Clay Anderson Johnson

Interesting article, I listened to pieces of the soundtrack on Youtube. It is kind of hard to form an opinion without watching the movie or hearing the soundtrack continuously as a whole. It seemed a lot like something Robert Fripp might do although I might be totally off base since I only heard segments of it.

Permit me to draw an analogy. I know a person who is the top fundraiser for a national charity. She is #1 in the United States. I listened to her speak at an event. After she finished I said to her, "I know exactly why you are successful. You don't have a goal, you use a system." We both agreed that using systems trumps having goals.

Self-promotion is what I do best. It has never crossed my mind that indifference to me might exist only that someone might not know my work yet. The only things which would separate me from being a narcissist are I have deep compassion and empathy for other people and would never harm anyone. What I hate is the work involved with professional self-promotion. It is time consuming and can detract from other things. That's why I have a relationship with a publicist. You can too. People believe just because they don't have a label or are not mainstream they can't get professional assistance. That's nonsense. You can get any business help you need if someone sees you as a potential source of income. You may have to pay them a retainer but services are a business write off just like equipment. If you are not willing to put money into yourself why not? I also have investors. They didn't come to me. I found them and then exercised self-promotion. If you want a good incentive to get serious have an investor who contractually expects repayment. [Also have a good disclaimer, hold harmless clause in your agreement. This means you should also consider an attorney and should be registered as a LLC or incorporated. Consult your attorney for the best method for yourself.] All these fall under the category of "finding your boy." They are out there and they won't find themselves. If you truly want any measure of professional success build your career like a business.

I don't disagree with any of this. You have a different concept of technology than most I have known. The majority of people I talk with think primarily of the Internet and having multiple outlets available for unsigned artists. A few think beyond that into DAWs and the availability of instantaneous communication. Few other than yourself have gone into the area of instrumentation in any depth.

This is one of the points I attempted to make in my previous post The Future. Everything good which ever happens in any art form arises as a rejection of the previous form usually because it is overdone and no longer has life. It has become the proverbial beating of a dead horse. Most often this goes hand in hand with generational change but except for the Internet changing the means of distribution things have been more or less static for 30 years. Technology is a vehicle not a genre, an art form, or a method of presentation. It is true that the Internet has allowed some eccentric individuals and groups to attain distribution. However none of them have been game changing artists or performers. College age neo-hippies redoing Folk and Folk Rock is not groundbreaking or earth shaking news. Returning to musical roots and reimagining them was what happened when White people discovered the Blues. That was huge! It not only created recognition and amplification for that genre. It had far reaching repercussions having an impact in the Pop music world. Blues influenced guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page laid the groundwork for Heavy Metal creating a new genre.

I used to love playing live. Now it is the one point where it becomes all about the money. Playing in a band with your friends when you are young is an entirely different animal than auditioning, rehearsing, and touring.

That's great Steve go for it. I understand the creative drive part. As far as emotional fallout, I assume you mean rejection. People learn more from failing than from success. Evaluate who the source is and why they said it. If it has validity you might want to recalculate some things. If it doesn't then it doesn't matter. Imagination rules the world. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Stephen Foster was a mediocre songwriter but he became the most famous of the 19th century. Why? According to first hand accounts he apparently shoved a copy of his sheet music into the hands of everyone he met. What he lacked in artistic finesse he counter balanced by being a marketing genius. Do you consider music as something beyond a hobby and would like to produce income from it? If so think about your business model. Have you invested time, money, and effort which did not involve Music as Art? Registered LLC or incorporated Business bank account Copyrighted registrations with the Library of Congress Agent Publicist Attorney Investors BMI or ASCAP membership American Federation of Musicians membership Distribution of recordings through Distrokid or CDBaby Professional website with links to online retailers What are you doing to make your dream a career? UPDATE: I seem to have created some confusion by using the term Publicist rather than PR (Personal Representation) Agent. A Publicist gets you promoted any way they can. They work for you as one of your team of representatives. This is different from a Publisher who distributes your songs for sale to other artists. A Publicist sells YOU as an artist. A Publisher sells your SONGS.

