Ray888

Yes Donna, but it feels like I am 5 years old and have just started school. Please can you teach me Mam?

Well, I thank God for the internet, and those who created it of course.

S**t, I am totally F****d, I can't swim.

Yes, we are all slaves to something or other. Even the president of the good old USA. I think that in today's society, and in most parts of the world, many individuals have been sucked into the idea that unless they are "somebody" then they become a no-body. Sad really. I take your point about the music business being fickle, but then again, so is the film industry, television, sales, politics etc, etc. When people are down on their luck or aren't performing consistently, they tend to be dumped pretty quickly. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual and how honest, compassionate, and honourable they choose to be. Most times, the pressure of business wins, and the outcome is more often than not, at the expense of someone who is nameless to them.

I will agree that you are correct in stating that many record company executives are not very nice people. The majority are very selfish, cut throat, pompous and to put it mildly, "Ass holes". However, I cannot say that I can put them all into that particular category. There are a couple of decent RCBs that I have found to be honerable people. When I mentioned stamina, and perhaps I didn't make it clear enough for you to understand, I meant artists that have the ability to take a million no's without getting phased or depressed over it. They have this ability to badger people into submission. It doesn't mean that they ass lick as you put it.

I believe that the individuals or groups who tend to do well in the music industry, are the one's that possess an abundance of drive, perseverance, and stamina. These qualities from what I have witnessed over the years, often succeed over talent. Some twenty odd years ago, I witnessed one particular unknown American girl who came to the UK because she thought it would be easier to break into a smaller market. I happened to be in the office of a certain record company boss at the time. She was introduced by a channel 4 woman producer who had indicated that the girl was talented. After 3 tracks were listened to, the girl was told that she would be contacted. After the producer and the girl left the office, the RC boss turned to me and said "she'll never make it", not in a million years. That girl finished up being a mega star not just in America, but worldwide That girl had an abundance of drive, perseverance, and stamina. Regardless of how talented she was, she wouldn't have made it without those qualities. I have watched many talented individuals give up on themselves, because they lack those essential qualities.

I don't have any definite answers to this question, although people do seem to have a need to fit things into a box or genre as the case may be. My own belief is that within the creative process, if I try to fit something into a specific category, it can restrict that creative process. If I look back to as early as the 50s, which I am old enough to do, there were few genres. Today, I can't count them all. I recently wrote some lyrics believing that they were soft rock, and when the track came back from the composer, it surprised me enormously that the tempo was half what I expected, and I found myself listening to a jazzy ballad. Just goes to show you, what do I know????