Timeless VS. Outdated

I had a very interesting conversation recently. I shared a track with a music business executive because I was interested in getting his feedback. Although he praised many facets of the song, he did make one comment that I just had to question. His comment ultimately led to this blog post.

He felt as though certain aspects of the song sounded outdated. In the same breath he liked the lyrics, flow, etc. So I couldn’t help but start thinking about what actually makes a song outdated. Is it the production? Maybe it is the way it’s mixed. Who knows! But as I began to think about the issue of a song being outdated, I was reminded that most industry execs are looking for that commercial single because that equates to money.  That is music business 101.

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But as an artist, well at least the type of artist I am, I don’t usually approach music with that in mind. The music usually stems from a feeling, an idea, or a message…a place of real artistic creativity. But the funny thing is I believe that this is what leads to the creation of timeless music. It seems that more and more often musicians are making music for the NOW. These are songs that will be hot for a couple months and then they will be forgotten.

By no means do I think that every song I make is timeless. All I can do is make sure the window is open for me to even have a chance at making one. When we talk about classics or timeless tracks we usually bring up older songs;   songs that just gave you a special feeling or told a message that touched you. But I’m sure that there are many reasons why someone could argue that these very same songs are outdated. Maybe the old aged approach to making music is what’s missing today. Perhaps instead of always searching for that quick fix, commercial hit, we should be open to what’s deemed outdated so we can make something timeless.

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