“Things inspiring me - good melody, a great bass line, a fabulous voice... by which I mean someone who sounds great, rather than does pyrotechnics... and people playing really musically. Music is endlessly fascinating.” PeopleMeanMusic IsMelodyFabulous Author:Al Murray
“It's a video world now, you know? It's not a musical world. It's a video world. I can watch videos. I see videos, you know, Britney Spears, she's sexy. I like to watch her videos. It's not like the music is what I'm hearing. It's different now. But it's not my world. It's the world of young people and they have what they want and they have what the technology and the society produces as a result of all these advancements that have occurred. And the in the future we'll have something else. Maybe we'll have holograms and, you know, all kinds of stuff.” PeopleWorldKindDifferentTechnologyMusic IsMusicalSexyAll Kinds Author:Don McLean
“Music documentaries are hard to tell, but I think they're an amazing vehicle to look at racism, our attitude to sex, the way we judge drugs. There's the ability to get a big audience because of these incredible, iconic, charismatic people. You can look at a number of issues - the challenge is to make sure you choose something that has all those issues. Popular music is like a mirror of culture, of who we are.” PeopleThinkingCultureChallengesAbilityAttitudeAudienceJudgingDrugMusic IsRacismIncrediblesYou ChooseVehicleIconicCharismaticPopular Music Author:Nick Broomfield
“When people get up on the stage and say, "I've got AIDS," or "I'm in recovery," gosh, it's hard for them. It's like that story touches every person's story. You know, they open their entire humanity up. Storytelling is very important in life. Telling the truth is critical. It's like, again, the melody. The melody of jazz music is the truth, for me.” PeopleImportantHumanityTruth IsMusic IsJazzAidsStorytellingRecoveryTelling The TruthMelodyJazz Music Author:Cecil Williams
“I think for us, we don't feel like the future of music is in the act of being a record company. We feel like the future of the music business is in empowering artists to have better and better tools to communicate with their fans. We want to be people who are saying to artists, "Look, you don't need that company over there to release your album. You can do it this way." Almost more of a band partnership than a label-artist relationship. Not about ownership of content, but about empowerment.” PeopleThinkingArtistMusic IsEmpowermentCommunicateEmpoweringPartnershipOwnershipYou Can Do ItMusic Business Author:Zac Hanson
“I don't make music to make money. I make music because that's what I like to do. You would think, "Yeah, of course, that's what an artist does," but there ain't too many artists around anymore. I see a lot of people who, if they thought they wouldn't profit, would find an easier hustle. It's a racket now, like everything else, but we're in a capitalistic country - everything's a racket. Take what you can. I think the difference between that line of thinking and me is obvious.” PeopleThinkingCountryArtistMusic IsObviousMaking MoneyHustle Author:Del tha Funkee Homosapien
“Our music is always a reflection of where we are in a society. That's what enables so many people to do what they do. So my advice is to work at your craft. Be the best you can be at your craft and do it sincerely. Even in the world we live in today, that will give you longevity. At the end of the day, I want the quality of my work to stand, not how much I did.” PeopleWorldGivingTodayQualityAdviceMusic IsReflectionBeing The BestLongevitySincerely Author:Lenny Kravitz
“I really focus on what my fans will take from it, people living their day-to-day lives. At the end of the day, the music isn't for me; it's for people who are going through their struggles and want to relate to someone who feels the same way they do. I've got to go all-in, expressing myself, right there in the moment.” PeopleMomentsStruggleFocusMusic Is Author:Kendrick Lamar
“I am not really thinking, I am just, working with the music. And people have asked me, why don't you say more, or why do you not have singers, or why don't you sing? I think it's because, if I would have words for what I am doing, I I could write. But I really don't. It's a whole different thing. And I think it's one of the beauty of instrumental music is that it can be background. It can be what people call "easy listening." But it's really one of those things where it's as much as you are willing to give it.” PeopleThinkingGivingWritingDifferentEasyListeningMusic Is Author:Ottmar Liebert
