Are we making your record - or are we making another record I should know about?
I ask this question of nearly every prospective client. It's just my way of knowing what we're getting into - and my way of establishing value alignment from take one. Because obviously - it super important to make the record the artists wants. A record should be legacy.
98.99% of artists claim emphatically that we are making their record. That they are willing and committed to taking the time and energy [emotional] to find and create their sonic and emotive signature. But invariably, shortly into the process, it becomes clear that we are (re)making their favorite record(s). That we are in essence inserting them into a pre-existing archetype or concept. Akin to using stock photos in your personal photo album or b-roll video in your own home videos.
I'm not sure if it's always been this way, but I notice lately that most people define success as successfully imitating something else successful. Whereas even a decade ago, entrepreneurs (artists are the quintessential entrepreneurs) the idea was to do something new - something that would become the definition of success, nowadays the idea is to clone what's already a proven winner. The net result is often a product that's unremarkable and expendable - measurable by looking at the absence of modern recording artists with career longevity.
I'm always astonished how with all of the different guitars, drums, mics, mixing consoles and most importantly artists available, most popular music sounds +/- the same. In a world of infinite creative options, it seems both artists and the bulk of consumers want the same song - over and over again? That music has been reduced to a brand of soda or cigarettes. I'm a Nickleback man?!?
My two cents - do yourself and your fans a favor. Do something unique. Do something new. Do something you.
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