A kind of common problem is how the music industry looks at artists and the general public, especially other musicians. I spoke to a person the other day who really likes a band. He has nothing to do with the band, he is just a fan that really wants the band to succeed. Of course, he thinks the band is the best since sliced bread. In the conversation, he told me that the band deserves to become big. The reason was that the guitarist was so great and talented, and the drummer is really good.

Here is the problem though. You don’t break because you are a good musician and can play your instrument exceptionally. There is always someone that is better than you. Music has nothing to do with how well you play your instrument, it’s how you play it. Yngwie Malmsteen can play the guitar upside down but can’t really do a good song.

Playing the instrument is also just a small part of the career. Especially now with AI and backtracks and other things. You can easily hide that you really can’t play that well. It’s actually become harder to prove that you are that good to play.

Back to the artist that was recommended to me. I recognized the name, and sure enough, we actually booked the band d to our showcase a couple of years ago. Already then, we were not sure. The music was not good enough. The band has been around for more than ten years and so far, has not really gone anywhere. They do a lot of shows but don’t seem to stick any fanbase to their name.

In the end, we gave them just a chance to do a favor to another guy. Still, we put them in a good slot and a good venue. Of course, they made the mistake you shouldn’t have. They just came to the showcase played and left, no picking up contacts, no networking, nothing. Of course, no one remembered them afterward. I know I was down and saw two songs on the show. Nothing impressive, they could play, but the songs were not that good. Most of the show was old posing and things that they did in the 80:s.

Here comes the difference in view. The guy that came up with the suggestion is a musician himself. He looks more at how they play. Also, the genre they are in is very old, the same genre that the guy who is around 65 years old probably saw when he was a kid.

For us, they are just in an old style, have no fan base, no streams to talk about, don’t seem to know what is important, and probably just look for someone to fix things for them. Just that they have been going for ten years and I have more subscribers to my personal Youtube channel than they do is pretty scary evidence that this is not going anywhere.

You need to be good at making things for a wide audience. You need to be good at marketing and taking care of your fans.  Then if you can play guitar really well also it’s a bonus.