“What we're doing now, is to try to eradicate the limited notion of how people are interacting with each other through hyper-racialized ideas. A lot of it deal with, as an example, genre. If I ask you to visualize a trap musician or a hip-hop musician, you'll see one thing. If I say visualize a western classical musician, you'll see a very different thing. A lot of how music is disseminated to us is hyper-racialized. It's not something that we think about all the time, but if you take a minute to look back, it's why you get this argument when there's a white rapper.” PeopleThinkingTryingDifferentMusicianMusic IsArgumentWesternRapperClassical MusicRap Music Author:Christian Scott
“Whereas when you perform, the song is done. The music is out. People know it already. You can interpret it differently, the band can perform it differently, so I like the freedom of performing.” PeopleDoneSongMusic IsPerforming Author:NAO
“The average age of the Jazz audience is increasing rapidly. Rapidly enough to suggest that there is no replacement among young people. Young people aren't starting to listen to Jazz and carrying it along in their lives with them. Jazz is becoming more like Classical music in terms of its relationship to the audience. And just a Classical music is grappling with the problem of audience development, so is Jazz grappling with this problem. I believe, deeply that Jazz is still a very vital music that has much to say to ordinary people. But it has to be systematic about getting out the message.” PeopleBelieveEnoughProblemAgeI BelieveTermAudienceMusic IsJazzOrdinary PeopleClassical Music Author:Terry Teachout
“I used to practice piano for hours, and now, with a synthesizer, you can input the music and the machine perfects the song. That's why we have so many people in the music business who should be plumbers. They don't really understand music because they haven't been trained.” PeopleSongHoursMusic IsMusic BusinessPlumber Author:Quincy Jones
“There is a terrible thing that's been happening probably for the last 20 years or so and it's called the music business. And music isn't really business; it's work and you got to pay and you've got to buy your guitar or go into the studio. So there is a business side but when people say, "I'm going into the music business," it's not. It's about expression. It's about creativity. You don't join music, in my mind, to make money. You join it because it's in you; it's in your blood stream.” PeopleMindCreativityTerribleMusic IsMaking MoneyMusic Business Author:Gavin Friday
“I am the ambassador to the world. I use music to talk to the world - to try to unite masses. To try to spark conversations. To try and evoke legislation to change that'll really be for the people. That's behind-the-scenes kind of thing for me. And that's what the music is for me.” PeopleWorldTryingKindMusic Is Author:Ali Shaheed Muhammad
“We've got a lot of love from Chicago, you know we've been selling out big venues in Chicago that other people don't sell out. Our music is something that's a bit different you know from what's being publicized and that's going against everything else coming out in Chicago.” PeopleDifferentMusic IsSellingSelling Out Author:Vic Mensa
“Being able to connect with people with similar taste and style also allows people to get to know us better. Although we have been around for a little, some people listen to our music and some people don't listen to our music, so it's nice to be able to curate the sounds and show our influences. Although it's nice to go out and look fancy and dress up, you don't always go to parties where the music is a good so it's nice to be in a position to bring the vibes and create the experience.” PeoplePartyNiceInfluenceStyleMusic Is Author:Jillian Hervey
“I think there are basically two kinds of musicians: some are extroverted and some are introverted. I think extroverted musicians are more in the entertainer kind of camp, which is just as valid, but you're going to be more apt to make music that is of the moment - whereas if you're coming from a more introverted place, the music is going to end up being more about the past or more personal. It's not going to be about the people in the room, per se.” PeopleThinkingKindMomentsPastMusicianMusic IsIntroverted Author:Memory Tapes
“I always tell people that I have never ever gone dancing in my life. But that's the point. It's the point of dreaming of doing it, imagining doing it. My music is like a fantasy version of it, not a practical version of it. With the way a club DJ would make a track - they are in the club, they know how to get people excited. I don't know how to get people excited. I'm just imagining euphoria; I'm not necessarily feeling it.” PeopleFeelingsDreamFantasyMusic IsDancingTrackExcitedEuphoria Author:Memory Tapes
