Stand By Your Work

I recently came across an article online suggesting reasons behind why people pirate music. Though the article seemed to miss one of my general thoughts, it was quite logical. I mostly agreed with the reasons stated, but the last two reasons mentioned were the ones I feel best represent my issue with music these days.

Many articles over the past few years have been advocating the death of the album, because people are able to go out and purchase just the songs they like. So, what is it about all the other songs that people don't like? Well, I believe the problem is that too many groups have an abundance of filler.

Now, I'm well aware of the fact that music is subjective, but there are just so many songs out there that almost feel as though the artist was bored while recording them. As if there was no meaning behind the track, it simply existed to fill the space between hit A and hit B. It is true that not every song can be a hit, but let's face it, if all you are capable of writing is one good song, why don't you only release that song?

People are sick of buying albums that have 10+ tracks but only 2-3 truly good songs. If you bought it and don't like it, you don't generally have money back options. So what do you do? Well, it seems people begin pirating music because they feel these labels owe them something. I don't believe in pirating music, but I will actually side with those who do in this scenario.

I've had problems in the past deciding if I want to purchase an album because I was not sure I would like every track. This is why I've tried to always keep full stream versions of my tracks available online. I have nothing to hide. If people like it enough to want to place it on a personal device, then they will purchase it. If they do not, I don't want to take their money. I'm in this business to create art, not to trick people into purchasing a disc full of music they'll hate.

I wish more people would hop on this wagon, but I don't believe they ever will. "Why?", you ask? Well, because when people hear all that filler, they aren't going to be purchasing the full album. Again, I realize music is subjective, but there are songs which were so obviously created with less effort than appropriate. Filler may have worked in the past when the only media for music were physical, but it is severely damaging people's views of the industry these days.

Is it too much to ask of an artist and/or their producer to put effort into all of their work? I don't believe it is. If there is one thing I can promise as an artist, it's that I will never release anything that I myself would not consider purchasing if it had been written by someone else. I stand by the work I do. What I create may not be the most popular and it may never end up being the favorite of any person at any point in time, but it will always be exactly what I want it to be at that point in time.