ON THE INTERNET

ON THE INTERNET!

Do you know how hard it is to make it? That you can't do so on pure desire? That not only do you need luck, but a modicum of talent and incredible people skills, something the haters do not possess.

But no, anybody who rises above is now a target. And too many don't realize this and back down and capitulate to the haters.

We need a hater re-education camp. We've got to give them all jobs. Devise exams to show that no, they're not entitled to be worldwide superstars.

Life is hard. And sure, I'd like to be further up the totem pole than I am, and it's hard not to be frustrated. But if you truly want to make it, you've got to work and adjust...and then you still probably won't make it.

But you can sit at home and complain.

But what does this buy you? Vitality

Your goal is to keep your music alive. There's nothing more frustrating than spending a year on an album and then seeing it disappear in a month, never to be heard again as you ply the boards playing your greatest hits.They call it show business.

But it starts with art. Business is easy, and always comes last. You can always hire someone to do your business, but you can't easily hire someone to create magic.It takes a long time to get your breakthrough moment. And when you get your opportunity, you've got to kill.

This is the opposite of conventional wisdom. People believe it's about the fame more than the work, and that if you just get a chance, you're in. But where are the losing contestants of "American Idol" today? Where are the WINNERS!

First and foremost, you've got to love what you do. Because that may be all that you get, the work experience. If your happiness depends upon becoming a household name, you're gonna waste a lot of time in the trenches being frustrated. That's the number one reason people give up, frustration, they don't like that it's so hard... Winners don't always win because they're better than everybody else,it can be because he or she has social skill or a great kiss ass-er, but frequently because they outlast everybody, there are fewer competitors down the road. I know, I know, music is a youth business. But that's changing. Youth records don't pay as well as they used to and oldsters have disposable income and are interested in music. If you think your chance expired when you hit your thirtieth birthday you're thinking inside the box, and that'll hurt you.

The biggest payment you can get in this world is attention. Everybody's overwhelmed with incoming. When you presume we've got time to waste on you, you're wrong. We're not sitting at home bored, we don't have time to do all we want, but we always have room for excellence. So when you finally get our attention, you've got to deliver. As for a second chance? That's so twentieth century...

Don't ask for someone's time until you're ready.

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Infinite patience brings immediate results.

Hi,I'm back with something I wanted to share with you.I have been working hard on my originals and working on my last tune.I can tell you I have been frustrated many times with composing something for hours and even days and just erasing different parts of the tunes the next day.But I'm very happy with 11 tunes I wrote so far.I have done a mixture of all the influences of music I was exposed to in my life. Like: Funk,Jazz,Latin jazz,fusion,soul,rock and ethnic music. The ethnic styles have rubbed off on me,because I lived 8 years in the Far East and 16 years in the middle east and Africa,off and on. Here is a copy of an article on positive thinking.Hope it inspire's you. There is no shortcut to anywhere worth going.  There is no substitute for doing the work.  Meditate on this every day: “I will do the work.”  You must run to be a runner.  You must write to be a writer.  You must actively attend to your relationships if you want them to flourish. By all means, find ways to be more efficient.  But make no mistake that it takes diligent effort to build something worthwhile.  There are certainly some success stories out there about people who excelled rather quickly, but you will usually find they had put in years of related work long before anyone was paying attention to their seemingly rapid success.  In other words, their current state of achievement is simply all those years of work coming together flawlessly in the present. The most effective way to handle what must be done is to do it.  Put in the required labor.  Don’t sell yourself short by taking shortcuts like these:   Taking the easiest route possible. Someday you will look back on your life and realize that everything worthwhile you’ve ever accomplished initially challenged you.  And that is as it should be, because big challenges often prepare ordinary people for extraordinary success. Every struggle arises for a reason – for experience or a lesson.  A great journey is never easy, and no dose of adversity along the way is ever a waste of time if you learn and grow from it. Remember, an arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards, and such is life.  When life is pulling you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to eventually launch you forward in a positive direction.  So keep focusing, and keep aiming! “It shouldn’t be easy to be amazing.  Then everything would be.  It’s the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth.  When something’s difficult to come by, you’ll do that much more to make sure it’s even harder – or impossible – to lose.”
―Sarah Dessen

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Forced to Choose.

