|
13 Jun 2008, 11:19 am / Other
Hey - The early settlers of this country had one (Declaration Of Independence) so why can't I? So did Simon Bolivar, and Karl Marx had one as well. It's possible Mr Peabody had one too.......So in order to revolutionize independent music and break free from the restrictive barriers of the majors we need our own manifesto, a Musician's Bill of Rights if you will.
Article I - Avoid Risk & Die
In times of change the greatest risk is to take none at all.
Make sense?
Risk (Noun) - exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance.
It's easy to ask others to take a risk or admire those who do though it is not always so easy when we are faced with the decision of having to take a risk ourselves.
As Joe Jackson once sang "You can't get what you want 'til you know what you want" so in this revolution we will have to decide what we want and what we are willing to do to achieve our goals. Risk is a necessity for anyone who wants to destroy barriers and win.
The trick is to take calculated jumps. As a musician you don't want to throw every single cent you have into producing a demo of songs that aren't well-received by the very people you continually play to. That being said, you still have to record something. To calculate that risk efficiently it is important to know your strengths, and more importantly, to know your weaknesses, to effectively decide what will best work for your specific situation. Your fans are certainly a part of the equation as well, but not the end all be all.
Example Of Calculated Risk:
The Beatles experiment with Middle Eastern religion and philosophies and go from the Brit-Pop sound of their first few albums to a more AOR sound on the wonderful albums Rubber Soul and Revolver.
Yes, they lost a few fans but gained many, many more and achieved immense critical acclaim. A risk? Definitely. Worth it? Most definitely. If research and fan appeal were the only prerequisite they probably never would have made that change and think of what the world would be missing.
Properly think through and through and DISCUSS with your peers and advisors and (in the case of bands), your fellow band members and decide and agree wholeheartedly what you want to accomplish and what you are willing to risk or sacrifice to get it.
Avoid Risk & Die is Article I of the Musician's Bill Of Rights.
Tomorrow we will define Article II which, in a Buzz Word World would be called Forward Thinking, but since we are avoiding BUZZ WORDS we will just call it Why Not Ask "Why Not?"
|
