Musicians Choices

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Have you ever been listening to a certain type of song and the lyrics and beat make you feel a certain way. Artists do this on purpose when thinking about what type of music they are going to produce. No matter what mood you may be in when listening to a song, there is something in your brain that triggers a certain sort of feeling for the time being. The person who wrote this article and website at  http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/artistdevelopment.htm on how musicians make decisions is Christopher Knab he is a music business consultant and owner of Aquarius Records in San Francisco.

I have learned from research that when artists are very young not knowing they are going to make it to the big time they just play music that they enjoy playing and singing. But as they grow popular every choice they make are influenced by the fans and music companies that are willing to buy there music. Christopher states that “In the music business, everything starts with a song. Without great songs, there is no music business. Songwriting is not just an artistic expression; it is the axis upon which the music business rotates,” showing how the whole idea of making money and the business aspect of the musicians has great affect on their music.  

              Musicians have to be mindful about just about everything when trying to produce successful music, from the songs, the logos, all the way down to the shoes that they wear when performing. Christopher brings up an interesting point in how “people only respond to what they feel are great songs. [Artists] songs must have some commercial appeal, if only to a certain music niche. (Folk, Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, New Age, Jazz, Blues, etc.) Finding that niche, and learning how to manage its growth is essential to becoming a successful act.” He is saying how in order to be successful an artist must create a song and appearance that has some sort of feel when listening to or when thinking about the artist. Overall from what I have learned through researching why musicians produce certain music, the biggest impact on them is the audience members.

Future research question: How does music make an individual feel? What is it about certain songs that make people connect to it?