Have you felt forced to choose one? I am sooo sick of having shit pushed down my gob i have declined every local show for nearly a year... (and haven't missed it... I feel like I already saw seen done or been there by the time the actual gig happens and I'm sick of the band already before they start... or ...check out AND LIKE my page or tune...some idiotic musos think that if more people LIKE something others will follow like sheep sniffing the exit port of the one in front... next..... the thing I like about Facebook is that WE the fans can actually connect with the person on the recording.. (BUT.. if they are TOO positive all the time or ass kissing... I'm suspicious cuz NOBODY is like that ALL the time...(well maybe taylor swift but I'm sure she has bad days... ) Fans which I prefer to call friends because I actually communicate with them, before social networks I would EMAIL them personally just to say hi and NOT promote anything.. just be a friend... Face it we get ads rammed into our heads every turn of the radio dial or click of the TV, which is why I haven't listened to any rock radio or Jazz stations for over a year... Now I listen to some jazz,fusion,soul station that has not only expanded my horizons but also introduced me to so many new styles of music form all over the world MY music has gotten better because I'm finally INSPIRED~So I suppose those regurgitated ads DO serve a purpose, but the multiple event invites just kill it for me.The new gatekeepers will have it totally different. They'll garner eyeballs through substance, not the smoke and mirrors and flash of today. And once they gain power, they'll turn to the dark side, as the powerful always do.

Do you really expect NBC or CNN or Fox or MSNBC or any of the TV news outlets to matter in the future? They barely matter now! And the truth about baby boomers is they don't evolve, they pay lip service to the future and hang on to the past, riding the wave as long as they can until they cut out, swim to shore and start sipping Pina Coladas on the way to retirement.

The youth are inheriting the earth. It's happening now. And they don't believe in the old institutions nothing new about that,except they're computer-literate in a way that the oldsters never will be. And they're gonna build new institutions that will level those of the past.

But for now we've got to endure this inane chaos. Where those who don't count, the baby boomers and their get rich quick children, are so busy amplifying their message that you can't see the truth.

But the truth is we live in the age of the individual. That's why you social network, to embellish your identity and feel good, how many friends have you got? You tweet the news,some of you can say you knew first, not because you really care. a new leader, a new reality, a whole new paradigm is gonna emerge that will control us all, for better or worse, because we just can't take this crazy myopic cash grab a minute longer. There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle

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Some Musicians will never learn.

Some musicians will never learn no matter how long they been playing music in this business.

Don't bitch about Spotify payouts if you make no money selling music. The people who do will just laugh at you. Because everybody on the inside knows the pot is split up many ways, and the only way to make money is to be in the game a very long time. So you can renegotiate and make better deals.

Don't harangue people. It never works. You need favors. And by inundating and badgering you're just pissing people off.

Wanna know the dirty little secret? IT'S A BUSINESS! Want to get ahead, figure out a way for the intermediary to make money on you.

You complain that no one will book you. Venues are dying for acts that can sell out the house. Convince a promoter you'll make him money and he's all ears.

Ditto with agents and labels. Stop telling people how good you are, no one cares. They just want to know if you can make them money, preferably sooner rather than later.

And unless you're my friend, don't expect me to treat you like one. Friendship is earned, and the more successful you are the less time you have got, especially for those further down the economic food chain. The president of the label does not want to go to dinner with the wannabe, doesn't even want to listen to your record, they pay people to do that, because they just don't have enough time.

So the system is rigged against you. Welcome to the club! Everybody wants to be in entertainment, they're willing to work for free. And execs lose their jobs and agents and managers lose their acts, there is no safety net. Wanna get ahead? Don't try to make friends with those at the top unless you can make them money right away, as stated above. Make friends with people at your level. Those who have time for you, who can do you favours.

