“If nothing bad is ever said, Nothing good will ever be done”
In the music 2.0 realm, these two past years have been all about describing what bands should or could do to leverage their fan base, to promote themselves to the outside world, to better their networking tasks and skills etc. Discussions on the web lately are almost only referring to ways bands can use tools to augment their reach, and the Gigdoggy blog is no exception.
One thing I hardly ever come across tough is “how bands can better their music”. It seems to me that discussions on the quality of music are often shadowed by those on the importance of networking, or the importance marketing/promotion. I never stumble-upon blog posts that encourage artists to take a step back and focus on say, the meaning and the originality of their music. Why is that? Is it because we are afraid of asking the tough questions? Is it because the creative process is so “personal” that it should be left untouched, pure and, well, personal?
I find intriguing that our online world that boasts to be infinitely communicative is seldom the place where it is possible to gather real cold-hearted feedback. Everyone involved in social media wants to be friends with everyone else and what is said out loud is hardly what is thought inside. Add that to the fact that art is considered subjective and you will realize that being exposed to constructive criticism is not an easy task.
So, how do you manage to get real feedback for your music on the web? (The only places I can of are SoundOut and TAXI.com.)