It sounds good, but does that make it good?

Part of what is wrong with so much of the music being played on the radio today, is that it sounds great.

Seriously. I hear this all the time. I ask someone what they think of a song that is playing on the radio. They listen for a second and say "It sounds good". "But do you think it's a good song"? I ask. They don't answer "Yeah, I love that song" or "Yeah this song kicks ass"! Instead they pause for a bit, maybe listen for a few seconds more, and then say something like "I don't know......It sounds good though".

A great song is a great song. No matter how well it is, or isn't recorded. The Beatles recorded most of their albums on 4 track tape machines. They used technology that is considered prehistoric compared to recordings made in today's slick digital audio world of 60 + tracks and up. Yet when you hear a song like Yesterday, it doesn't matter that the technology used to record it was vastly inferior to today's technology, because in the end, a great song (and an equally great performance) shines through all of that. No one has any trouble hearing a great song.

But we live in a world where audio technology can make the mediocre sound great. In today's music world it's about the production. And we can do this in spades. But this doesn't make it a great song. It just makes it "sound" great. Sound being the operative word here. Back in the day, it was about the song. You didn't have the technology to hide behind. The song had to be good. This didn't stop bad songs from being recorded, but I think the lack of technology made it easier for the casual listener to discern the mediocre from the good. A good analogy to this is movies. With today's technology you can create great special effects undreament of 10 years ago. You can color correct your movie to make the cinematography look beautiful. But without a good story it's just empty eye candy.

But if you don't look at it with too critical a mind you might be fooled into thinking it was a good movie, when in actuality it was just a good looking movie. The same holds true for music.

Today's production values will make a mediocre song sound good. And if you don't think about it, you might be fooled into thinking it is a good song. But a good song stays with you. You can remember the melody. A good song can move you across the dance floor but it can also move your soul. For many, music is background noise and you can use good songs for this too, but a good song can also stop you in your tracks. It can stop your train of thought, and make you want to follow that songs musical path/journey from beginning to end. Admit it; it's hard to start "American Pie" by Don Mclean and then turn it off half way through. You have to finish it. So the next time you listen casually the latest flavor of the month, ask yourself: Is this really a good song, or does it just sound good? Does the melody really stay with you? And when you hear it again does it groove and excite you enough that you want to hear it from start to finish?

TJR Vs Star 98

What is it with contests? Star 98 is having one and I thought I might enter it. So I read their contract/entry rules and this paragraph is in the middle of it.

I understand that by entering and submitting my Entry, I have granted to the Released Parties, a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to use, publish, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, distribute, have distributed and promote such content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created, anywhere in the world, for any purpose.

If I read this correctly, It sounds like I am giving away my song to them use in any way they want. I have written a letter to them. It will be interesting to see if they respond.