And only ask for a favour if you've got something you can give in return. Because favours are expensive. Everybody can't deliver for everybody all the time. This is why the scions of the rich will get a hearing from the exec. Because of who their parents are. But if you're bitching about this, I feel sorry for you, because most of the people in the entertainment game are self-starters, and tons of the connected wash out early, they're not hungry enough, or talented enough, and they lack perseverance.

You not only have to have skills, you've got to know the rules, you've got to study the game. A great hitter is useless if he doesn't know what base to run to, that he only gets three strikes, that four balls will put him on first. There's more info than ever out there on how the game works. If you wanna work in the industry you should know who all the players are, where they started out, where they're going. It's a lot of work, but everybody with a gig made this effort, it's second nature to them.

And sheer will and desire only goes so far. Sure, you've got to believe you're great, but there's a whole hell of a lot more that goes into success.

So be humble, look inside, keep adjusting your game.

Or sit on the sidelines with the rest of the losers playing the woulda, coulda, shoulda game with a chip on your shoulder.

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Another one bites the dust.

Getting old is not pretty.

And it's pretty damn weird,especially when you hear of people that you grew up with and admired that are passing away.

Same deal with the records. So many of those albums I drooled over in the sixties and seventies will never be heard again. Certainly not after I die. Yes, you've got a better chance of lasting if you're an artist, but that does not ensure longevity.

Kind of like this summer's movies. I read a great article about them. How you can't even remember this summer's hits! It's not a whole hell of a lot different in the music business. Top Forty songs are fodder, they go up the chart, fall off, and deleting them from your hard drive is even easier than trashing the physical product. Then again, with streaming you never have to own it, you've got no investment, so if you abandon a record or an act…C'est la vie!

But when you're younger everything's so damn important. You're still figuring out how the world works. It's all brand new. Then it gets old, and you die. Would it be different if we lived to 120? Would the arc change, would we still be invested in the evanescent or...

The bottom line is you age and your body just can't do it anymore, never mind your mind. You've got aches and pains. And the reason the original band can't get back together is someone is sick. It's like we're all Yugos, built to fall apart, in a zillion different ways. And some people can't even afford a mechanic.

So I'm trying to figure out where I'm going. I ain't got time to waste. And there are plenty of people doing just that. What's important?

There are so many stories of great comebacks, and no two are the same. The path for continued success through long periods of downtime is not an easy one. There doesn’t seem to be a magic formula for how an artist initiates their career comeback, but these artists each seem to have found their way to continue their career through adjacent industries, ultimately continuing to stay in the public eye and build their fan-base.

I'm the king of anxiety. I'm going out of town next week. Is this just a fantasy, psychosomatic pain, that is here today and will go away?

That's what I want to believe. I want to believe there's never anything wrong, and if I just tough it out, I'll prove it.

But that's gotten me into a lot of trouble.And then there are some who try to deny ageing. You know, they get plastic surgery and exercise ad infinitum, as if God and biology were listening.

They're not, just in case you're wondering.

And the one thing you don't want to do is miss out on opportunities, you don't want to live your whole life and end up with regrets. And the dirty little secret is it takes your whole damn life to do one tiny thing, just maybe. And too many people are trying to do everything and accomplish nothing.

But the closer you get to the destination, the less it means. Money, power, they're worth something, but not everything.Hell, but the truth is most people don't care. If you're doing it to impress others, boy are you wasting your time.

So, we baby boomers want to believe we'll be young forever.

But this is not true.

But equally weird is we're living longer than previous generations. What do we do with the time when we don't want to hear the music that we've heard before and it all sounds the same.Yes, there is some new talent,but most of it sounds the same.Don't want to go to the movies and know that the younger generations, still beholden to the cardboard reality constructed by the media, have already written us off.So, I'm happy and content that the future starts everyday when I can learn,accomplish,create and enjoy myself in whatever I do and if someone likes what I say or do..thank you..I think that's what life's about.Enjoy every moment and be open minded like a child that's curiosity is like the first time you experience it.

