Music! Is Familiarity King?

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Let me entertain you!

Recently whilst listening to a local band and after hearing them play four of their own original songs, I noticed that the crowed wasn't all that into it. "Was this down to them being bad?" I hear you ask, and the answer is "NO!"

The problem was they were relatively new so no-one, including myself, had heard their material before. That brings me onto a delicate subject of whether to play cover versions or not to play cover versions, that is the question. To compound matters the band became anxious, the crowd picked up on it and became restless and so then, fortunately, for the common good of all, they read the mood well, performed a cover of a well known song and everyone laughed and got into it. From then on there was a noticeable improvement in the crowd for the rest of their set list.

There's no doubt it's tough just to stick with your own original material, especially when it's had little exposure. That's the major advantage of being part of the big corporate music machine, exposure. Yes there's social media but that will only take you so far. With mainstream radio plays, for instance, your songs are played on repetition through out each day. That song you weren't sure you liked soon takes on a life of its own when it's played over and over. How many times have you heard yourself whistling or humming a tune and then becoming mad at yourself because it's one you say you can't stand the sound of? 

Familiarity that's what the masses thrive on. They can't sing along to your tune, with lighters and mobiles held aloft, when they don't know the words or the melody to your songs. So many factors go into what makes for a good entertaining show but I think the obvious one is, the one that is usually missed..... observing the crowd. Maybe you just might have to compromise your ethics on cover versions. If you have lost the audience, you've lost everything. It's no good getting caught up in your band, your tunes, your instrument playing and not notice no-one is listening any more. 

People want to be entertained, they may have paid good money for the privileged, we who are categorised as relatively unknown artists, and to the same extent, established artists need to remember, it's all about the fans. After all where would any artist be without them?

I'm Not A Singer/Songwriter!

What Is And What Should Never Be

On the eve of Salterszo's twelfth musical release 'Most Popular- EP' I ask Steve about his ambitious task of tackling a new genre... Pop. 

"I suppose the obvious question and place to start is Why?"

"Well I was thinking about what I had produced before and thought about a change in direction. I asked myself, could I actually write outside of my comfort zone?, and if I could, then why not try a new genre. If I am a songwriter, shouldn't I be able to write songs for whoever or whatever is asked of me?"

"But aren't you a singer/songwriter? After all it's you that writes your songs and sings them too!"

"Well no, I'm not a singer/songwriter. Someone like Adele, she's a singer/songwriter. Singer comes first, it's all about Adele's amazing voice. That's what her fans like her for, that's what she's noted for,  and then it's about the song, melody, chorus etc after that. For me it's the opposite. I'm all about the song first, the melody, the arrangements, the hook lines, the choruses etc. My singing will always be secondary. I hate my singing voice but when you're flying solo, on a budget of zero, then who else can sing them. Someone's got to! and fortunately or unfortunately that task falls to me."

"Did you not feel that given you have a small audience that this might be a venture too far?"

"No, I think it's more dangerous as an established artist to try something new. Take for instance, Tom Petty, you know what you're getting, but say Tom decided to do an EDM Album, people would freak out! For me being relatively unknown, trying something new carries little risk at all. Let's be brutally honest here, who cares? If I do this or that there's barely a ripple in the pond that is the music industry, so no, I'm at complete liberty. There's no A&R or management, or producer, or label making excessive demands, I guess that's to my advantage and grants me carte blanche."

"So now the EP's out how do you think you've done?"

"I don't know really. That's all down to the listener, they are the ones who decide if it's good or bad, they are the ones to decide if it will have wide appeal and be accepted. The hard part is getting people to listen. Sure I can upload to all major digital music retailers and music streaming services, blag about it over every social network there is, but whether people can find the needle, that is my music, amongst the giant haystack of tunes out there, well... I don't know." 

"Everyone is pushing something these days. With social media there's lots of  go listen to my new tune, like me, subscribe, please comment, hell, people are even paying for those things to get noticed. I like to believe it's all about the songs, if they're good enough, people will find them and if they're not, then they'll pale into insignificance."

And with that Steve readies another brew. I loved his honesty, his candidness, a lot of what he says is perfectly true. Will the music industry or public sit up and take notice of his work or this new venture, who knows, but what I do know is this, there is without doubt a vast array of talent out there that never appears on the mainstream radar, but if you're sick of hearing it, then grab a spade and start digging, you'll be surprised about the little gems you may dig up and find.

 Jeff Johnson 

(GratisMusic Reviews)

Music; Is It All It's Cracked Up To Be?

Does art deserve payment?

On the day of the official release of my new EP 'Most Popular', I ask myself why would anyone want to purchase it. Over the past few blogposts I've analysed the current state of the music industry and how we interact with it. So with all this data and statistics swirling around in my head it would seem the news of another EP from some obscure artist is hardly worth a mention. On top of which, languishing in obscurity and asking for payment is highly contestable.

