‚ÄúRight now, when we need musical leaders in every community, we are concerned only with training virtuosi for a nonexistent market… We must develop educated people who are musicians in order to develop music.‚Äù

Was this said last year? Surprisingly, no. It was said in a 1945 essay by William Schuman, then just beginning his 16 year leadership as president of Juilliard; and yet it sounds just as trenchant today.

For more information about William Schuman, who was also a prominent composer in his day, read Anthony Tommasini’s commentary about the lasting influence of Schuman in the 01 April 2010 New York Times.

William Schuman in his Park Avenue apartment, 1991

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the kitchen sink

A fascinating read, which you can access here.

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…the old days…

It’s interesting how we get so entrenched in one way of doing things. We become hardened (maybe even defensive?) against change, preferring the comfort of what we know. This is the point of an article referred to on the excellent Sibelius Blog. (By the way, if anyone knows of a Finale blog that is similar, please let me know in the comments field.) We think Finale is best or Sibelius is best, depending on which one we happen to use. We think this way about our computers (Mac or PC?), our cars (foreign or domestic?), our wines (red or white?) and so on.

But this way of thinking prevents us from learning and growing; we don’t try new things — we don’t even consider it. Even within that very software program we use everyday we become inured to change, entrenched in our way of doing things, and we gloss over helpful new features.

Of course the parallels to composition need hardly be spelled out by me. We should all engage in a little relearning every now and then. I highly recommend this blog entry.

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The truth is no stock goes straight up in a straight arrow. Wall Street types think it is healthy to “consolidate gains” and to discard the “weak hands.”

I was thinking about this in the context of 20th century music history. There was always so much concern for progress and advancement. No time was every taken for “consolidating” ideas and forming the basis of a new direction in the discipline. As a result, ideas were instead generated and discarded very rapidly. Atonal music, serialism, and minimalism have all lasted a historical blip in time. Contrast this with the slow process of change from Bach to Haydn to Mozart to Beethoven to Wagner. What once took hundreds of years now takes a decade, if that.

Is today’s music more accessible? More tonal? Are we in a state of consolidating gains?

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New York City

This has become (and will continue to become) less necessary. In a July 30 2009 op-ed piece in the New York Times, Bill Wasik writes:

Online…the audience can be yours right away, direct and unmediated–if you can figure out how to find it…

In other words, why move to New York when you can just go online? The whole article, with all its implications, can be read here.

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Learn about Sibelius by clicking here and about Finale by clicking here.

What’s your opinion on these notation programs?

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One innovation bound for the history books is how they will distribute and price their new album, In Rainbows. It’s available as a digital download from their album website at a price you decide. That’s right, when it comes time to pay, you type in the price you want to pay. You can choose to pay a little or a lot — it’s all on the honor system.

VH1.com calls it either “the opening salvo in the all-out war for the future of the music industry” or “the most bizarre marketing strategy of all time.” I’d call it an interesting example of the individualization of the music business. For an artist as large as Radiohead to do this, without the aid of a record company pushing it, is remarkable.

Is this the future of selling music?

The post The Music Business Continues to Pass appeared first on Richard D. Russell.

One way to accomplish this is to give something away for free on your site. On my own home page, I offer a free ebook in exchange for my visitor’s email address. This allows me to build a core following to keep my audience informed. Also, my ebook just might be forwarded to other people, and so on, hopefully leading to an ever bigger audience.

Want to see my ebook? Drop me your email by visiting my home page.

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Someone once told me that he spends an hour a day on just his career. I think that’s important; whether it’s networking, designing your business card, researching grants — by all means, spend an hour a day supporting your creative career.

But in the rush to tend to business, both your “day job” and your creative life, don’t forget to spend time being creative. That is key, and that is the habit to develop.

I myself spend my first hour every day having coffee and composing. That’s before I head out to work for my day job. Some days it is a drag because I don’t feel like there’s much to compose. But it’s like shooting the basketball toward the hoop; you can’t score if you don’t shoot.

So make it a habit to be creative one hour a day. Don’t have that hour? Make it 30 minutes. Or 15. Whatever works for you. Keep track of it in a spreadsheet or calendar, and add it up at the end of the week, and the month, etc. See how much time you can spend being creative!

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