I came across something interesting this morning at kottke.org. It was this little tidbit:
“Using that definition, it’s interesting that you can’t figure out whether you’re any good or not from your 300 friends on Facebook, the 23 people who liked your Tumblr post, the 415 people you follow on Twitter, or the 15 people who faved your Flickr photo.”
Exactly! It’s impossible to know if one has any aptitude or ability through what is (erroneously) labeled as positive feedback. The only way to determine where you are in the process of developing your talent is through criticism and open discussion. A binary mechanism akin to the “Like” button isn’t going to tell you anything. It may indicate the number of people who actually invested time in your work by reading or looking or listening – and that is very valuable! – but it certainly won’t tell you if you’re getting closer to your goals.
I have some people to whom I send my stuff. There are a few musicians and a few that aren’t. Getting a read on what I do from another musician might tell me how my music is changing. What am I doing differently? Has the quality slipped? Did I sound lost? These are the kinds of things that are difficult to know when listening to my own work. And let’s face it, in the bedroom studio to iPod listener chain of music that is rapidly becoming the new norm, it’s hard to get that feedback before something is released. So the input from other people who are musicians, though not doing the same kinds of things, is incredibly valuable.
My non-musician friends tell me how the rest of the world will hear my music. Since I’m aiming for an audience of 200 people, it’s a pretty small circle and my style tends to range at times. I wonder how I can keep the attention of a group that size. So it helps to hear something back from one of those collaborators (because that’s what they are) that might change the way I approach sequencing songs or whether or not something even makes the cut.
Did I mention that the people I have selected are brutally honest? That’s something else that is missing from the world of the re-tweet. I learned a long time ago that it takes just as much intestinal fortitude to give criticism as it does to take it. Sometimes more. And it is a talent in itself. To develop at all, an artist needs to have strong, trustworthy people around to assist in the process. Those folks are in short supply. They certainly aren’t the type to click “Like” and move on. The best stay and talk. They look for the weak spots. They find the imperfections in and recognize the center of the work. Remember, perfection means stasis. I’m glad I’m never perfect. That would be the end of it for me. A good critic will reach out and feed your talent by giving a potential direction for development. The answer to “what do I practice next?” always comes from someone who can see the thin spots. A great critic is a teacher.
That isn’t to say that I don’t really enjoy seeing all of the “Likes” – far from it! As I said, it means that someone is paying attention and has just made their network aware of my work. When I released Nothing of Consequence it was amazing to go to Facebook and see every status for two scrolling pages showing nothing but links to my album. That’s more exciting to me than the quick thumbs up. Sharing my work means a lot. We’ll see how I do in a couple of days with my new tunes.
Seek out good critics and when you find one, don’t let go!
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