To make your mark
If you want to make your mark (in any area), you can do in two ways:
You can do it like Matchbox twenty did it. Put out a first album where every song hits the charts, and you become the talk of the town – the “it” person – for a while. The risk you run, however, is that you will never be able to make an album like that again. So expectations fall quickly, and you constantly are trying to get back to the point you were at once.
Or you can do it like the Foo Fighters. I never actively buy their cd’s,(mp3′s) or listen to their music. But this last week I heard at least a half dozen of their songs on the radio, including this morning driving to the gym, and when I heard it, I whispered to myself…
When did the Foo Fighters become my favorite band?
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really?
i havent heard a song of theirs that i’ve liked since the colour & shape album
Marty, you seem to be implying that Matchbox twenty’s goal was to have a bunch of hits on their first album whereas the Foo Fighters were hoping to avoid that. In fact you seem to be implying that both bands had a goal of making a mark. Perhaps both bands had the goal of making the kind of music they wanted to make, to the best of their abilities and if they “make the charts” then great.
The truth is you can’t control how you make a mark or even if you make a mark because that will always be determined by someone else. If your efforts are met with universal disdain then the only mark you’ve made is that everyone thinks you suck.
Dave, Yep, I love their stuff.
Ian, I do see a difference between “making your mark” and “Making the charts”, which kind of agrees with what you are saying, but honestly, few people (and I’d love to hear examples) get big in any industry on accident.
In other words, I see “making your mark” as having a wide definition, and just used “music” and “the charts” as an example, not an ultimate example.
But one things for sure, the two bands both signed a contract with major companies, thus negating the idea that they just wanted to make music. people who just want to make music do just that, they make music. They don’t sign contracts.
Now, you can make your mark, by simply making music or by going farther (in an industry sense) by signing a contract. Either way, the example was just that…an example.
I could use working at a church or a large defense contractor too. How do I choose to make my mark? Slow and sure, or trying to be the next big thing?
I’m about half way to agreeing with Ian.
I’ve never much reflected on the difference between goals that are within our power or goals that are out of our power.
Matchbox 20 vs. Foo Fighters is maybe not the best example of this, because it’s not necessarily an either/or dilemna: You don’t have to choose having a bunch of great songs on mantaining quality over the long haul. One could concievably do both, and in fact, it seems that effectively doing one would feed into more powerfully doing the other.
The realization that does seem very powerful, though, the one I’d never much contemplated, is that there is atleast 2 ways to express your goals. One is by referencing things you can control, the other is referencing things you can’t control. As I reflect on it, I suspect that maybe there’s advantages either way.
For example, Matchbox 20 could have referenced entirely external sign posts. They could have said, “Our goal is to have five number one singles off of this C.D.”
That sort of goal lies largely out of their realm to effect. This is Ian’s excellent point: DJ’s, promotion, fickle public support, trends, other good music that they compete with, all these things will impace whether or not the song becomes number 1.
I think that the advantage is that this type of goal demands teh goal setter own responsibility. If the C.D. comes out, and the goal is not reached, the band could say “Next time, we’ll do better: we’ll make better songs, we’ll watch the market better, etc.”
On the other hand, Matchbox 20 could say “We’re going to make a C.D. with the best songs we can craft.” Or even more specifically “We’re not going to stop recording songs until this C.D. has three of the best songs we’ve ever written, as determined by majority vote.”
The good news is the bad news here: it’s utterly under the band’s control. It doesn’t take into account anything outside the band’s shpere of influence. It’s concievavble that a band with this type of goal spends it’s life in obscurity yet still makes great C.D.’s.
FOO FIGHTERS RULE! Some of my faves, just to name a few, Big Me, Monkey Wrench, Best of Me,
Marty,
If when you say “How do I choose to make my mark? Slow and sure, or trying to be the next big thing?” you mean the difference between selling out (simply trying to give people what they want in order to be popular) and staying true to your self/calling/ideals/whatever while building influence then yes, I totally agree with you.