Why make music when nobody cares?

foreign it's not about building this thing to be remembered it's about living your life and enjoying it while you still have it this is something that my friend Ben Jordan said a couple weeks ago while we were doing a q a session at perfect circuit out in California and I think that this is a really important idea that we need to talk about I get a lot of comments and messages about this similar sort of existential dread when it comes to making stuff and I guess with my own ulterior motives here of trying to I don't know put a spotlight or at least open a platform for discussion about the darker aspects of the mental health stuff surrounding Artistry and creativity it's something that's really worth exploring because I think we all have to face this ugly question now and again of what's the point and funny enough about 20 days ago someone posted something on Reddit that I think sums this up better than I ever could releasing music feels so pointless I love making music and I have some finished tracks but when it came time to release stuff I felt an overwhelming sense of Sorrow it's literally like a drop in an ocean and it isn't even a good drop I might just make it just for the process and send it to my family and friends or even listen to it myself and Pat me on the back but I would love to share my art with the world today's video and this project were made possible thanks to my friends at uvi uvi are makers of some of my favorite sound libraries for composing and making music some really wild creative effects plugins and one of my favorite software instruments ever if you want to check them out for yourself or get everything that they have to offer through their sonic pass service you can find more information with the link down in the description a huge thank you to my friends at uvi as well as some additional support from the fine people at Poly end for giving me a place to stay without them none of this would have been possible so if you enjoyed this video and this project check them out and if you already have their stuff maybe send them a little tweet with a heart emoji and say thanks for helping mustache man and then uh I don't know a gif of Shrek or something howardy Duty buckaroons it's uh been a while since I've been on camera so forgive me if I'm a little bit Rusty here I've spent the last couple weeks traveling a little over 5 000 miles with my friend Ben Jordan for this sort of ridiculous idea I've spent the last couple weeks traveling across the country and back filming this huge project editing it all down creating all this music and turning this idea into a reality and after pouring my heart and soul into this I'm now left wondering what do I do because it's not something that's going to get a ton of views it's not something that's going to make me much if any money and most people probably don't even care about the fact that it exists in the first place because releasing original music on YouTube is a death sentence in the algorithm especially for this Channel and it's not without good reason the majority of the people that watch this channel just don't care about my original music and that's okay a lot of you aren't here for that and the majority I would probably guess don't even care about its existence so what am I to do now this granted is a very specific situation but I'm sure that you can at least empathize with the idea here that we've all faced at some point I've made this thing and now no one's going to care about it so what's the point a lot of us start out making music as a hobby that hobby develops into a passion and eventually that passion becomes this addiction there's another track to be made a new album to create a collaboration that you want to connect on and then the cycle inevitably repeats as creators we're perpetually stuck in this blessing and curse of chasing this ideal form that can only be realized or at least so we convince ourselves through our next idea but along the way we often get sold into this idea that the pursuit also has to tangibly return something we want to make music our careers and not just any music but our own original music and that means we're now in it for the plays and the attention and ultimately the money that means now next time you release something that relationship between your work and your audience takes on a completely different Dynamic that can never be undone now it's all about making your work known and that comes down to one thing the impact but I think a lot of us and maybe through no fault of our own end up developing this wrong sense of what the impact truly is because we keep grinding away at this fever dream of ours of turning music into a reality we build this deeply unrealistic expectation of both ourselves and our work and we end up expecting if not outright anticipating an outcome rather than being open to the outcome as artists at heart we all know that making music isn't about reaching some arbitrary level of success it's ultimately about expressing ourselves and our experiences in a way that's unique to us it's about tapping into that creative spark that drives us and in turn sharing it with others whether your music reaches millions of people or maybe just a handful the impact it has on our own lives is what truly matters as long as you keep creating and experimenting and pushing yourself to grow as an artist you continue to find that fundamental joy and purpose within your work if you feel like you're being held back by this fear of rejection or a lack of success or recognition or whatever you want to call it here's a little bit of perspective to bounce around the old meat noodle everybody dies and the thing with that is it's estimated it only takes really a couple of generations for you to be forgotten entirely that includes all of your work all of your achievements all of your aspirations and dreams and everything about you that made you you mortality really sucks and the hard thing to accept with that is that everything is eventually destined to become a memory and memories too are eventually doomed to be forgotten one last time while I do believe somewhere deep down in the fiber of my being that art and creation are important to The Human Condition and existence and all that I think it's also important to remember that this isn't why we do these things it's not that we're doing them for success and Renown and whatever we're doing these things because we have to do