Re: Why SHOULDN'T musicians be paid?

[barry smith <barrysmith_2001@yahoo.com>]

There's a gazillion lawyers out there.....they ain't
starvin'.
 Musicians at least have the moral highground.
--- Warren Sirota <wsirota@wsdesigns.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Daryl, I appreciate your compliments and
> good wishes - it's
> not exactly about seeking validation. It wasn't that
> the Pizza Guy
> said what he did that was the problem, it was the
> way it resonated.
> 
> I'll never give up on music, but I gave up on the
> hope of my artistic
> efforts being my principal source of income a long
> time ago. I'm just
> trying to make things (or participate in making
> things) that I like to
> listen to as much as my gazillion other listening
> choices. If I can
> really make that happen the way I want it to, then
> the chances of
> getting recognized for it go up - and make no
> mistake, I'd not
> complain of more - but most of the satisfaction is
> in the process and
> achieving the goal.
> 
> On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 1:03 PM, Daryl Shawn
> <highhorse@mhorse.com> wrote:
> > Warren, thanks for sharing this stuff. Myself, I
> feel very strongly that
> > musical creativity is absolutely priceless. I can
> understand the immediate
> > impact of someone so callously dismissing your
> efforts, but hell, you're not
> > another pizza boy! And what gave that dude the
> right to say what he did, not
> > being a personal friend for one thing, and most of
> all not having HEARD your
> > music?
> >
> >  There are a bazillion guitar players, and
> composers...a bazillion
> > writers...a bazillion painters...a bazillion, if
> you will, breathers. To
> > justify waking up in the morning I need to believe
> that I can contribute
> > something, even if it's a droplet in this sea. And
> as long as I'm still
> > getting blown away by other people's music, or get
> extreme enjoyment out of
> > creating some tiny musical fragment that seems to
> be my own, it's not an
> > effort to believe that.
> >
> >  As for being a retired millionaire with time to
> do music, well...think
> > instead about having lost (that's how I perceive
> it) the last decades by
> > devoting your best hours and creativity to making
> money. My brother is a
> > talented writer who worked for several years on an
> excellent manuscript,
> > which he couldn't immediately find a publisher
> for. He gave up writing for
> > the time being, choosing instead to concentrate on
> family life and a new
> > full-time job. He is continually trying to justify
> his choices, telling me
> > how many writers seems to be publishing their
> works for the first time in
> > their fifties and sixties, after raising kids
> and/or making enough money to
> > retire. This may be true, but it breaks my heart
> to think of all those years
> > spent waiting to create, and hoping to end up with
> some imagined comfortable
> > environment where, finally, one can do their art,
> starting from scratch
> > without the benefit of the years of experience
> they'd have had otherwise.
> > I'm guessing there are a lot of people in this
> situation who get so used to
> > the comfortable lives they've created that they
> have, in the interim, lost
> > their desire to put in the late nights and long
> hours and sweat required to
> > bring forth an original creation. I wish he didn't
> feel like he had to
> > choose one life over another, but instead, found a
> way to integrate his
> > creating even into a life which doesn't afford him
> that many hours for it.
> >
> >  Now, can you do better at Garageband than a
> teenager? HELL HELL HELL YES!
> > It's all about the musical ideas, my friend.
> Browse Myspace, and see whether
> > the easy availability of musical tools has made us
> awash in art of
> > undelineated high quality. Is it important or
> meaningful that you be able to
> > do your stuff? I say, again, hell yes. I think
> it's the most important task
> > in the world. Anyone can make money, anyone can be
> a pizza boy, anyone can
> > try to make music, but only a few people have a
> talent for the original
> > creation of the latter.
> >
> >  I don't have a concrete point here, really just
> reactions to your
> > well-expressed views. Ultimately, I'm just glad
> you're still playing - and
> > for what it's worth, it'd be upsetting to me if
> you quit.
> >
> >
> >  Daryl Shawn
> >  www.swanwelder.com
> >  www.chinapaintingmusic.com
> >
> >
> > > Rick, I think the sacrifices you've made in
> pursuit of your art are
> > inspiring, and (what I see the most) your efforts
> to facilitate and promote
> > the art of others. And maybe I was out of line
> calling you on your phrasing
> > and should have just left that to Travis if he
> wanted to respond. I've had
> > my years of sacrifice in pursuit of art, too, and
> decided that for myself, I
> > needed to "focus", if you will, on a
> "less-focussed" view of life. Perhaps
> > the need for money is the universe's way of
> forcing us to engage with others
> > on THEIR terms, and just maybe in one possible
> broader view of things,
> > that's a good thing. We all have a lot of hard
> choices to make in the
> > art-vs-income/time category. In another life I'd
> take your path. I find much
> > to envy in it. But I wouldn't trade right now
> (well, OK, I probably would
> > for a *while*), and I'm sure you wouldn't either.
> > >
> > > And, I have to admit, my view of my own
> self-worth as a musician was
> > pretty permanently undermined that evening in 1987
> when I was sitting
> > working on music (for my MFA from Mills, which I
> quit my corporate job to
> > pursue - I would now be a retired millionaire with
> all the time for music in
> > the world had I not done that) in an Oakland
> pizzeria, waiting for dinner,
> > when the 17-year old server kid came by and asked,
> what was I doing. I
> > replied that I was a composer, working on some
> music, and he said, "oh,
> > well, who isn't?" And, you know, despite the
> obvious differences of years of
> > experience and study and dedication, at core I
> felt that he was essentially
> > correct in his attitude. He was me 20 years
> earlier. It was shockingly
> > humbling. So yeah, Rick (tho you didn't say this
> to me, it felt like you
> > did), I don't put that much external value on my
> own musical creativity. To
> > me, that would be like putting value on breathing.
> If people choose to
> > reward me in such a way that allows me or
> encourages me to do more of it,
> > that's a special blessing, not specifically
> related to anything that I can
> > perceive or measure except perhaps better
> politiking than I can manage. If
> > not, well, I'm just another pizza boy doing my
> best to have fun.
> > >
> > > To shift to the present day:
> > > Now I look around and see that the tools of
> production have been put fully
> > into the hands of the proletariat, and the means
> of distribution are close
> > behind. I think this is a good thing, but highly
> disruptive (to a system
> > already dysfunction to the point of disease). Can
> I possibly do better with
> > Garageband than a teenager with hours every night
> to surf the web for beats
> > and samples? Not likely. Is it important or
> meaningful that I be able to do
> > this? Also, not likely.  So I do two things - I
> make the recorded art I want
> > to make and don't expect anyone to even really
> want to listen to it (at any
> > price, including free), except under rare
> circumstances, and OTOH I
> > cultivate skills (fingerstyle-jazz guitar playing)
> that are giggable and
> > not-easily-duplicable. But, really, gigs are not
> the true motivation for
> 
=== message truncated ===



      
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