dayglocrazie

a friend was giving me feedback on my performance the other day. he was telling me it’s not just about tripping to your music while playing - that the artist needs to engage her audience. he’s right: an artist DOES need to do that. but he fails to see the many ways by which this can be done.

enter mirror neurons.

these are certain neurons in your brain that ‘mirror’ the same response that you observe. eg - when you see someone cut himself, your mirror neurons fire the same signals it would if YOU had cut your hand. in this way you ‘feel’ his pain. mirror neurons are the reason we feel empathy - and why we love watching movies. actors are basically exploiting your mirror neuron’s ability to make you feel a certain way.* it’s much more complex and inextricably linked to our nature but we’re only concerned with their relation to performance for now.  

so if we apply this principle to watching an artist trip while performing, we can be sure that we’ll feel the same way she does while she loses herself.

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* that’s probably also why you want to smoke when you see someone smoke in a movie (and hence the ‘pointless’ warning against smoking at the bottom of the screen every time someone lights up).

some of my friends are cutting albums. some have already mastered their tracks, some are going to start recording, while others have made cd covers and artwork. here’s some thoughts:

when was the last time you bought a cd? 

people buy music online (if they’re not downloading torrents or ripping it directly off bandcamp/ soundcloud).

where are the music stores? who’s gonna stock it to sell them for you?

we all know the deal with albums. the first and last two songs can be expected to be awesome: with obscure tracks in the middle. who wants to listen to those?

even YOU don’t love all your music.

of course you can make some money off merchandising when you play at festivals/ venues but how much is that worth? how does it compare in your income vs expense analysis (assuming you’re looking to earn from it)?

it’s okay of course, if you’re doing it just for fun. but then why spend unnecessary money on it when you can simply upload it on soundcloud/ bandcamp for free? send us links!

it’s easier (and cheaper) to distribute virtual links than to distribute physical cds. is there something else you could use that money for?

when was the last time u listened to an entire album?

the audience’s behaviour has changed. cherry picking is what it’s about. don’t give them a basket-full of it.

amanda palmer is releasing singles three days after she’s made it!