“The difference between classic music and the music of today is certainly in the skill level. In the days of dynamic music you couldn’t just go in the studio (or home) and make the same shit as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder or Prince! In fact, you STILL cant! It took years of practice (The Beatles) and access to special equipment that required extensive training to use. Real orchestras instead of VSTs, an actual drummer in place of someone else’s actual drumming, and occasionally a person who could legitimately sing! The technology we have now removes all imaginable limits on creativity, but in the name of declining (*not by much) IQ scores and attention spans - an entire generation of musicians and listeners with low standards has been born, making music thats easy to remember (and forget) and extremely easy to create!

In the music business we have now suffered from decades of people catering to moneyless non-consumers like children and critics, and an entire community of creatives and executives scratching their heads and wondering where all the good music went. We collectively saw the money and said fuck this, I’m not learning how to play shit! We got the money/power and gave our friends and relatives jobs! We blew the money and blamed everyone and every thing except for the unqualified man-in-the-mirror and convinced ourselves that we were still the reservation-only restaurant and not a McDonalds kiosk. It killed the business, and out of its body grew the Multi-Million $ Independent Label - from Master P to Macklemore, and a million new expressions of creativity and ways to monetize.

The truth is music business, if you haven’t realized the hidden success factor that makes Adele, Taylor Swift, Bruno or Frank resonate - its the FN MUSIC! The SONGS have to be GOOD! Not the same genre, or tempo, or look (*music doesn’t have a look), or even the same appeal to the same demographic - but the same FEELING when you hear it, the one that lasts for fuckin forever. The People get it (look at who’s selling the most these days!)

The only music execs and critics should be people who have accomplished something in the field of music that deems them qualified and worthy - and even those people should step down if and when the day comes that they start thinking our success comes more from marketing and research than the actual product itself. It all boils down to the support of the consumer and the corporate vendor (ads) - The money comes from Ads and Sales guys! No one has to buy anything anymore! Any and all sales in this day and age are from the support of someone who cares about the artist - the more effort you put into your product and content, the more engaged your audience will be.

The people I’m talking about are largely dumb as fuck and won’t make it to the bottom of this very short essay - but this isn’t for them…its for YOU! Who and whatever you are, you’re a part of this! You are the person that settles for mediocrity or doesn’t - that feels the need to constantly express their unsolicited opinion or spend that time improving yourself - that bragged about the hit song you wrote in 15 minutes or took however long you needed to make the best music you could make. You are a soldier in the war for Dope vs Money - this goes way beyond music, and way into real life - we all need to refocus and we’re all going to have to pick a side as the gap between those who are in pursuit of money, and those who are in the pursuit of dopeness quickly grows from something you trip over to something you fall into.

ps I personally plan to fly over.”

by James Fauntleroy.