Demos

[siddhu]

what if i had a passion for cutting hair? would you suggest i don't become a hairdresser because passion and business don't go together?

why is music any different?

i want to make a living from music, so does that make me a sellout with no passion for music?

Very well put!

[steevio]

all this talk of business etc. makes me queasy, not because i think business should be totally divorced from music, but because when it comes to demos, theres only one thing that matters and thats the quality of the music. period.

i really dont care how a demo is packaged.

almost all of the artists ive released on my label were unknown beginners at the time of their releases, and have gone on to be successful artists, recording on various higher profile labels.

the point being, i recognised these guys talents years before they broke through, why ? because they were real musicians, they couldnt fail.

so the fact that they all gave me scratched, white CDs with barely legible names scrawled on and shoved in my pocket at various parties, could not stop these guys succeeding in the end.

if you've got real talent, and are a REAL musician, nothing can stop you.

if you really think you have to tart your demos up and have to treat the whole thing as a business to get anywhere, then you've already failed.
if you think thats harsh, i only mean it in the sense that you have to believe in yourself and your music.

the music speaks for itself. ALWAYS

[oblioblioblio]

I don't understand this complete aversion to business, as if it's a dirty word. I guess it conjures up images of stuffy old business men that just "don't get it".

The simple facts are that fans are customers and labels have tracks to sell to them. Somebody has to pay the electric bill to keep the operation going. And furthermore labels have to pay employees who then in turn have their own bills to pay so it makes sense that the label needs to turn some sort of profit to keep everything going. So they have to care about sales or they're just going to flop, and if they're doing something cool that'd be sad.

I mean, take a look at Ghostly, they place a huge emphasis on being all about the music and having thoughtful design/art. And they're doing well, because the simple fact is that they know who they are, what they aren't, and how to leverage that. That's business as well. I think they're probably the best example I can come up with that most people know about that illustrates a successful mix of business & passion.

I'm not saying that money should be the end goal, because it isn't. It's a part of reality you have to deal with so you can chase your goals.

This song pretty much illustrates my opinions.

very well explained, i have been saying this but you just summed it up.

Business is not evil. You love your music, the label loves it and the customers.fans love it = you make money.
And surely everyone here wants to make a living making music. Being able to sit in a room all day and night making beats and weird sounds.
I really dont understand the hippy bs. so you want to work stacking shelfs in tesco and make music no one listens to or wants. Does seem right to me. That somes a lack of passion for something.
If you are passionate about your music it means you must think it is good enough that people will like it and buy it.

i didn't say making money from music was bad.

i just think there is a level of balance that needs to be respected. music comes from a different source than just trying to make ends meet, or trying to earn cash. Music comes from the soul.

i made some of the best music i ever made stacking shelves in tesco. which i feel is another important point. all the musicians that have been seduced by the high profile music world have lost their soul. you gotta stay connected with how life really is. sniffing cocaine from your ibiza residency booth isn't how deep and moving music is made. That lifestyle stops you from being conscious.

Someone like Jay Haze is a good example of this. That guy left his comfortable Berlin lifestyle to travel the slums of South America. Seeing how the world is really like. That is music.

Sure, you need some motivation, structure, blah blah blah. And yeah, sometimes great music has been supported by people looking to make profit.

[steevio]

so true. As i say the hippies have it all wrong taking about organic food while there shoving acid in their fat little mouths. IRONY!!!!!
lol

yeah eating healthily and expanding your mind is really hypocritical isnt it.

probably the most ignorant comment ive ever read on this forum.

[datalus]

all this talk of business etc. makes me queasy, not because i think business should be totally divorced from music, but because when it comes to demos, theres only one thing that matters and thats the quality of the music. period.

i really dont care how a demo is packaged.

almost all of the artists ive released on my label were unknown beginners at the time of their releases, and have gone on to be successful artists, recording on various higher profile labels.

the point being, i recognised these guys talents years before they broke through, why ? because they were real musicians, they couldnt fail.

so the fact that they all gave me scratched, white CDs with barely legible names scrawled on and shoved in my pocket at various parties, could not stop these guys succeeding in the end.

if you've got real talent, and are a REAL musician, nothing can stop you.

if you really think you have to tart your demos up and have to treat the whole thing as a business to get anywhere, then you've already failed.
if you think thats harsh, i only mean it in the sense that you have to believe in yourself and your music.

the music speaks for itself. ALWAYS

So true. This is the post that you should internalize

[::BLM::]

I don't understand this complete aversion to business, as if it's a dirty word. I guess it conjures up images of stuffy old business men that just "don't get it".

The simple facts are that fans are customers and labels have tracks to sell to them. Somebody has to pay the electric bill to keep the operation going. And furthermore labels have to pay employees who then in turn have their own bills to pay so it makes sense that the label needs to turn some sort of profit to keep everything going. So they have to care about sales or they're just going to flop, and if they're doing something cool that'd be sad.

I mean, take a look at Ghostly, they place a huge emphasis on being all about the music and having thoughtful design/art. And they're doing well, because the simple fact is that they know who they are, what they aren't, and how to leverage that. That's business as well. I think they're probably the best example I can come up with that most people know about that illustrates a successful mix of business & passion.

I'm not saying that money should be the end goal, because it isn't. It's a part of reality you have to deal with so you can chase your goals.

This song pretty much illustrates my opinions.

very well explained, i have been saying this but you just summed it up.

Business is not evil. You love your music, the label loves it and the customers.fans love it = you make money.
And surely everyone here wants to make a living making music. Being able to sit in a room all day and night making beats and weird sounds.
I really dont understand the hippy bs. so you want to work stacking shelfs in tesco and make music no one listens to or wants. Does seem right to me. That somes a lack of passion for something.
If you are passionate about your music it means you must think it is good enough that people will like it and buy it.

i didn't say making money from music was bad.

i just think there is a level of balance that needs to be respected. music comes from a different source than just trying to make ends meet, or trying to earn cash. Music comes from the soul.

i made some of the best music i ever made stacking shelves in tesco. which i feel is another important point. all the musicians that have been seduced by the high profile music world have lost their soul. you gotta stay connected with how life really is. sniffing cocaine from your ibiza residency booth isn't how deep and moving music is made. That lifestyle stops you from being conscious.

Someone like Jay Haze is a good example of this. That guy left his comfortable Berlin lifestyle to travel the slums of South America. Seeing how the world is really like. That is music.

Sure, you need some motivation, structure, blah blah blah. And yeah, sometimes great music has been supported by people looking to make profit.

You cant use Jay Haze as an example though as he has made a ton of money and got his career to a stage where it doesnt matter where he lives. At some point he has thought about business for sure, which has now enabled him to live his life.

[oblioblioblio]

You cant use Jay Haze as an example though as he has made a ton of money and got his career to a stage where it doesnt matter where he lives. At some point he has thought about business for sure, which has now enabled him to live his life.

this subject is pretty complicated and there's too much tangents.

i think Jay Haze works well in the example of keeping a balance in your life. It's pretty likely he's gonna be making interesting music and living a full life.

Whereas all the guys who have been seduced by big cheques from Ibiza etc, and putting out records just to make cash, well I can't really imagine that I'd be even 1% interested in what they're doing.

[::BLM::]

Who are you talking about? Apart from Luciano who has been getting been getting big cheques?

Its such a werid topic... we pretend that we would do the right thing, but then if someone told us we would get x amount of money for doing something a little out of our comfort zone who would really say no? I heard Luciano got around 1 million. Thats a life changing amount of money, which i think would be hard to say no too.