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Be all you can be

Be all you can be

Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you.
—Steve Jobs

You may be wondering, “But what if I fail? What if people judge me? What if I make something that gets rejected?” I hear you. I feel that way all the time. Heck, maybe this article will get rejected and people will hate it. People who are Makers feel these same fears. They worry about rejection and battle uncertainty just like everyone else. The only difference is that Makers don’t let how they feel prevent them from sharing what they know. But even more important to keep in mind is this: if you choose to create something, you’ve already won because you haven’t rejected yourself. You have already won because you’ve battled the limiting beliefs and the self–doubt and the excuses like “I don’t have enough time or enough money or enough experience” and you found a way to make it through to the other side. Yes, if you build something people might judge it or dislike it. But if you don’t create and share the things that you have inside of you, then you’ll commit the far worse crime of rejecting yourself.

Too many people die with their best ideas still inside of them. Your legacy is what you share, not what you know or harbor within yourself. Unshared knowledge is like potential energy. It’s great to have, but it will never do anything unless you turn it into something else. Turn your knowledge into a book. Turn your inspiration into art. Turn your words into music. Turn your ideas into a business. Build something. Write something. Create something. From time to time, it’s great to sit back and enjoy other people’s work. I love reading a good book or buying a good meal or watching an incredible game just as much as anyone else. But those passive activities are easy to do. What is more important is making a habit of stepping into the arena and playing the game instead of simply judging from the crowd. Make a habit of making things.One thing for sure,is that failure can not compete with persistence. You can either be judged because you created something or ignored because you left your greatness inside of you. Your call.

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Who Cares ?

Who cares?

And neither should you.

We live in an era that's person to person. Every man for himself. Woman too! You can make it if you really try, but you must cast aside the old rules and be out there, engaging the public, taking risks, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding. The packaged star went over the transom once Perez and TMZ got traction. Everybody's smoking dope and having sex. You're not clean and almost nobody's sober. You're better off owning it. Kind of like Janis Joplin swigging her Southern Comfort. If you try to hide it, then you're playing a game of GOTCHA, and you look bad.

Then again, there are no rules.

Other than you've got to have something to sell.

If your music can't stand alone, if it needs videos and hype, you're not going to last. No one in the world is waiting for PSY's next song. Hell, it wasn't about the tune or song, it was about the video. Heard anything from...what was the name of that band on Capitol again..? OK Go recently? OF COURSE NOT! It was about the videos, not the music.

But everybody's looking for an easy way out. Wishful thinking!

Now you can be famous and a joke. Just ask Kim Kardashian. As for Kanye West, I wish he'd stop talking and just make music. Every time he opens his mouth and boasts he loses another fan. We get it Kanye, you're talented, now STFU!

But if you are going to speak. And you're somewhat famous.... Do it from the heart. That's your only chance of connecting. Because we live in a lonely alienated world where everybody's telling you you're inadequate and inferior and when someone famous comes down off their perch and speaks some truth, we immediately run to them, because it's so rare.

But it's the way of the future.

Hell, it's the way of the now.

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Fanning

We're in the tech era. But what they don't tell you is one day it's gonna run out of gas, it will be replaced by something heretofore unseen, dominated by nerds who were poor and got no attention and will suddenly rule the earth. Kind of like how the techies replaced the musicians. So that's not much different from musicians, the desire to be rich and famous, it's just that Fanning achieved his goal and most musicians do not, what happened here?

Fanning knew it was about the code, that marketing came second, and we know that the essence of vitality was the wow factor, something absent from almost all music today.

