A pARADIGM OF Quality

A noticeable reduction in quality music in the 2020s? is it a natural result of every amateur self producing from a bedroom studio and pushing mediocre singles as fast as possible without any care for producing a song that's unforgettable? I'm feeling salty today... What do you think about this?

Some perspective. Not all modern music is trash. Some of the recent favourites in my collection are more like cult classics. They'll never be greatest hits, and i believe there will never be another Beatles, and the days of big-budget productions are phasing out to be replaced by an 'industry' that now seems to consist of something like a thousand independent (or semi-indie) micro niches & subcultures. More opportunity, also less. More Competition, also a blue ocean... It depends on your perspective and how you move.

​Be authentic, get creative, produce quality.

It raises a question about the importance of quality. Now, I understand this is hugely subjective and the answer is likely 'it depends', but should you take your time to focus on less output at higher quality, or more releases at a regular schedule? Both approaches have merit depending on what your goals are, but both also have their disadvantages.

I'll dig into the pros and cons of each another day... The purpose of this article is to air the ideas while they're fresh. I hope you find some value in it. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter.

In terms of getting music in front of an audience, I believe that first impressions matter a lot. If I discover a new artist and the song is mediocre, I might not bother to listen to the next one when it drops or bother to dig through the rest of the library to find the 1 in 100 that are actually amazing. It's nuanced. I've written before on my blog about genuine connection and it takes something truly special to connect enough for a new listener to actually add your song to regular rotation, enough for someone to actually care about your catalogue of past music beyond a single stream.

The question I have towards taking more time to focus on something exceptional is this: is it actually beneficial to aim to drop 1-2 singles per month? Since 2017 or so this has been the norm for indies, but is it really a winning strategy, or should we maybe slow it down a bit to raise the bar on quality? There has been a noticeable decrease in the attention-span of the average social-media user over time and simultaneously, the online world is mega-saturated with artists all trying the same strategy, all battling for attention in a world where attention span is approximately 5-40 seconds.. When something is the same as everything else it's not special. I believe that Top-Quality is such an important factor. How could a song that was written, produced, and released in 2-4 weeks possibly make a significant impact?

To me it feels like counting on having a retirement by winning the lottery. Is it playing on the lucky chance of a song maybe turning out good?

On the other hand, this approach DOES help one refine their skills through volume over time, expecting that not everything will be a hit or even good. But through practice, knowledge is gained and skills are improved. from this perspective it might be considered an iterative process.  It's likely that there's no single right answer to this line of thinking. It's nuanced and depends on the goals/motives of the individual.

I'm torn because on one hand, having a lot of tracks is somewhat evergreen. I've heard it in marketing called a 'long tail' and that's great but on the other hand, with a highly competitive attention economy and cheap and easy access to production tools, often in the hands of creatives without the skill set to properly produce a quality product from these tools, it leaves something to be desired in the final quality. Once upon a time I was a producer who played in the band, while handling all the production, and also wrote several of the songs. I was wearing too many hats, spread too thin that the quality suffered. We likely would have had better results not trying to do it all ourselves. A lesson to be learned here.  

To this idea of producing many tracks on the long-tail, a question: how is this affected by the current state of human affairs. if we are creators all vying for the attention of our audience, and if there's a ton of saturation/competition, meaning its harder than ever to convince someone to really pay attention in the first place, does rushing releases cause unnecessary work for less-favourable results?

Am I wrong in this assumption?

(admittedly, sometimes it's a passion project and is created for creation sake. That's besides the point for now)

The days of big-budget productions are less common these days where once upon a time time and care would be spent to perfect an act before it even enters the studio for production, we now see bedroom studio amateurs with big aspirations writing in-'studio' at the DAW, churning out track after track. I wonder if it would make sense to encourage these artists to slow down and really focus on the details that make a track stand the test of time, or is everyone simply playing the lottery hoping the inspiration of the moment gives them a song that is so wonderful that it can't be denied. 

Tough challenge. I enjoy a few artists that had a few good songs and a whole lot of bad ones, but i believe that artists would find their success easier if they simply slowed down and focused on quality over quantity... What is a timeless song anyway?

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