends and family. I suppose it's the unfortunate fact that many people would feel like they know you intimately through your output which often means a great deal to them, but to you they're just total strangers.

I don't think that being unapproachable has any beneficial effect in the music industry. As your notoriety grows more people will recognize you and likely want your attention; but, as has been said, one person only has so much attention to give and must make a choice regarding who or what to devote their time to. Just don't be a fucking dick about it.

On the other hand, being sociable and befriending people is one of the best ways to be successful in music. Good music is usually mandatory as well. I imagine some people here have the romantic perception that being a genius musician is enough to be successful and people will recognize their talent and approach them with little to no effort. The more likely scenario is that you will need to actively communicate and help people, build up a network of relations and be generous in order to be successful. This seems to be true in almost any pursuit.