I kept tying to quote only the last paragraph but for whatever reason couldn't. Being a madman who cares about nothing else is the anthem of great artists throughout the ages.

This is actually another way of stating my proposition. Everything returns once more to its roots with a new variation as "fans will start to increasingly crave real music". The roots of everything usually come from indigenous peoples. The primary source of rhythmic music is Africa. Those rhythms took root in America as the Blues which evolved into Jazz. Scotch-Irish ballads evolved into Country. However the sound of Rock came from the Industrial Age and factory machinery. Electronic music came from the rise in Technology. Pop can be traced back to the English music halls and Broadway. Your insight of Technology becoming the nemesis of Art also aligns with my statement that is more a platform and method of production than a genre or variety in presentation.

This is not unusual. People generally try to be polite and supportive. That's human nature. My personal experience with feedback is the only people who will really give you what you are looking for are those with a financial stake in your music. As long as you are happy with what you are doing nothing else matters. Keep doing what you like. I've changed a lot over the years also. I used to love playing live with a band. I was hardcore Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. Now I'm married, live in a beautiful area outside DC in Maryland, and my listening music leans toward John Coltrane and Miles Davis. I'd rather be at home with my wife and dog.

That's Great! I'm happy for both you and her. There is more than enough success to go around. I don't see life is a zero sum game where someone has to lose for another to win. Everyone benefits from sharing community.

Why Do You Create Music? People have many reasons and facets regarding their involvement in Music. It may be a hobby, a professional goal, or an occupation. There are many paths toward becoming involved. The most common are listed below. Please select as many as you like and rank in your order of importance for yourself. Listing by numbers only is fastest and easiest to read for clarity. Enjoyment, Fun, Hobby Learning/Educational Experience Self Expression Creatively Driven (psychological need) Social (plays with friends) Community (church, teacher) Career Aspiration/Goal Self Taught Formally Trained Lifestyle Fame or Celebrity Professional Recognition Writer or Collaborator (lyrics) Writer or Collaborator (music) Writer or Collaborator (both) Live Performer (solo) Live Performer (band) Instrumentalist Vocalist Instrumentalist and Vocalist Recording (demos) Recording (products) Income (part time) Professional Other Any additional comments regarding yourself would be appreciated. (Comments regarding the post format are not helpful in answering the question. The question is to illuminate who you are in your own eyes.) Mine would be 4, 15, 22, 17, 20, 24. Creativity is more important to me than money. Fame has never interested me, celebrity I view as more of a curse than a blessing. I personally see no difference in how people learn as it is the result not the method which matters. Some of the greatest musicians can’t read a note. Although I am an adequate singer I prefer to let someone who is great, preferably a woman, be in the spotlight while I prompt the band.

Indie is truly the wave of the future as the Internet broke the stranglehold of the recording industry. I believe this will lead to more music producing more money for more musicians. The flip side is the corporate world will do everything possible to ensure its survival. The most likely result will be more lowest common denominator content with heavy financial backing. Bill Maher once observed, "The quality of the music is in inverse proportion to the number of dancers onstage."

The marketplace is not my fellow musicians and the audience is only one portion of it. The other portion is global capitalism. My observations of it are simply that not judgements. I would not call this track joyful. It is intentionally dark and evocative of primitivism as it was written for a specific project. This is Primordial. https://music.apple.com/us/album/primordial-single/1587416680?uo=4&app=apple+music

I don't disagree with your statement about simplicity and the I IV V progression. As Woody Guthrie noted, "Any damn fool can be complex. The hard part is keeping it simple." I do disagree with the conflation of technology and platforms such as Spotify, Tidal, YouTube, Xirius, Pandora, Bandcamp, iHeartRadio, etc. as variety and choice in presentation. I was speaking of the format of the presentation by the artist not the distribution of it. It is the content of the genres which need to evolve. I believe the Rock, Pop, and Country genres have grown incredibly boring and withering from lack of fresh ideas. One of the main reasons Country is more than boring is the rhythms are not sexy. (I am a member of AFM Local #257 Nashville.) If you combine many Country lyrics and an artist whose concept of presentation is not stand like a statue and strum with rhythmically danceable music other than Two Step, etc. you have leapt a mile artistically. The question then becomes will the audience continue to follow only what is familiar or will younger minds look for something more original? The United States is becoming more racially mixed, especially more Latino. I foresee Latin rhythms becoming more prominent.

