If you understood everything I said you’d be me

Miles Davis said a lot of things. A lot of very memorable and very true things. But 1 quote resonates with me more than any other.

If you understood everything I said, you’d be me.

I don’t want anyone else to understand everything I say or do, nor do I want to understand everything that anyone else says or does.

I want to be me. And in order for me to be me I have to be true to myself and my beliefs, acting with integrity at all times and not worrying about the fact that somebody might not completely understand some of the things that I say, some of the things I play, and some of the things I write.

Integrity is a bloggers greatest asset. It’s also a musicians greatest asset. Without it, any output becomes vacuous and ultimately self defeating. I know bloggers who zeitgeist hop, and some do very well out of it, jumping from one trending topic to another. I also know musicians who do the same thing, copying licks to fill their own creative voids.

But I have never wanted to do that and I never will.

When I launched the first Upstart Blogger product, the 30 Day blogging course, many people argued that it was impossible to build a profitable blog in such a short space of time.

I lost a lot of readers but gained more readers than I lost. Furthermore, 30 Days continues to be a popular course that benefits the hundreds of people who sign up each month.

When I launched the Inner Circle there were many cries of derision from people who felt that I was going against established blogging rules by selling links and traffic.

The Inner Circle didn’t break any rules and now acts as a very powerful, if secretive, traffic force.

When I used micropatronage to raise financial support for my album many people laughed an said it was impossible.

Almost a year later, with a micropatronage income of almost $39,000, nobody is laughing anymore.

And finally, when I dared to suggest that the music industry was corrupt, that their figure head Lily Allen was a puppet, and that the only solution was to make all digital music free, giving everyone free online access to music without fear of punishment or prosecution, the naysayers were out in force again. This time with a few famous names, or their managers hiding behine fake accounts, in their ranks.

Every successful idea has been met with resistance. And the more successful the idea, the greater the resistance.

Big ideas, original ideas, creative ideas all change the way that people think and that can lead to fear. I’ll let Yoda take that fact to it’s logical conclusion.

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

Right now the major labels, and those media figureheads who support them, are afraid of the internet. More than that, they are afraid of how the balance of power is changing as independents are becoming more and more adapt at using the right tools to gain publicity, audience, attention and, and this is the nightmare scenario for the major labels, market share.

That’s why Radio 2 DJ and BBC figurehead Jonathan Ross recently lashed out on Twitter against this post when I suggested that he was controlled by the major labels and told what to play.

Of course, he didn’t include the link in his Tweet since that would have landed him in hot water with his controllers.

He retorted by claiming to be able to play whatever he wanted to play. I asked him for examples but he replied by saying that he liked Girls Aloud and that he liked pop music and saying that I was deluded if I thought that he was influenced by the major labels.

Who is more deluded, the man who wants to make digital music free to level the playing field and allow independents to be heard, or the man who claims to enjoy Girls Aloud?

Amazing isn’t it? He claims to be able to play whatever he wants but continues to play manufactured pop junk.

And yes, I realize that makes me sound like a music snob but I really don’t care. Anyone who claims to enjoy Girls Aloud can’t honestly hold their head up and claim to know anything about music. It’s like a food critic telling everyone to eat McDonalds cheeseburgers and expecting to be taken seriously.

Each to their own? I’ve no problem with that, Ross. Just don’t try and pretend to be knowledgeable about something when you’re clearly not.

Praising manufactured plastic pop music is no different to praising junk food. And if any act could be easily likened to a greasy McDonalds cheeseburger, full of gristle and fat, all sizzle but absolutely no taste or substance, Girls Aloud are it.

The bottom line in all of this is that the old guard just don’t get it and, I’m sorry to say, never will.

But does that mean the status quo should be maintained?

Never.

The rise of the independents is coming and the major labels and their cohorts know it only too well. And watching the industry executives wriggle around like lizards in a tin has never been more entertaining.

Ashley Morgan is a UK jazz trumpet player and owner of independent record label 447 Records. Ashley Morgan is the trumpet player with Enormous.