If a song has ever taken your breath away, completely garnered your attention — you can relate to my excitement.
Music is rivaled only by scents in its power over emotional recollection.
The good news for every awkward teenager, unsure of what music they like, is that most people hit a point where they establish their musical preference repertoire and stop caring about the rating charts. Its the reason for the ubiquitous first-date question; “what kind of music do you like?” It’s a deeply personal trait but sharable with the right people. And it can also be a deal breaker for being too deviant.
Lovers of music pursue that which “speaks to them,” a phenomenon manifested in moments like these:
Listening to Monsieur Periné while getting ready in the morning, realizing nothing’s gonna get you down.
Understanding the lyrics to “On The Frame” by Beta Radio.
Falling in love with someone when they ask you to listen to “Emmylou” by First Aid Kit.
Zac Brown Band singing “Knee Deep” making you realize you don’t hate ALL country music.
And if you ever listen to the radio you know what “Hello” by Adele does to conjure thoughts of your ex.
An artist’s ability to chronicle their life and allow the listener to partake was first made evident to me in Jack Johnson’s 2009 melancholy and reflective Sleep Through The Static. It’s a noticed change of mood from his previous surfy-go-lucky island anthems. While researching its conception I found the album was written after the death of a close friend. Johnson let his listeners in on personal strife instead of covering up and formulaically delivering on his promises of a carefree endless summer.
His enrichment of my musical journey happened through buying all his albums. That was the only option available at the time for a rule-abiding non-techy teen intimidated by Limewire.
I’m grateful it doesn’t have to happen that way anymore. It would cost a fortune to buy the discography of every artist I’m interested in (5–10 artists/week, about $440/month).
So I find it ironic that Taylor Swift put her efforts into preventing this kind of relationship between a fan and his/her admired music since her latest (1989) is named after her birth year. She is selling what she calls her “life work” and that’s exactly why people fall so deeply in love. They encounter her experiences as she so closely recreates them through music.
Taylor Swift may have moved on but there’s still some dissension.⬇️⬇️⬇️
I find Swift’s “speaking on behalf of the little guy” claim in her 2015 To Apple, Love Taylor laughable. To quote:
“This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt.”
Laughable because streaming services are possibly the best thing to happen to emerging artists. Streaming services connect artists and listeners from across the country/world. Marketing and selling albums individually is a ridiculous approach in the internet age. Starting artists simply don’t have the necessary distribution and promotional budgets.
Swift is one of the last popular artists to relent. Except of course Garth Brooks but he‘s a neo-luddite in regards to anything but traditional album sales.
Actually…TODAY Swift posted a promotional video for Apple Music on her FB page.
It looks like Swift is starting to see the benefits of making her music more accessible to her fans; even if they’re just financial benefits.
Unfortunately not all artists have the advantage of being cute and broken-hearted. Their only path to success is finding their super unique delightfully weird niche that will spread music to others in the niche.
Regardless, the majority of recording artists now make their money from touring, merchandise, endorsements, and royalties. In a world of streaming services albums aren’t necessarily purchased but if the artist is in the right place at the right time their concert is well attended, their merchandise is devoured, and they unlock further opportunities.