I would never wish to be less than respectful to anyone. I don't disagree except for your use of the word "only". Also audiences and musicians have no choice other than to respond to it.

@Popthree Try approaching the question from this perspective. "What are the trends you foresee in the stylistic and presentational progression in the market for commercial Music?" Music moves along multiple paths rather than a singular one. However some genres are always more dominant than others due to demand by the audience. How do you see audience demand changing due to the overexposure to near static formulas in presentation which only have changed minutely in decades?

What do you believe to be the future of Music as far as its direction? I believe the most widespread musical community will be based upon rhythms from the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. It is joyful music that lifts people during oppressive times. The combination of new melodies with these rhythms is a way forward from genres which have grown stale from overuse and from too much similarity of content within themselves. As Carlos Santana observed, "Everything else has lost its candy coating." It would also be a more cohesive whole rather than the fragmentation of the marketplace which has only grown worse since the 1990s.

For any of these Industrious, Imaginative, and Talented should not need to be mentioned. What would/do you look for in a songwriter? Lyricist: Emotional depth, command of language, originality, universality Music: The ability to express emotion without words, versatile, resourceful, skilled, knowledgable What would/do you look for in an artist? Originality, ambition, drive, tenacity, optimism, enthusiasm What would/do you look for in a producer? Someone who wants to understand and convey your vision. Not someone who tries to tell you how to do it. What would/do you look for in a collaborator? Knowledgable and educated with a wide perspective, open, honest, original, committed What do you look for in a music community? Participation

Imagination rules the world. - Napoléon Bonaparte Engagement is the key.

Sounds like an excellent plan Mike. One of my biggest deficiencies is a weakness in sight reading. I can read a score easily but I cannot read one and play it at the same time although I can read one and sing it. I had to leave 7th grade Band because of this. I've tried several times to learn with both piano and guitar but for whatever reason I simply don't have the hand/eye coordination. I'm like the proverbial one fingered typist.

As a believer in life long learning I joined Masterclass.com yesterday. At the moment I am taking The Art and Soul of Music with Carlos Santana. After that it will be Electric Guitar with Tom Morrello and Herbie Hancock on Jazz. There is also Performance with Usher, Songwriting with Alicia Keyes, Country Music with Reba McEntyre, Writing for the Screen with Danny Elfman, and many others in their Music Section.

Hi! My name is Clay, I brand under my full name Clay Anderson Johnson. I live with my wife outside Washington, DC. My website is Prospro.co. I am a member of the American Federation of Musicians and a BMI songwriter. I play guitars, bass, keyboards, and am a vocalist. I have played gigs for over 20 years. I am primarily self trained but I have learned from many other musicians. I have a college education from UCLA in Music Business and Creative Industries and professional training in record production. Additionally I am a college trained fiction writer. My musical roots run deep from Blues, Classical, Country, Jazz, Latin, R&B, and Rock. You could describe me as being open to musical and philosophical diversity. I shun boundaries in any intellectual endeavor. I have performed in multiple genres. My longest band gig was as the lead guitarist for The Wolves in Los Angeles for 5 years. I have no interest in playing live at this time unless it is in a touring band playing mid-size venues or larger at higher than union scale. I record in my home studio using Logic Pro. I would not call myself a tech head although I am computer literate. I owned a business building commercial websites professionally for 3 years during the early Wild West days of the Internet. You may find Primordial, the first release from my current project, THE EVOLUTION OF MNNN, on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, or most other online retailers. Primordial leans more toward being a cinematic track but I do write songs with music and lyrics. This one would be best classified as Latin Jazz. I have done Graphic Arts professionally and written screenplays although I have never sold one. I have also produced mid-size live events but nothing larger than theater capacity. My goal here is community and shared knowledge.