Can you imagine if there were such a thing for music? Who would make the cut and who wouldn’t? Now obviously because art is very subjective and well, because we’ve been told where beauty is… such a thing would never occur but I just thought that it would be a fun concept to throw around.
The reason that this is on my mind is that everywhere you go (especially online and at Guitar Center) everyone is a Producer, Writer, Engineer, Singer, Rapper, DJ, and on and on and on. Yes there is a lot of great talent out there waiting to be discovered, but there is a whole lot of other stuff that you have to sift through to get to the good. That might be the biggest difference these days between professional sports and “professional” music.
Some might say that I’m suggesting a return to the gatekeeping system of the major labels during their heyday, not really I just want to point out the juxtaposition between the two. In professional sports there is a clear baseline standard of skill that you have to achieve to even be considered. Not successful, just considered. These days in music just give yourself a name, website and social media presence and you are in business. What I just described is the best and worst thing about music today. It can be the best when you are truly talented and you just need some visibility, it can be the worst when you are not talented and spam people incessantly with your talentless productions.
Maybe for fun we should develop a fictional GFM Combine and develop a series of drills and tests that the participants would encounter based upon their chosen musical specialization. Stay tuned…
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
