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The question we should be asking, as consumers of music, is how many musical options do we want? If musicians can't make a living, then both the quantity and q
by lapcat 1y ago
The question we should be asking, as consumers of music, is how many musical options do we want?
If musicians can't make a living, then both the quantity and quality of our musical options go down. Yes, hobbyists will always make music for themselves, but hobbyists won't necessarily record music for us or tour around the country for us to see in live venues. The issue is not that musicians inherently deserve to make a living; the issue is, what kind of musical market is available for consumers?
- DennisP 1y agoPlenty of hobbyists record their music. A lot of the music I listen to is from youtubers with a handful of views.
- lapcat 1y ago> Plenty of hobbyists record their music. That's not contrary to what I said, which was "hobbyists won't necessarily [emphasis added] record music for us". And of course you didn't respond to my point about touring. In any case, the music and recordings of hobbyists are likely to be inferior to the music and recordings of professionals, because in general, professionals are better than hobbyists at almost everything, music being only one example. > A lot of the music I listen to is from youtubers with a handful of views. If that's the future you want, then I guess you're in luck.
- DennisP 1y agoGenerally if a comment makes multiple points, I don't feel I have to refrain from replying if I only have a response to one of them. I'm not here to prove you wrong, just to make whatever point I have. There's plenty of music available even if only some hobbyists record. In terms of musical options, I'd say we're in a golden age. Used to be, we could only listen to whatever some record label was willing to fund. Before that, just local musicians. Now we can pull up all sorts of obscure musicians all over the world. Recently I went down a rabbit hole of famous rock songs played in medieval style on period instruments; that's not something I'd be likely to find at a record store. Recording isn't the barrier it used to be, and it'll keep getting easier to make good mixes as the software improves. Meanwhile, it's likely that the power law will continue to apply, and plenty of especially talented musicians will hit the big time and do live touring. In fact, as more music is generated by AI, I expect people seeking authenticity will develop more interest in live music.
- megaloblasto 1y agoCan you recommend a YouTuber with a hand full of views that you think is a good musician?
- Larrikin 1y agoThere are tons of rappers and EDM DJs on Soundcloud (not YouTube) that have legitimately good music. They might not be good 5 years from now or even 1 year from now, but they are good now if you put the work into finding them. Seems like atleast in the DJ scene someone might be on top of the world fairly quickly even if they disappear soon after.
- derektank 1y agoI'm not sure if they're more popular on other media platforms, but I've really enjoyed quite a few songs by the Japanese band Ribettowns and their YouTube account has less than 1K subscribers
- megaloblasto 1y agoThat was sick. I watched one will less than 1000 views and it was amazing. How'd you find them?
- derektank 1y agoGenuinely no idea. Possibly on a Spotify playlist years ago. Serendipity and the wills of the algorithm I guess
- 1y ago