Economics and Songwriting
I don’t recall ever seeing the above 2 words in any written sentence before now, but in the case of my own personal songwriting… I could think of no better title.
The last 6–7 years have been somewhat of a bust for me in terms of inspiration. My dad died suddenly in 2016, and after that, I found the exhilaration of even a single spark to be sporadic, at best. In fact, after what I consider “my only panic attack ever” in 2017, I creatively flatlined for a good, long while. I just could not get inspired. Like the kind of inspiration where you literally have no choice but to bring into reality whatever the imagination would permit.
Over the last couple years, I became casually obsessed with the thought of financial security. I started listening to more business/finance podcasts than actual music. Part of me worried that this might make it so I would never be compelled to write a song again.
I figured, in the mean time, I would learn about the economy anyway… seeing as how everyone should know about these concepts, but very few have a genuine interest in them to the point of finding out more without the help of a learning institution. So, I became more financially aware, perhaps. More cognizant of how and why the US economy functions (and sometimes doesn’t function). Luckily, shows like Planet Money, The Indicator, and The Journal all have such a unique and entertaining way of breaking down the US financial system and teaching it to the average listener, that these Econ podcasts quickly became as addictive to me as your average binge-worthy Netflix show.
However, as painful as it is to reconcile with reality, I realized at some point that I was not becoming more financially savvy, despite all the financial news podcasts, watching CNBC or Bloomberg every morning, and keeping arbitrary, yet obsessive tabs on the stock and crypto markets. I stay broke for 11–12 days out of the 2 week pay period. The situation is still usually as dire as regularly having to ask myself, “is this the week that they cut off my power?”
Now, about my day job…
I have been working in ophthalmology as a technician/scribe for over 13 years now, and the doctor with whom I have just finished a 4 year run (because he chose “an entrepreneurial path” instead) has made it so I am asking myself questions I never thought I would.
The doctor I work for, towards the end, would talk a lot about “creating value,” much like the stereotypical sales/business person would talk about how they have convinced people/customers to give them money in the past. So, I began wondering:
“How do I create value when it comes to my music?”
My up-to-this-point-financially-challenged mind began turning in all sorts of irrational ways.
I thought: “It’s fairly simple to mint a new cryptocurrency on the Etherium network. Perhaps I will somehow create value by attaching my music to a new cryptocurrency, with an enigmatic little symbol and everything…”
Thankfully, Reason chimed in with: “There are literally thousands of different cryptocurrencies out there, some of which even solve real world problems. What about simply attaching your music to a new crypto would ‘create value’?”
Ah, fair point.
To say the least, I am still racking my brain with how I can assign or “create” value in regards to my music.
The internet is currently saturated with artists who are not afraid to put themselves out there, shamelessly self-promote, or forcefully wrap the world’s ear around their tunes. That being said, there is a less than healthy dose of cynicism and ambivalence to go with how I am feeling about the unknown artist’s ability to create value in their music.
So, I figure that while I am still trying to figure out how to do that, I can utilize platforms like this and social media to encourage other bedroom musicians (like-minded or not in terms of taste) to start forcefully wrapping the world’s ear around their tunes. To be less concerned with what haters will think of their work, and focus more on the people it will move emotionally, the people who will relate to it, the people who will go out of their way to hear more of what the unknown artist has to put out there.
Recently, I was in an Uber (that I truly couldn’t afford) when the driver, fancying himself a philosopher (more of just an overthinker, in my opinion), started talking about what he considered to be “true expression,” because according to him, everything I said to him up until that point was neither genuine nor was I even actually expressing myself.
I cut him off and told him, “Well, I make music in my off hours, if that counts. I have at least 100–200 songs I’ve come up with, but I guess I’ve just been too scared to show them to most people.”
The Uber drive, by this point having made it to the destination thankfully, turned around to look at me, and said, “If you were to die tomorrow, then would it be as though any of your music really even existed?”
For some reason, what I knew all along, but never believed, finally hit me upside my thick, self-deprecating head in exactly the right way. I soon got out of the Uber (and thank God, because that kid was mostly just rambling tangents and calling it his brand of philosophizing) and I promised myself I would start making it so that if I died in the near future, something would at least be left behind to remind people of what I created, and perhaps, some of which people will actually enjoy.
Below is a link to the new Facebook group I’ve created for bedroom musicians. Cheggitout:
My original, “sad bastard” music:
