This is dedicated to all of you out there who continue to muck up inboxes all over the world with your “Latest, greatest, next level creative output” there are truly so many of you who need to stop. Like right now. I could not be more serious. Just stop. It’s too much and all the follow-ups and bits, blurbs and clippings from other sites is not going to make me like what you’re doing any more than my first listen. Yes that’s right, I make up my own mind using my own ears. I could care less what someone else has to say. But of course I should listen to your PR people right? I mean there’s no more neutral party than the folks on your payroll. I mean I’m not saying that those folks aren’t necessary(for someone) just not for me.
The title of this little post explains exactly how I feel. It’s all about respect and I truly feel that it is a lack of respect for the muse and her output of music that causes some of you “artists” out there to place the audio garbage into the atmosphere that you do. I’m not talking about everyone has to have a social message. I’m not saying that everything that is written necessarily has to be politically correct. What I am saying is take the time and the effort to make whatever you’re putting into the atmosphere great. I could not be more serious about that request.
Everyone goes through developmental stages as a creator. Some of the greatest composers and performers of music all had to start somewhere and the majority of them were not fully formed at the beginning of their careers. Many artists and composers were fortunate enough to have people in their corner who would tell the truth. If something does not sound good you need to know. You need to have people who love you enough to tell you when something doesn’t sound good so you don’t run the risk of trying to force something on the public that is severely lacking. Again, I’m no one, I just know what I like and I know what sounds good to my ears and certainly you don’t need my seal of approval but I firmly believe there are a lot of folks out here who don’t have a forum who feel the same way. These are folks who could be potential supporters of your music but they find it lacking, not even reaching the standard of the great legacy that we should be standing upon.
But hey what do I know… I mean you should probably just keep copying what’s mass marketed and by extension believed to be the next big thing when in all actuality it’s just a copy of the last mediocre thing that was a copy of the less than satisfactory thing from last year that was all the rage.
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.
