Is it "wrong" to want an audience??

[SaltyDogg]

I do all my stuff by myself... I don't have a band and the only friend that ever listens has different musical taste than mine (I would describe his as BAD )

 

I think it is fair to say that any "artist" whether it be a novelist or painter or musician will want some sort of feedback and audience. I used to think if I wanted an audience then the music was somehow impure, an attention-getter or something, but I've come to think it's natural to want feedback.

 

Do you guys think it is natural to want feedback, an audience, some feeling of "support" behind what you're doing?

 

I am second-guessing my dedication. Does the true musician toil away endlessly and not care if the piece is ever heard?

[tamoore]

I think it is important to feel validated for your work in some way.

 

For some people, it's money - for other people, it's praise.

 

I like people to acknowledge my work as quality, regardless of their personal opinion of the style.

[PhunkyPhredv3]

i agree man. i don't want to have ahuge following or make millions andbe a super star.

 

however.. if noone likes or listens to my music, i tend to get angry at it.

 

 

so yeah..even though i just write and play tunes at home..sometimes at an open mic.. i fi don't get a good response.. i get upset.

[ido1957]

That's 99% of the reason I post my tunes on the BBS' - to get feedback. And it's even better when it's good feedback. It give you a goal and something to strive for. You are definitely not alone in your quest.....

 

 

 

[Chicken Monkey]

My personal opinion is that it's "wrong" to not want an audience. If you want to create something purely personal, you should probably get a diary. Art/craft is meant to be recieved.

[catdaddy]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg Do you guys think it is natural to want feedback, an audience, some feeling of "support" behind what you're doing? I am second-guessing my dedication. Does the true musician toil away endlessly and not care if the piece is ever heard?

 

Feedback has the potential to enlighten or enslave. Beware the seductive power of validation by audience! One must find balance between confidence and criticism, applause and apathy, isolation and idolatry. "The true musician" naturally craves an audience but will never despair if one fails to appear.

[Dave Keir]

I've heard it said music is a performing art.

 

I gave up playing in public for a number of years after it having been my job. I thunked I could noodle away happily at home and not bother about the hassle and nervousness of gigging.

 

After I sobered up I realised what I

[spdolan]

IMO, its wrong *NOT* to.

 

Dolan

[Disco Cat]

The joy of anything is to be sharing it with someone and knowing that what you are sensing is true. Therefore, it is a very good thing to want an audience.

Everyone who has a passion for anything also desires the source of that passion to be acknlowedged and confirmed by others. After all, it is the existence of the truth that they've found which they are excited about.

It only makes sense that everyone who is excited about something would want to share their excitement with everyone, because it is the happiness that such a thing exists that gets them excited in the first place.

[JohnnyX]

first, there is no right or wrong in music... second its not wrong to want an audience its only wrong to not GO GET ONE! u sound like me only in the fact u do everything by yourself, so i'm guessing u have a multi trk recorder as i do... my suggestion is make some cds put 2-4 songs on em and sell them for 5-8 bucks. stores will sell them for a fee isnt it worth the fee? a percentage per say. if u get 8 bucks per cd offer them 1.00 -1.50 per.

as long as its your own stuff otherwise u have to get permission to sell other peoples stuff... also for 35.00 a yr CD Baby sells them for u.

 

my suggestion to those who get freaked cause no one responded thats just sad! *laffs.. life is what u make it! if no one responded i would think of how to change it not get upset.

[SixStringAxis]

To be popular you have to want to be great not want to be popular.

[ido1957]

I played to my biggest audience in years last night - my wife, my daughter and her friend (just a couple of tunes). They clapped at the end but I think they were just being kind....lol....

[JohnnyX]

"The true musician" naturally craves an audience but will never despair if one fails to appear.

 

 

You got that right cat!! thats when u want to practice the ones u need to strengthen... and after doing so say... "Thank You, all 2 of you" when they clap... *laffs*

 

some of our best recordings came from an empty house ... just look out into the audience and picture them (lots of them) in their underwear.... *grins*

[Poor Yorick]

I second the motion about having an audience being a trap sometimes. I was in a band (as the bassist) that drew pretty well. We could pack in about 70 on a Friday or Saturday just on our own and occasionally played for 100+ people on really good nights. (This is pretty good for an originial band in a large market with a lot of bands and venues.) People liked what the band did pretty much from the start.

 

As a result, the band never grew, never tried, never experimented, never worked harder. The whole thing became stagnant and repetative. When I would point this out, the other three folks would say -- but PEOPLE LIKE IT!

