A Crowd's Opinion on Music

I checked out a blog at http://snowcrashing.com/tag/music-industry-trends/ and came across a video of Christopher R. Weingarten, a freelance writer for Rollingstone.com and Village Voice on Twitter. He made a speech and statement that 'crowd-sourcing kills art.' Mainly the internet has ensured the ability for every and any one to criticize and give opinions on music as a desired leisure, when he was getting paid to do just that. Chris says he is about to be out of a job because nineteen year-olds are doing his job "for free, or for concert tickets, or for a pat on the head." Chris says no one is listening to him anymore because of this new wave of opinions coming from young, inexperienced, less jaded teens, and they exploit new bands and music without much negative commentaries. Websites and magazines no longer depended on the opinions of freelance writers such as Chris, and started to support the reviews from the many blogs that populated the web. "Crowd-sourcing kills art because people have an awful taste, crowds have terrible taste", as carefully declared by Chris. The only thing that makes music seem popular is the "link economy" and that is when a website receives an abundant amount of clicks determining its popularity and relevance. Chris built on this statement by clarifying, "If you let the people decide then nothing truly adventurous gets out," because what's supported is not the best music, but the most music that people can stand." The main criticism that is missing from art today is the reason "why" certain bands or song(s) are good. To reiterate the points Chris made, we need the "because-factor" in the world of music. There are only lists of the many "who's", but no "why." The video is actually informing and comical. You should check it out. You can also find Chris on Twitter @1000TimesYes to retrieve his latest music updates and his stance in the music industry. View the video here:

Stellacci, A. (2009, June 22). Crowd-sourcing kills art. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://snowcrashing.com/tag/music-industry-trends/.

Seven Things To Do To Become A Succesful Musician

Tom Hess put up a video found on website http://www.musiccareers.net/career-articles/making-music-industry-contacts/. He discussed seven important steps to become a successful musician. They are listed below:
1. Don't Get Caught Speeding: Don't get caught speeding into the next step; first know who you want to become
2. Inspect What You Expect From Yourself, Your Life, From Others
3. Demand and Command: Expect greater things from life and yourself; don't loose momentum when successful; become success-minded
4. Shoot Fire!: Being your intensity, attitude on determination, conviction, expectancy, confidence, and passion
5. Get Congruent: Daily thoughts and actions should focus on what you want to be; expect the desire to happen
6. Weed Your Garden: Surround yourself around a supportive environment and other success-minded people
7. Don't Depend On The Sun & Rain Alone..You Need Fertilization: You need more than just skills to sustain success; you need high quality mental preparedness, knowledge and skills, and physical action, and a mentor

Here's a link to Tom Hess' music assessment to see where your mental preparedness lies and where you need to improve if you want to be successful:
http://tomhess.net/TestForBigSuccessAsAProMusician.aspx

Music Industry Contacts

If you want to have a successful music career, you must attain the right music industry connections. The problem that many artists struggle with is the fact of not knowing who is the most valuable connection. Your contacts should be meaningful, in which you develop good relationships with your connections.
People you should contact: "Concert Promoters"
-Music Industry people who have great influence and power.
-Music industry people who have the greatest number of key relationships with music industry professionals and companies.
-Important music industry people who are easily located in your area.
-The most accessible music industry people.
-Music industry people who can help you with your problems and reach your goals.

Concert promoters have a great amount of influence within the music industry. Your music industry contacts need to feel confident enough to work with you, to help push your music career to the next level.

Source: http://www.musiccareers.net/career-articles/making-music-industry-contacts/
Written by Tom Hess: 2008 Tom Hess Music Corporation