Get in, losers, we're getting cynical.
I went through a bit of a Richard Marx phase when I was a teen, like I went out of my way to find and collect all his albums and everything. Why? Couldn't tell you. It was the 90s, nothing made sense. But the music was pretty good, and his clean, positive messages were a welcome change from what else was popular. The top 40 was full of songs about violence, drugs, casual sex and the end of the world and he was over there putting out tributes to civil rights leaders and and raising money for homeless teens.
He could rock or rip your heart out, and sometimes he did both in the same song with lyrics that held far deeper meanings than what the average pop song offered.
And he was married to the lady who played Penny in Dirty Dancing, so for me that upped his cool factor a bit.
I don't listen to his stuff as often as I once did, but when I do it still hits the same, and that's a welcome joy since very little from that era has held up over time.
Not everything, of course, but at the time the public wasn't aware of what was going on between Woody Allen and his stepdaughter and you can't erase a record after you record it so I just skip that track these days.
I loved Marx's ballads, of course but I'm particularly fond of "Don't Mean Nothin'". The frustration was so real and raw and it delivered a stark warning about how easy it was to get taken in by dishonest people.
And it still happens today. I see so many young new artists struggling and even some well known long established musicians getting dragged back and for by executives and business men who want a side show with their meal ticket and if I'm frustrated just watching it I can only imagine how they must feel experiencing it.
Yeesh... well, I warned you about the cynicism.
But the truth is us creative types- writers, actors, musicians, and artists- are all in the same boat. Things have never been easy, but right now they are particularly rough. It's so tempting to latch on to someone with a big smile and smooth words that promise all the answers. Buy my book, follow my plan, take this class, steal my strategy... The noise never stops.
And this morning I saw a real doozy. "Having prices on your website is a fatal mistake".
*Blink, blink*... Excuse me?
Apparently, so the claim goes, galleries don't like seeing an artist having prices listed on their websites because they want to be the one who determine what an artist should charge and if you already have prices listed it scares them off.
Well you know what?
Good.
Hear me when I say this. Any gallery, and business, any person who is afraid of you knowing your own worth is not someone you want to work with.
It's ok to be open to guidance. Taking feedback is important and we should all be humble enough to learn as we go.
But there's big difference between someone who wants us to be coachable and someone who's just looking for someone who is easy to manipulate.
Knowing your worth, and your values, is a great litmus test for this. And if that scares some one off, consider it a win.
There are a lot of things you can and probably should be willing to compromise on.
Your integrity isn't one of them.
Keep the faith, hold the line, and trust that the right people will find you. And it's a lot easier for them to do so when the wrong people aren't standing in the way.
Image Credit:
Studio B's view from the Neve 8014 console into the vocal booth
by Downtown Music
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons