{"id":1608,"date":"2009-01-24T12:46:26","date_gmt":"2009-01-24T20:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=1608"},"modified":"2009-01-24T12:46:26","modified_gmt":"2009-01-24T20:46:26","slug":"bob-ezrin-on-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2009\/01\/24\/bob-ezrin-on-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Ezrin On Quality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bob,<\/p>\n

I usually sit on the sidelines and eat my popcorn as I enjoy the theater that is you and this wonderful newsletter.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re better than most movies and just about any music that’s out there right now for entertainment.\u00c2\u00a0 And even when I think you’re being a stick in the mud, you do it so artfully and passionately that it’s ok and I enjoy the performance for its own sake.<\/p>\n

But this one has to be answered – with affection and the deepest respect of course.\u00c2\u00a0 You start this with the word "Quality" and then you proceed to counsel struggling musicians to contort themselves and what they do to fit the market so that they can "make it in this business".\u00c2\u00a0 But here’s the true bottom line: This business of exploiting art and entertainment is built from it’s very inception on creativity and quality, on special things made by special people that touch, inform, elevate, divert, soothe, numb, challenge or sometimes even drive other people enough so that they are drawn to it and want it to be a part of their lives – either for the moment or for a very long time.\u00c2\u00a0 When they want it, they sometimes pay for it in one way or another and this special stuff sometimes accrues a value beyond the ephemeral and actual makes money for its creator and for the folks who help to support and market it.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes it becomes more vaulable than gold and stars are born.<\/p>\n

But unless it is especially touching in some way (even if it’s in a juvenile or prurient way), nobody will care and it will end up having no value at all.\u00c2\u00a0 Which then goes to your title "Quality".\u00c2\u00a0 If a thing lacks quality of some sort, it will not touch anyone.\u00c2\u00a0 It will simply be a not so special thing in a world of not so special things.\u00c2\u00a0 It will blend in and disappear. But if a work or performance is of high quality and special, then it has at least a shot at becoming valuable to someone – and the person who creates it has a shot at being appreciated and rewarded for it.\u00c2\u00a0 If I were talking to "struggling musicians" I would say:<\/p>\n

First, be special.\u00c2\u00a0 Make something of such high quality that anyone would care.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s not as easy as it sounds.\u00c2\u00a0 Just because you can use a sequencer and play an instrument doesn’t make you an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 You have to create something that is special – unique and capable of moving others in a meaningful way.\u00c2\u00a0 Once you are truly special, truly great at what you do, you may have a chance at finding an audience willing to reward you for your specialness.\u00c2\u00a0 More than likely you will not, because special – by definition – belongs to the very few.\u00c2\u00a0 But if you do, then someone somewhere might recognize that and show up to help you to take your creativity out to a wider audience.<\/p>\n

How do you get recognized in the first place?\u00c2\u00a0 Play to people as much as you can.\u00c2\u00a0 They will let you know if and when you are truly special because they will either begin to pay you to do this, to be able to be close to you – or they will ignore you.\u00c2\u00a0 Play: in your town; at your school; in the next town over; on the web (but that’s a whole other and longer discussion); at parties – anywhere you can.\u00c2\u00a0 If you have created something truly special someone will recognize this and the ball will start rolling.<\/p>\n

But whatever you do, DO NOT pick a market and try to create for it.\u00c2\u00a0 You may decide to do that later in life when you become so good at your craft that you can aim your creativity wherever you wish, even when it doesn’t please you.\u00c2\u00a0 But you cannot start there.\u00c2\u00a0 No one is born a hack.\u00c2\u00a0 Hacks are failed or jaded artists, each and every one.\u00c2\u00a0 First you must be able to create for yourself and find the way in which you may be special, and then you have to work on becoming really great at that.\u00c2\u00a0 Create from your heart and from your will. Your will is what you use to keep you practicing and trying and trying to get better at what you do.\u00c2\u00a0 Your heart is where the inspiration comes from to use that ability to make something really truly special.\u00c2\u00a0 But above all DO NOT listen to critics, pundits or "experts" who try to bend you to what is happening now.\u00c2\u00a0 By the time you get there, now will be long gone.<\/p>\n

Dedicate yourself to quality, to being the very best at what you do and then use that quality to create or be something truly great.\u00c2\u00a0 Then you may have a shot at "making it".\u00c2\u00a0 But whether you become a star or not, you will have become and will forever be someone very special.\u00c2\u00a0 And others will know you for that.<\/p>\n

End of lecture.<\/p>\n

Thanks<\/p>\n

Bob<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob, I usually sit on the sidelines and eat my popcorn as I enjoy the theater that is you and this wonderful newsletter.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re better than most movies and just about any music that’s out there right now for entertainment.\u00c2\u00a0 And even when I think you’re being a stick in the mud, you do it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-pW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1609,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions\/1609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}