It's another Bandcamp Friday; start with a bad idea; music workers are worth it

Hey folks,

Welcome back to another edition of Sharing Notes! Read online here.

It's another Bandcamp Friday

Today, Dec 5 is a great day to buy my new album on digital or CD if you haven't yet. It's another Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp waives their sales fees and indie artists like me receive 100% of proceeds. Thank you those who have already bought it. :) I've already made a decent return. A few generous people have even opted to pay more than the list price. Let's break even on production costs, woohoo! $270/$730

Start with a bad idea

Apparently the story behind "Kids" by MGMT is that the band tried to make what they considered a bad song. This reminds me of a piece of advice I recently heard for artist's block: if you have no good ideas (or so you think), start with a bad idea. Once you get working on your bad idea, you may discover a better idea or even start to like the original idea. I say all this to demonstrate that your own judgments about your ideas are not material. So just make something. You can always figure out if it's good later. But be willing to write a bad song.

Some good de-influencing for musicians

Fellow autistic audio engineer Paul Third has shared about his struggles with depression working in audio. I def had a good cry after this. I think he's right on about the mental health problem in the recording business. So many of us are freelancers trying to survive in increasingly difficult economies. It can be very hard not to get sucked into the capitalist notion that you are what your earn. Because gear and instruments communicate status, which society at large believes communicates talent. But Paul affirms that it's not about all that, it's about people. "Life is people," as Bill Fay sang. Anyway, good watch for anyone recording and caring for their mental health.

ICYMI

Peace,
Arend

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