 

I'm not in that band anymore.

[6_ton_parachute]

I believe that a true guitarist doesn't play only for themselves. To play for only yourself is a waste of talent. Talent is only of use to anyone if it is displayed. I'm not saying that you should ALWAYS have an audience. I'm just saying that it is natural and expected for a gutarist to crave the feeling of playing for a crowd. A guitarist who is afraid to play in front of people is no guitarist at all.

 

m/LOGANm/

[pilk]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg I do all my stuff by myself... I don't have a band and the only friend that ever listens has different musical taste than mine (I would describe his as BAD ) I think it is fair to say that any "artist" whether it be a novelist or painter or musician will want some sort of feedback and audience. I used to think if I wanted an audience then the music was somehow impure, an attention-getter or something, but I've come to think it's natural to want feedback. Do you guys think it is natural to want feedback, an audience, some feeling of "support" behind what you're doing? I am second-guessing my dedication. Does the true musician toil away endlessly and not care if the piece is ever heard?

 

You are a little mixed up. Music is meant to be a shared experiance . Think about that,its so very true. How you could ever think its like what you are saying is beyond me,really. Its ok to want someone to hear you,thats whats its for .

[GibsonGeek]

Being a hard rock musician primarily, we thrive on the audience. Its almost mandatory for the energy. We're lucky enough to be one of the bigger draws in our area, so its usually a wonderful and rewarding experience to play live. Plus, how else am I gonna get laid?

[SaltyDogg]

Originally posted by pilk You are a little mixed up. Music is meant to be a shared experiance . Think about that,its so very true. How you could ever think its like what you are saying is beyond me,really. Its ok to want someone to hear you,thats whats its for .

 

Well I never said I wasn't a bit mixed up...

 

I have done a LOT of thinking on my thread topic here.

 

I don't think the audience I'm talking about in this case is the actual concert audience that watches you play (that is part of the entirety, though)...

 

the audience I'm really talking about is the critical-feedback audience. I often feel I need to get "approval" for my ideas because I am very uncertain of what sounds "good." I am massively self-critical and trying to find my own voice and feel some mastery over music.

 

I also try to imagine what would happen if I WERE the artists I hear on the radio... I try to put myself in the place of "hey, this is MY song I'm hearing right now" and the effect is still the same: utter embarrassment (I would not wish to be Nickleback, for instance). Maybe my standards are too damn mythically high.

 

Put it this way: do the great songwriters give a damn about what people think about their songs? Or are they happy with the songs and then say "if you like it, great, if you don't, F- off"

 

Basically I am second-guessing myself and trying to make sure I'm in this "game" for the right reasons. I don't want to be a poseur. Is this need for feedback, for bouncing ideas off someone, a tell-tale sign that I don't have what it takes....?

[Chicken Monkey]

Someone over in Guitar Jam has a quote in their sig that amounts to a more eloquent version of:

 

You can pursue your own sound, and achieve your own standards all you want, but if other people don't like it, it is the height of arrogance to assume that it is because they don't get it.

 

As I interpreted it, the people who let their "creativity" completely determine the sound of their music, they're either geniuses (unlikely) or stubborn tools (very likely).

[Crackpot]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg Well I never said I wasn't a bit mixed up... I have done a LOT of thinking on my thread topic here. ... Basically I am second-guessing myself and trying to make sure I'm in this "game" for the right reasons. I don't want to be a poseur. Is this need for feedback, for bouncing ideas off someone, a tell-tale sign that I don't have what it takes....?

 

If I was worried about being a poseur, I'd drop the "right reasons" for getting into the "game" bit -- it's an old, transparent pose.

 

I don't believe you're worried about your need for feedback -- that's just sanity speaking to you. I think you're scared some of that feedback will be as condescendingly dismissive of your efforts as you are of Nickleback's.

 

They will. I guarantee it. That's the price you pay to get in the "game."

 

My advice: Deal yourself in. You never know -- you might have the stuff it takes to get past nasty criticism. You might actually learn something from it (I have). You might even have something to say that someone wants -- or needs -- to hear.

 

Here on earth, we're all more interested in what you do than in why you do it. Does anyone really care why Chuck Berry wrote Roll Over Beethoven or Robert Johson wrote Hell Hound On My Trail (money, probably, in both cases)? We're just glad they did.

 

Agonizing over the morality of putting your creation out there, where people might hate it -- notwithstanding the fact that you were feeling all artsy and well-intentioned when you created it -- and your feelings might get hurt, is kind of goofy, don't ya think?