Curt Smith (Tears for Fears) on "the value of musical sharing"

Our friends at GOOD Magazine have posted a neat item here -- Curt Smith, best known as co-founder of the band Tears for Fears, but now an independent, solo artist with a new set of fans, talks about the "musical value of sharing." Great stuff. Snip:

I got my first record deal when I was 18 years old--next year that will be about 30 years ago, so I have been doing it for quite a while. The industry when I first started was very much one-sided in the sense that it favored the industry and not the musicians. We would sign deals when we were quite young that were pretty bad across the board: from record deals to publishing deals, even management deals and touring. You just didn't make as high of a percentage as you would now. But of course that has changed over the years, especially in the last few years with the internet and sharing your music with people.

Technology has changed so much that now, people are quite capable of making records themselves. It used to be a very expensive process, but its not anymore. In the past, the industry controlled how your music got out there, so if you didn't have a record deal it would never be on shelves; there was no Amazon, there was no iTunes. There was basically just radio, and the record companies controlled that as well. Now, with the freedom of the internet, people can go and discover your stuff.

The down side is that there is now so much music, some form of filtering tool is required.

Curt Smith on the Musical Value of Sharing (GOOD, as told to Eric Steuer, creative director of Creative Commons)

Curt is fun to follow on Twitter. So is GOOD.

I really dig Curt's current solo work, but I have been looking for an excuse to embed the video above on Boing boing for a long time, so I will. It's my favorite Tears for Fears song, and sometimes when I play it in my car, and I'm driving along PCH, it still makes my eyes well up with emo. (link: Pale Shelter)

• [sirskipjack]

  I recently re-discovered Curt on a music discovery site call thesixtyone.com. The irony is that I learned about thesixtyone.com in an article on BoingBoing.

  Not only is his music of the quality that you would expect from a professional, he has tracks available for download under a Creative Commons license. If only more artists had the where-with-all to continue to evolve as an artist and as a businessperson. I just wish that the revolution had started earlier.

• [anomalousclouds]

  Haha, Pale Shelter might just be my favorite Tears for Fears song – nice choice. To make a long opinion short, I think a lot of the heinousness of the record industry was exposed when file sharing really began to catch on in the late 1990s, around the time I was beginning to get on the internet. As was said, now you need little more than an apt computer and basic equipment to record, not a glossy, but a decent piece of music.

  The playing field is probably better now for the artist than ever, and the sharing of tastes and information is easier, as well. Terrestrial radio unfortunately, save college stations and public radio, has gone far, far south.

• [Kawentzmann]

  I think the star system on iTunes is a good filter. It should automatically delete all 1 and 2 star songs after a while. Or friends, people, humas who have proven competence in musical matters. I wouldn’t look at major label offices for them, though.

• [Anonymous]

  There is no more money in the music business today, and this affects creativity. That’s why so many artists looking back at the 80-90, to get some inspiration.Tears for fears will always be my group of choice from the past decade. I like to surf on youtube and myspace sometimes, just to find something new and cool, recently i bump on a page of a singer called Mona Kalina, and i thing she’s not bad at all.

• [Gilgongo]

  When considering the issue of music “filtering”, as raised by Curt Smith here, I can’t help but also consider a related issue in the current age of celebrity: that if somebody “dedicates” themselves sufficiently to music (or indeed any art form) then in doing so they somehow automatically deserve recognition, and with it, fame and riches beyond measure.

  However, it appears to be taboo to point out that mere sweat of the brow does not necessarily equate to the production of good music.

  Put simply, could it be that the Internet has exposed the fact that the music industry (extant as of about 1950) has created a situation in which there is an enormous glut of musicians and music, most of which would never see the light of day were it left to the listeners to decide?

  To push this a bit further: when I read of musicians complaining about how little money they make, I note they never consider the possibility that they may just be crap.

• [Wibbly]

  “This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.”

  Friggin’ typical.

  Perhaps someone could check these before posting?

• [Anonymous]

  Tears for Fears are on a tour right now in support of their upcoming album… the bit makes it sound like they aren’t together right now.

• [siliconsunset]

  When I visited my family in Germany for the first time in the late nineties I brought a Walkman and a “Songs From The Big Chair” cassette. I had a discman and all kinds of CDs, but I decided to bring this setup. We were going to visit my dad’s family and my dad gave me cool music of this era as a youngin’, so it seemed appropriate. I was completely content with this album my entire time in Europe. I find that now, still, I am completely content listening to this album wherever, whenever. In fact, few things make me happier than rolling up to a stoplight next to someone thumping their system and blaring “I believe” or something similarly less “cool” or “aggressive”. It confuses and scares people, and brings a smile to my face. I love Tears for Fears. That is all…

• [Anonymous]

  Thanks for the mention – just spreading the word :)
  Regards
  Curt Smith

  • [Xeni Jardin]

    Oh, neat! Hi Curt!

• [Slizzered]

  The primary reason to make art is to share it with people?

  Hm, depends what kind of an artist you are. Ex: Warhol might never have arrived at the place he did as a fine artist if not for many commercial gigs.

  Quite often the point of making art is to put food on the table.

• [Anonymous]

  I estimate that there are at least 20000 excellent albums out right now. No one could possibly listen to all of them in a lifetime.

  The best way that I have found to cull is to find a music fanatic that knows a genre solid. If I like what they first recommend then I will follow their advice.

  I have a tin ear, but love music. Right now I only have about 3000 albums and the only ones that are not good are the ones I chose on hype or name that I had heard of. 80 per cent are excellent, top of the genre.

  I was lucky and never got stuck in a genre. I can listen to Mongolian throat music and Japanese noise bands as readily as I listen to Legendary Pink Dots, Mission of Burma, Cat Power, Hope Sandoval or ani difranco.

• [allennoble]

  @WIBBLY: Irony or case in point?

  I also can not hear what Mr smith has to say on the value of sharing because: “This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.”

• [popnwave]

  Awesome post.. I am a big fan of TFF and always love playing video material from the first album on my club night.

  I only wished I was about 10 years older sometimes so I might have caught them on tour back in the 80′s!

  I would settle for now if they came close to me.

• [andydub]

  Y’all seen Curt Smith’s interesting conversation (and fun theme song submission) with Kevin Pollak? (Episode 8)
  http://kevinpollakschatshow.com/all-episodes/

• [zandar]

  Xeni: “I really dig Curt’s current solo work..”

  Oh my God, I do too. Halfway Pleased is an impressive piece of modern pop. I’m downloading it right now.

• [misterfricative]

  I completely agree with Curt: ‘the primary reason to make art is to share it with people.’

  Unfortunately — no surprise here — the record companies still aren’t getting the friggin memo:

  “This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.”

• [Bottlekid]

  Sweet! Curt reads BB! Not only is Curt a great vocalist, but he’s one of the most underrated bass players of our time. And when he and Roland make music together, it’s magic. So hard to choose a favorite TFF song, but this may be their masterpiece:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hDoPCiC3RQ

• [Kimrod]

  I have to agree with you BK, Woman in Chains is a superb piece of work.