Emotion is all that matters when playing music

I just got home from a rock concert in my hometown. I watched two of the best local bands perform live. But while experiencing everything, I felt like there is something missing in these local shows when compared to the really great acts so I started to think:

What separates these bands from a world-class act? Why does listening to a Coldplay, Drake, Periphery, Lil Pump, Cannibal Corpse or any other popular act’s songs played live make you react with more emotion?

One possible solution is this: The only purpose of a song is to convey emotion. Music is just a medium of transmission for emotions from the artist to the audience. Nothing else matters. There are a lot of really successful acts that are mediocre from a musical standpoint, or even worse. But somehow they manage to connect emotionally to their audience on some level in order to be able to have the success they do.

A few years ago, I used to think that what made quality music was good technique, interesting chord progressions, quality production, etc. But as I got older I started to realise that there aren’t any rules. The only thing that mattered to me was what was coming out of the speakers, and how well it was made. It could be simple, complex, mainstream, obscure, didn’t matter. As long as the song was well conceived and sounded good.

Now I’m starting to realise that the sound that comes out of the speaker only has the function to convey some emotion of the artists’ choosing. In the case of live performances the spectacle includes a lot of other factors besides the music as well (nonverbal communication, lighting, stage presence, setlist structure, etc.). Some of the recent mumble rappers are really bad musicians but they manage to connect with an audience if they project a realistic emotion.

So the advantage great artists have over the average ones is the ability to affect listeners. And this is not only confined to the music itself It’s about the nonverbal communication on stage, the design of your CD cover, how you interact with your fans online, how you dress, everything.

So, how do you project emotions strong enough to hook fans? I see two options:

1. Carefully craft every aspect of your artistic identity. I believe this can be done, but it has to be executed masterfully to work. And it is also risky, as it is all really a very elaborate lie.

2. Project your real emotions out. This takes a lot of courage. In fact, I think this is the main thing holding back most artists that are competent enough. They are afraid of really showing themselves in their music. While you will be forced to reveal yourself and feel somewhat uncomfortable as you do it, it will allow others who identify with what you feel find your art. It will speak to a deep part of them. Maybe they won’t even be aware of it. I find most people do not really analyse the art they consume. They just know they like it. Meanwhile the greatest artists carefully craft every detail of their work.

It seems obvious that the second solution is the only viable one. I’ll make a post about what I understand about how to compose music that feels genuine in the coming days.