Take a look at the recent NPR article, “Where Are Your Musical Blind Spots?“
As music industry professionals, we are often tasked with working with music that we may not personally love, but that we can hopefully find an appreciation for. This is vital to being successful in the industry, as early in your career you will most likely be working for a company such as a management company, music publisher, record label, or marketing company that already has an established catalog or roster of artists. Would you turn down a potential client or job because you don’t love the music? While it’s important to maintain your integrity throughout your career, it’s also vital to recognize the value of music for target audiences that may not include you. For example, the Kidz Bop compilation series is targeted to listeners who are aged 8 to 12, and releases are made of children singing cleaned-up versions of popular Top 40 hits. The series has amassed widespread appeal amongst its audience, and has become the cash cow for the record company Razor & Tie, producing nine gold-certified albums. The company is able to use the profits generated from the series to invest into more artistic, adult-oriented projects.
So what are your musical blind spots, and how will you learn to value music outside your own tastes? It could be the key to building a sustainable career.
I would have to say (and this may be blasphemy) that my musical blindspot is the Beatles. I understand why their songs were popular, but what I don’t understand is why they are considered the best thing since sliced bread.
However, I get it. Did you see that Roberta Flack’s new album, “Let it Be”, is a cover album of Beatles songs?
The beauty of blind spots is that all of ours are different, so hopefully we can learn from each other, a.k.a. I’ll make you a mix tape and try to convert you, Matt!