I get an industry email out here in Southern California from a lady that helps place indie band's songs in TV and movie. A couple of times a month she has a question and answer email from people on the list.
This little bit dealt with apples...so I couldn't pass it up:
The artist's biggest problem is understanding that just because they wrote a song, that does not mean it's great. They have to get to the point of "is this the best I can do with this, and is it good enough, or should I toss it and start over?" It's like picking apples, not every apple on the tree is going to be great. Strange analogy, but the best I could come up with this early in the morning.
{Editor's Note--(this is the editor of the email letter, not Steve or John): That's a great analogy! I couldn't agree more. And lots of those apples may be fine to eat but how many are super large, juicy and amazing? Artists always think the last song they wrote is their best. Most often that is NOT the case. In fact, many artist's first albums are their best as they had their whole lives to write it and pick songs from for it. The second one is usually harder to come by as it has to be written in a year or two. Some apples look good on the outside but you bite in and get a worm. A good apple is like a good song. It takes a lot of time to grow them right, pay attention to them, nurture them, develop them (the trees, not the apples themselves). Think you get my drift.}
So the inability to know what's bad, good, or great (which is ignorance) is the downfall of most artists. And the refusal of constructive criticism.
I couldn't agree more with some of this. My latest song is usually my best (lol). I love them all like my children. Or, in this case, my apples.
Photo by Stephen Butler.