With the ability to reach around the world via the internet a relatively unknown artist can nowadays beam themselves onto computer screens, ipads and mobile phones. They can setup social profiles, appear on digital retail sites and reach an audience that back in the day was never thought possible. The problem with that is every Tom, Dick and Harriet with a guitar is doing it. This now diminishes the advantages, since viewers and potential fans may never find you amidst the masses.

Noel Gallagher, in a recent interview on radio q said, if they (Oasis) had of been able to access this super highway into peoples lives, they would have conquered the world. A far easier route than what they had to work tirelessly on and endure. But what was the one most important thing he said about achieving that goal? The songs, the songs have got to be good enough.

That's the key. Why would anyone want to download my new EP or anyone elses for that matter? Because the songs are good, it's that simple. 

In conclusion, to engage with someone through the medium that is music, to get them to discover you, to stop them skipping the track, to keep them listening past track three, to get them to download your tunes all comes down to one thing and one thing only, the songs have got to be good, really, really good. Who is the judge of that? You the listener...

 Salterszo - Most Popular (EP)

Salterszo - Most Popular (EP)

OH! I'M BORED, [mouse click].... SKIP TRACK

Nearly 50% of people will skip a track...

Yes, that is the honest truth of the matter. Practically half of everyone, who manages to find your music, will skip the track before it finishes. The question an Artist must ask themselves is 'Why?'.

There are some statistical (raised eyebrow), results, coming from Spotify data analytical sources, showing, when engrossed in our music listening, we skip more, but skip less, when it's providing a backdrop to whatever tasks we are doing. It has also pointed to the worst perpetrators, our youth.

It would seem that when we have more free time and engaged more in listening to music we are more prone to skip tracks more frequently. Check the table at the top from (www.digitalmusicnews.com) to see how quickly people are moving on.

So with this months theme of who, what, where, when and why, people listen to music these days, I ponder over the chance of anyone finding track four of my EP, let alone actually auditioning it, all the way to it's end. With the statistics shown above, maybe 20sec music tracks is the way to go (over the top reaction), but the whole thing is very alarming. So if I, or any other artist, don't catch you within 20sec's, you're GONE! So half of everyone will skip the track and half of all those who skip a track will skip it within 5sec's. That's scary figures.

So is it all down the Artist or the quality of the song? Well it would seem on the evidence to not entirely be the case. I believe the biggest culprit is the nightmare creation, spawned by the convenience, of the digital age. 

I'm old school, back in the day, to skip a track required a lot of effort. You actually had to stand up, cross over the entire length of a living room, lift a plastic lid, lift a stylus arm with definitude and with the utter most move of mechanical precision and positioning, lower a stylus back onto the specific groove, without scouring you new prized music album. This usually caused a cat to jump six feet into the air (if you were too hasty) and the odd brow to be mopped, when the entire procedure was all over. Now it's all done proficiently with a single click or button press. 

It is with fear and trepidation (he says coyingly), I present the, 1:30sec iTunes preview of track four from my latest EP, for your listening distaste, skipping, or continued pleasure? Just click the track name to listen.

Track 4: Your New Love

The importance of Album track order.

Track 3....Throw Me A Lifeline.

In this day and age when listening to a full album in its entirety seems to be ever spiralling down a slippery slope of exiguous enthusiasm, track order has become significantly more important than ever.

It is estimated by A&R and streaming service decision makers that the maximum number of songs that can be listened to, by an  individual, with today's fast paced lifestyle, is three to four songs. It has been conclusively proven that the earlier a song appears on an album the more likely it is to be streamed and auditioned. Sadly this is not what most artists want to hear but stats and figures show this to now be a mainstream trend. People listen to music while doing ten other things at once and simply sitting down for a good hour to listen to an album in it's entirety is frankly near impossible.

So taking this into account made me personally re-think how my music should be delivered. Now instead of presenting an eleven track album, I have tended to favour four to five track EP's. So instead of one release a year I can now offer two or three depending on song quality.

That brings me on nicely to the dominant feature of any music offering..... QUALITY! Doing smaller releases has forced me to work harder, to trash weaker songs that would most possibly have been included on fuller album releases, and to scrutinise the finer details more. I'm not saying or claiming my songs are the best songs you will ever hear, no I'm not that conceited, but what I am saying is, I work harder to produce and feature better songs.

So to sum up, the evidence is overwhelming. If I want what I believe to be the best songs on my EP\Album I better have them placed as tracks one to three or at a push one to four. This should see them achieve their highest streams, on listening web based sites, and highest paid\unpaid downloads should they be deemed worthy enough to own and keep by the fans.

Track two's blog was entitlted 'Are you still listening?' I hope by track three you've been captivated enough to stick around for tracks four and five as well.

Track 3 sample;

Throw Me A Lifeline