The traditions of hip hop music production go all the way back to the 1970s, but the internet era changed that completely with the concept of 'type beats'. ...
Fun video and great analysis from squash! I think nobody was under impression that type beats were there to stay, but we see a lot of sentiment nowadays how “music gets easier and cheaper to make” and how “the artist market is oversaturated”. It applies to visual art, animation, film etc. And every single time that sentiment is used to say that there is a lot of bad [form of art] out there now and how it’s hard to make money from [said art].
Here’s the thing, yes the market gets oversaturated with amateur producers doing the easy and simple things to get cash. But music being easier and cheaper to make means more opportunity for people to develop their skills into something unique. It also makes it easier for you, if you take a bit of time necessary to learn better tools.
The monetary value we try to put on art is unhealthy because art will never fit into economy on it’s own merit as art, since economy puts value on things based on immediate demand. People who make their self-esteem based on the value of their art set themselves up for failure and complain about it instead of adapting to it. We have natural needs like food, water, shelter, sleep, etc, but when we go further away from that our desires start becoming influenced by society. Sometimes people can’t know they want something if they never experienced it. Music can often be like that and this is the key to creating value in music.
For example, diamond is a rock most people don’t have a practical use for and it’s actually quite abundant. It’s value was created by limiting the available supply and creating a mostly artificial demand in form of the wedding ring and expensive jewelry as symbols. This surface-level useless thing is desired because people have attached it to their relationships and interactions with society. You can say that this is where the real value is created. A lot of people listen to music in the same way. Sometimes, the quality of the music itself as art is secondary. The opportunities it creates for bonding and topical discussion is what really makes it worth it for most people.
What I’m trying to say is that no matter how great the music is, it’s only worth as much as you successfully market. Marketing low-effort music and having great success is kind of a feat on its own, there are tons more type beat tracks that didn’t get almost any traction. And a good track might market itself and it will definitely make your other marketing efforts more effective… but we shouldn’t bet everything on just having a good song/album. Almost every successful niche artist is doing some stuff behind the scenes to get their music out there and seen. Playing that game well is what brings you fame and money. Whether you consider it success or a part of success is entirely up to you!
Thanks for sharing, it’s been an interesting addition to my day!
Fun video and great analysis from squash! I think nobody was under impression that type beats were there to stay, but we see a lot of sentiment nowadays how “music gets easier and cheaper to make” and how “the artist market is oversaturated”. It applies to visual art, animation, film etc. And every single time that sentiment is used to say that there is a lot of bad [form of art] out there now and how it’s hard to make money from [said art].
Here’s the thing, yes the market gets oversaturated with amateur producers doing the easy and simple things to get cash. But music being easier and cheaper to make means more opportunity for people to develop their skills into something unique. It also makes it easier for you, if you take a bit of time necessary to learn better tools.
The monetary value we try to put on art is unhealthy because art will never fit into economy on it’s own merit as art, since economy puts value on things based on immediate demand. People who make their self-esteem based on the value of their art set themselves up for failure and complain about it instead of adapting to it. We have natural needs like food, water, shelter, sleep, etc, but when we go further away from that our desires start becoming influenced by society. Sometimes people can’t know they want something if they never experienced it. Music can often be like that and this is the key to creating value in music.
For example, diamond is a rock most people don’t have a practical use for and it’s actually quite abundant. It’s value was created by limiting the available supply and creating a mostly artificial demand in form of the wedding ring and expensive jewelry as symbols. This surface-level useless thing is desired because people have attached it to their relationships and interactions with society. You can say that this is where the real value is created. A lot of people listen to music in the same way. Sometimes, the quality of the music itself as art is secondary. The opportunities it creates for bonding and topical discussion is what really makes it worth it for most people.
What I’m trying to say is that no matter how great the music is, it’s only worth as much as you successfully market. Marketing low-effort music and having great success is kind of a feat on its own, there are tons more type beat tracks that didn’t get almost any traction. And a good track might market itself and it will definitely make your other marketing efforts more effective… but we shouldn’t bet everything on just having a good song/album. Almost every successful niche artist is doing some stuff behind the scenes to get their music out there and seen. Playing that game well is what brings you fame and money. Whether you consider it success or a part of success is entirely up to you!
Thanks for sharing, it’s been an interesting addition to my day!