Question

Haydn was very much the "skilled servant" of the Esterhazy family and was required to wear a servant's uniform, but Beethoven was the first important composer to make it on his own as a "free artist." How would today's musicians compare? Do you think they are "skilled servants" to the music industry?

Answer 1

Justin Beeber would be Hyden, having grown up in the music industry and supported by it. And one of these guys who write rap music videos about video games, posts it on YouTube and gains 10 million subscribers would be Beethoven. They're making it on their own, without bended to the demands of record industry ruling elite and they're breaking all the rules along the way.

Now the patronage system of Haydn’s day is gone. A musician/composer’s career is determined by corporations and film studios in industrial music, and boards and audition committees in orchestras and opera companies.

One of the most frustrating parts of being an artist today is understanding that timing is everything. No matter how much talent, charisma, good looks, or whatever other ingredient you may think is important, timing is the one thing that trumps everything. Market niche or the need for what an artist is making will dictate how much attention people give to the music being made.

Much like any product in the free market, music has various levels of demand. Imagine a mom and pop corner grocery store. The size and level of inventory will be suited to their local town. They stock enough to keep up with the local demand. A store like Walmart Supercenter will likely carry a lot more inventory and varieties of the same product. It’s because they know the customers they serve have a broader requirement for various ingredients for their food needs. The same applies to music. If an artist is serving a local area well, the demand may seem big. But on a larger scale, their product will likely get lost on the shelves of the consumer’s favorite store. Creating demand for your music is difficult and most artists get discouraged long before they make it from local celebrity at the mom-n-pop mart into a larger super-store.

This is probably the most obvious ingredient on the list, but one that is so completely misunderstood. Talent is a broad description mostly pigeon-holed into the artist’s skill of voice or instrumentation. However, talent is a much bigger ingredient because it can encompass things like stage presence, audience connection, dance, songwriting, etc. This single word must really be broken down into segments that are part of the formula of succeeding. Instead of giving my personal definition of talent, it’s enough to say that a total package evaluation of an artist is a better definition of talent and will allow more people to endorse the artist if we accept the diversity of perspectives. Simply, an artist like Bob Dylan is not a vocal prodigy, but his songwriting and passion make his talent off the charts and defined his success for sure.

With social media today, this is easier than it has ever been. It’s also a faster way to know how to hone your craft to please your fan base. Some artists are too stubborn to listen to fan demand because they are stuck in the artistic and creative world. Some are like pollen in the spring time and blow in whatever direction the fan-winds decide to go. Both are extremes, but one truth is that in our reality-TV generation, fans want to know the person behind the artist now more than ever before. They want to know what’s behind the song and that requires a tighter connection with fans. As an artist gets more popular, so does the need to create intentional fan moments. Publicists often take over this area at some point, but as long as social media is a viable path, an artist always has a pipeline directly to their fan base.

The musicians of today are definitely not skilled servants to the industry.