The Role You Play

April 2, 2008

It’s easy to misunderstand. Very.

But many of us musicians are wrong about this. Or if we knew at one point, we forget.

I don’t want to be one of them.

You see, music is not a one-way street, like, a flash light illuminating a black wall.

No light gets reflected back in this case. The lightbulb is the only source of light.

Instead, it’s like light shinning on a mirror ball. The source is the bulb, but with reflections it becomes so much brighter than the original light.

Audience, or fans, play a big, big part in making music. Or rather, without audience, music just doesn’t get that good. Really.

It’s obviously easy to illustrate this in live settings. Audience and the energy they give back to the musicians are integral to the whole experience. Without the audience participation, it just wouldn’t be the same.

In recordings, the connection is less obvious. But it’s still there. Every time you listen and enjoy, every time you think about the artist you love, you’re releasing energy that contributes to the creation of more music.

You are playing a role. And it may be bigger than you realize.

For example, we in the music business discuss how what’s important is not what we say about ourselves. It’s what our fans say about us. This, we can encourage, but can’t control or manipulate. When it happens, we just receive it with gratitude.

But some of us lucky enough to receive this energy lose that gratitude. They start ignoring the source of the energy — and soon they become a lonely, small light, trying to illuminate a dark, black space, with no one to help spread the light.

This is what I don’t want. If you think that I begin to become ungrateful, do tell me.

I’m not asking anyone to do anything differently. I just want you to be aware that by becoming a fan, you’re actually contributing to the creation of that music you love. And your contribution is not small and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Pat yourself on the back — you are helping create something that the world needs.

And from me, thank you.

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