Competition and Music
I shouldn’t REALLY read the Washington Post. A bastion of good reporting, after the Trump election I feel like it’s spiraled in on itself as a self-referential, liberal echo chamber that can have five articles on their front page about how Trump’s media coverage allowed him to run for president, media coverage allowed him to WIN the presidency, media coverage really ought to be steered away from every little tweet because it’s empowering Trump and about Trump’s latest tweet – without at ALL grasping the oxymoron involved.
However, in a spurt of support for real reporting we got a subscription, and thanks to Amazon’s ease of payment system and digital delivery, we haven’t figured out how to kill it again, and here we are, more than two years later thinking we really ought to subscribe to something else the MOMENT we figure out how to shut THIS subscription off but OH there’s the bill again we ought to do something about that…
So, though I agree with a LOT of what the Post posts, in general I know I’d rather be ingesting something that at least PRETENDS to be a bit more centrist… but in the meantime I keep reading…
“If you believe that music is the greatest thing that human beings ever came up with, then a night when everyone across this country listens to the same music should feel something like fun. Yet somehow, Grammy night remains cruel, or at least unusual — even when it’s as passable and semi-coherent as the one we just experienced. But as the dust settles, here’s one way to know that the Grammys are still pure madness: The most clarifying, truth-to-power moment of Sunday night’s telecast belonged to Drake.”
Chris Richards (Washington Post – 2/11/19)
Whut whut? Music news? I’ll read more! Even if it’s Drake saying it :
“I wanna take this opportunity while I’m up here to just talk to all the kids that are watching this that are aspiring to do music, all my peers that make music from their heart, that do things pure and tell the truth. I wanna let you know we’re playing an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport. So it’s not the NBA, where at the end of the year you’re holding a trophy because you made the right decisions or won the games… If you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown — look, look — if there’s people who have regular jobs, who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows? You don’t need this right here. I promise you. You already won.”
Drake
Apparently at this point Drake was then cut off, shut down, muted and moved along.
Now, I have little affection for Drake (and Chris Richards takes the opportunity, in the midst of highlighting the positivity of these words to STILL call him a “sayer of only the sweetest nothings, the most obsequious superstar that rap may ever know”) as a small-time singer/songwriter that I knew with the same name (by birth) got sued out of existence for copyright infringement by this corporate monolith, but man – those are words that need to be heard.
Our industry, from the coffeehouse open mic on up to the Grammys, has this built-in uncomfortable battle going on where you’re SUPPOSED to be supportive of your scene and you’re SUPPOSED to be supportive of other artists, but you are also frankly encouraged to compete with them in songwriting contests, beat them in popularity contests, undermine them to keep the best gigs to yourself – it’s a horrific industry and getting into the business of music is NOT for the faint of heart. It’s very, very easy to get wrapped up in tastemakers’ opinions, the winning or losing of contests, getting picked last or not getting picked at all.
“I wanna let you know we’re playing an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport.”
That’s fucking HUGE.
This from the president of SAW after announcing the results of the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest :
“Nothing bothers me more about song contests than this aspect of judgement and exclusion that comes from picking “winners” … If this process was too discouraging, then, by all means, don’t enter song contests anymore. But songwriting is an essential part of our modern culture and your songs are a voice that should not be silenced or cowed by an award outcome. To the winners I say, congratulations and keep working. To those who didn’t win I say, thank you and keep working. I don’t know all the winners personally but the one’s I do know are all people who have been turned down, ignored, passed over in this and other contests in past years… There is much to be learned and some comfort in relating to other writers who struggle with the task of turning noises and words into songs that have meaning and melody. But if SAW is your disappointment then leave us behind. Just keep writing. Keep finding ways to show and perform your songs.”
Jay Keating (President SAW | Director of MASC)
That message – I don’t care if you leave THIS – but keep creating because it’s IMPORTANT – winning’s not important, striving is – Living is – isn’t something that’s heard enough. I struggle with it every day, and the struggle only gets harder as I try to equate what I’ve DONE with what I WILL do and balance it all with what I AM doing…
Ha – really, I’m just reminding myself that I plan to actually enter some contests again soon and I’m gearing my brain up to be rejected, passed over, picked last… or not picked at all… all the while having to deny some people bookings and run a contest and find a comfortable balance point within the system…