In other words, music's heyday is done, it's a backwater.The difference between Facebook and Twitter and music is the former are built upon the public's information, without it they're nothing, whereas music stands alone, if anything, the public gazes in adulation. Same deal with Apple. The product is tangible, not elusive, instead of chasing Wall Street dreams Apple is actually making stuff, that you can use to your advantage. So when you tell me how many Facebook friends and Twitter followers you've got I'm not impressed, I want to hear your music, and I want it to challenge and elate me all at the same time.

Kind of like writing a hit song in ten minutes. But today a hit song is written in a camp and massaged by a ton of producers, the music's got no soul, and that's why it doesn't resonate.

Sure, there are occasional hits. But instead of recording another one this good, the artists make albums which no one wants to hear. We need another "Call Me Maybe," not nine more B grade versions.The goal is not to be an overnight success. The goal is not to sell out. The goal is to establish a career, that goes on for decades. It requires years and years of woodshedding, developing your skills to the point where you can find your voice. And then refining said voice.It only takes music.

There are very few great things in this life. And if you find one, you tell everybody you know.

Tell me the track in your library that will blow the minds of two hundred million Americans. It's not Rihanna, it's none of the usual suspects, but it was the Beatles, who were fresh and new and different. And if you asked the Beatles back in Hamburg if they were gonna conquer the world, they'd say they were honing their chops, getting laid and avoiding day jobs.

You've got to get on the road to get to the destination. You cannot travel by thinking about it.

We need a reset in the music business. We need it to be about the tunes, we need to get rid of the corporations, players need to believe in themselves.

And take us on a heretofore unseen journey.

Not the one we've been on again and again and again.

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In a Rut ?

Many times I found myself in a rut or overwhelm by the task of a project I was trying to accomplish.Now in this stage of my life I have gotten some wisdom of the folly of it all.There is a simple answer to all your problems.Don't give a Shit, or should I say; drugs,booze,sex, Rock &'Roll? Just kidding! I remember when I was living in L.A, the stress of everyday life.Knocking on doors on Sunset Blvd.Getting rejected by record producers,putting up with Prima Donna musicians that have no idea how to make a living because of their ego's.It wasn't easy to learn how to make a continuous living as a musician with a wife and 2 kids depending on me at the age of 22 years old.I had to play with all kinds of groups to make a living.Of course there were exceptional musicians that are gifted and made their way by chance or most probably by contacts.But when I looked back to all my fellow musicians that are still there playing the same gigs mostly if they can find one or waiting to play on some well know artist CD for one or two tracks only.

I can't complain.I made the right choices to move out of there.At least I tried the best I could for what talent I have and no regrets.I believe that everything in life has its blessings and all looses are in divine order,so you can gain the energy to soar to a higher altitude in all areas of your life.

Oh! I got carried away from the rut issue.Well,I found now by detaching myself from the outcome of my projects.Be in the moment enjoying my own activities for the sheer joy of the action,rather than how it will turn out. I just walk away from my project from time to time to do nothing.No time restraints,no deadlines,no alarm clocks,in fact no clocks at all.Just let yourself be notice how free you feel.This kind of distancing without restraints will bring me back to the work with new and much sharper judgment.

I also found that having peers that have great talent makes me see how much harder I must work,but also realize in the end its not about competing or impressing anyone.You should be happy,honest for yourself.I like the quote from one of the greatest artist of all time: MICHELANGELO ( 1475 -1564 )

`The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,but it is too low and we reach it`.

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Pandering

The reason you don't have to pander is that you're not in a hurry and you don't need everyone to embrace you and your work. When you focus on the weird, passionate, interesting segment of the audience, you can do extraordinary work for a few (and watch it spread) instead of starting from a place of average. Go ahead and make something for the elites. Not the elites of class or wealth, but the elites of curiosity, passion and taste. Every great thing ever created was created by and for this group. There's a surprisingly large amount of room at the this end of the market--among those that care enough about what they do to say no, and better yet, to teach the market why they're right. They earn their niche at the top of the market by leading, not pandering.

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