them and it's about living your life and doing the things that make you happy and that's I think the ultimate reason that we have to maintain the true impact of our art realistically probably won't come in the form of world-renowned Fame but rather it might come in the form of a small Die Hard fan base or some kid in the middle of nowhere in Iowa who finds the inspiration to pick up an instrument through our work during a tough time in their life that album you're unsure of might be the one that provides inspiration to a listener who really needed it or perhaps best of all the act of creating music brings you Joy and purpose regardless of the outcome to borrow a lesson from stoicism I think it really is about being an amateur by letting go of the fear of rejection or a lack of recognition you can cultivate what is ultimately a more sustainable and fulfilling creative practice that in turn enables you to create fearlessly and share fearlessly it's not about the result it's about the act of doing the work I'm sure we'd all love to sit here blowing smoke up each other's says and say we're just in this for the Vibes man but that's not the truth and that leaves us with the uncomfortable elephant left to address in the room what do we do about releasing our work when it fails to find an audience or connect at all it's natural to seek validation for our creative work but with the incredible oversaturation of music and the playlist dominated industry coercing a more playlist friendly approach to music it's becoming more challenging to find that validation The Ugly Truth is that not everyone will appreciate your work or even want what you're offering while validation in a way can be a driving force for the existence of our art it's not the only reason that we created we make music to share our stories and emotions and perspectives with others we want our work to have an impact and resonate with listeners now while you could certainly find validation by way of vanity metrics by creating super streaming playlist friendly music to be played on a shitty Bluetooth speaker in another room while someone tries to make a homemade cat food recipe they found on Tick Tock that afternoon is that truly why you're in this while you probably shouldn't be making music solely for the purpose of getting heard or getting famous it's also not realistic to say that the only reason we make music is always purely for ourselves we don't make art to not be looked at we don't make music to not be heard we don't write or speak to not communicate and be understood and we don't make YouTube videos to not be watched of course we all make tracks for fun and I think it always starts with that pure intention of making music that we enjoy listening to ourselves but when it comes time to get down to business we select the tracks that we purposefully want to get out there and share with people we make music to have this impact whatever that may be while we need feedback and that validation to improve our craft we shouldn't let the need for validation consume us or become the sole driving purpose our motivation should be to make art that speaks to us and in turn share it with the world not to feed our egos or gain attention as artists we have this unique superpower to create something that deeply resonates with people making them feel seen and understood the connection between artist and audience is extraordinarily unique and it's not always easy to navigate as an artist you have this unique and unrivaled ability to create something that someone didn't know they needed until they had it it's up to you to set that bar and Define your own output it's important to remember that the impact you have on just one person's life is more significant than any level of success or notoriety that one person telling their story about how your work changed their life is worth more than anything that other forms of success could bring whether it's now five years from now or long after you're gone whatever that impact is and whenever it happens it may not be something you're even around a witness so you just have to ask yourself that one question is that still an impact worth making so don't be afraid to take risks and push yourself creatively by committing solely to creating what you feel like you need to create eventually that audience will come and eventually it'll all be forgotten anyways so there's no point in hiding behind a fear of not being recognized so I guess maybe that kind of leaves us back where we started then what's the point I did this project because I wanted to it seemed like it might be kind of crazy and weird and it was a good opportunity to push myself and challenge myself as a Creator and as an artist and go through this big impossible ridiculous thing that no reasonable person would probably do for the sake of making something that I felt had meaning and significance that might connect with other people it's I guess ultimately a good reminder that art isn't really about the money or the success or anything like that it's about an opportunity to express myself in a way that I just don't know how to do otherwise and it gave me that outlet that if I don't take I just feel like I'm going to explode that at the end of the day I think is what keeps me going with this stuff and I got to go on this crazy interesting adventure with one of my best friends and do something ridiculous and hang out and make music and that's pretty cool and I don't know who knows maybe this is one of those things that takes off and people really really enjoy it and it does blow up and connect with a whole bunch of people but if it doesn't I don't really care because I had a lot of fun with it but that's me and that's not you is it so why should you keep going why should you care why should you finish that song why should you jump on that next collab why should you learn that instrument why should you release that album you've been meaning to release since your 20s I guess it's like Ben said 2600 miles ago and 12 days ago in our weird Journey making abstract music art film projects that probably no one will see or care about it's not about building this thing to be remembered it's about living your life and enjoying it while you have it [Music] [Music]

Channel: Venus Theory

Views: 319,951

Keywords: Venus Theory, sound design, bitwig, bitwig studio, fl studio, logic pro x, ableton, cubase

Id: 8pMAo_qzpO8

Length: 15min 20sec (920 seconds)

Published: Tue May 16 2023