"Happy" Makes Me Happy

To me, the song "Happy" was an inspiration to those of us who try not to write "flash in the pan" music. The overall vibe of the recording seems to attract listeners of all ages. And I think people will feel good about the song when they hear it many years from now. It will far outlast the "bubble gum" music that's being crammed down the public's throat these days.

I'm sayin' there's hope for good music yet.

This morning on the Today Show, the pop artist of the day/week/month/summer/year was Ariana Grande, singing (maybe lip syncing) a couple of her mega-hits, including "Problem." There was no pretense of a band or any musicians or background singers. Just dancers making the typical moves of the day.

As for the lyrics to "Problem," they prove that when five people write a song, it can be as monotonous as the best. The music strongly supports the lyrics in its own monotony. Wonderful stuff with a wonderful message for the young women who have learned every syllable of the lyrics. How could they not learn them? The chorus is monotony and repetition on steroids.

This all goes to say once again -- "MARKETING DUDE!" If you get the right marketing people, you can sell any music -- and quality won't matter. Of course you've just got to get a producer/engineer who's up on the latest plugins and equipment, to give "the sound" and max VOLUME so even your ballads can compete with Death Metal.

With marketing, you can become an overnight sensation -- the best singer/songwriter/producer in the world! And if you sign with Universal Music Group, you can appear on the Today Show (NBC/Universal), hold your head high and lip sync, "play" along with your hand syncing band and danceyourazzoff to your studio recordings!

Make sure to instruct your marketing experts to stress that you are:

1. an actor
2. a singer
3. a songwriter
4. a musician
5. a multi-instrumentalist (the instrument list is too expansive -- basically, give me the freaking thing and I'll make some kind of music with it!)
6. a rapper
7. a dancer 
8. a record producer
9. a recording engineer
10. a re-mixer
11. a DJ
12. a television music competition coach
13. an author
14. a poet
15. a fashion designer
16. a chef
17. almost out of puberty
18. an entrepreneur
19. a volunteer to all worthy causes
20. a human and animal rights activist
21. a philanthropist
22. a reformed drug addict who "doesn't often do them any more"
23. prone to violence only on "very rare" occasions

Oh, and you must have the word "featuring" on all of your songs -- followed by the name of a rapper whose own marketing people have everyone convinced that he/she is the best rapper in the whole universe!

I could go on, but I won't. And I'm not bitter about any of this. It's just the way it is.

I'm just having fun and "keepin' it real" for this one post.

Finding Inspiration For Writing

Alexander D. asked when the soundtrack for Wrack will be available. Wrack is a game in production. It has grown and changed a lot since its inception. With Episode One to be completed by the end of September, the work on the other episodes will begin. As a result of the longer production time, I have had the opportunity to write music as levels have been more or less finalized. I'm not writing ahead. The reason is that I get inspiration from the new/updated artwork and storyboards. You can hear the style of the level music change from Level One to Level Six. The changes have inspired a different mood for the music on the later levels.

So, do I release a partial soundtrack? That wouldn't seem fair when there's lots more music to be written yet. It would be nice if albums could be released through the mainstream like Wrack is being released -- where I could add/update tracks and they'd be available to anyone who already bought the album. But "services" like iTunes are not set up that way. It's an opportunity waiting for anyone interested in sales and marketing of music. Anyone up for competing with iTunes and the like?

I guess the album will finally be ready for release when the game is completed.