“I thought Everything Ecstatic was the happiest of them all - hence the "ecstatic" name. The whole concept behind that was total out-and-out euphoric mania. I think tracks like "Smile Around The Face" are the jolliest things I've ever done, really. But one of the things I like about my music is the fact that it's instrumental, so there are no lyrics to guide people.” PeopleThinkingDoneMusic IsTrackEcstaticManiaEuphoric Author:Kieran Hebden
“All of my friends are really good dancers, which was initially why I never danced - we'd go out and they would kill it and I'd be like, "Yeah, I'm just gonna sit at the bar." I broke my foot, and I couldn't run for a year, but I realized I could kind of dance. It reminded me how amazing dance is; it's so in tune with music - it is music. It's a physical expression of whatever music is. On stage, you're interacting with things - physical things. So I've really started to like and notice the way people move with music.” PeopleKindRunningMovingMusic IsI RealizedBrokeDancer Author:Nick Murphy
“You put music in categories because you need to define a sound, but when you don't play it on your so-called radio stations that claim to be R&B or jazz or whatever... All music is dance music. But when people think of dance music, they think of techno or just house. Anything you can dance to is dance music. I don't care if it's classical, funk, salsa, reggae, calypso; it's all dance music.” PeopleThinkingCareHouseMusic IsJazzReggaeFunk Author:Afrika Bambaataa
“My gift and my curse is that I really want to be loved. What drives me to make music is love - whether it's shallow or deep or whatever. I want to do things that make people love me.” PeopleMusic IsCurseShallow Author:Robin Thicke
“Folk music is not for a select group of people who feel that maybe he taught them about this music and that it belongs to them. It doesn't belong only to them. It belongs to everyone who's interested in the blueprints of good songwriting.” PeopleMusic IsSongwritingSelectFolk Music Author:Jakob Dylan
“I'm very concerned with the healing process of a song and music in general. I think that's why I make music - it heals me and I'm extremely sensitive to people who tell me that this or that song made them feel better or helped them go through a difficult time in their life. I think that music is almost medicine. I don't know if that's my philosophy, but that's my thought process.” PeopleThinkingPhilosophySongDifficultHealingMusic IsConcernedHealSensitiveFeel BetterMy ThoughtsDifficult Times Author:Olivia Merilahti
“I think it all comes back to the individual. My instrument's just a pile of metal and wood! If you listen to the way I speak I have a lot of rhythm, use a lot of accents. When I'm playing my instrument that concept comes through very clearly. In fact some people who've seen me play have noticed that I'm singing - but it's more that I'm actually speaking. So it's not really about the instrument. But for me, in my thinking, the music is all about the melody. When I compose, 99 percent of the time I start with the melody.” PeopleThinkingIndividualSpeakMusic IsSingingRhythmMelodyMetals Author:Stefon Harris
“I think my music being referred to as "cinematic" has a lot to do with people just not being used to listening to instrumental music without watching a film. I'm still pretty convinced of that. You'll play Chopin in place of something average and like, "Wow, that'd be great in a film." People say it every time, swear to God. I don't think people have a good relationship with instruments and music anymore. But it's definitely visual; I started writing with this band because of the pictures. I can't really deny it either, you know?” PeopleThinkingWritingFilmListeningMusic IsSwearGood Relationship Author:Patrick Watson
“My music is music that Christians and Catholics can listen to. Muslims. Buddhists. And non-religious people as well. It's just music. You can look at the music in several different ways. It's music for everybody.” PeopleDifferentChristianMusic IsCatholicBuddhist Author:Jeremy Enigk
“I'm sort of socially inept, so music is my way to connect to people. It's a means of socializing and having a life. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. I would just make home recordings and play them for myself. And that's not really healthy.” PeopleMeanHomeHealthyMusic IsMy WayBother Author:Stephen Malkmus
“There's a vast ecosystem for music outside of Myspace and Facebook and you need to make sure that your music is in as many hands as possible. I wanted people to share my music and tell friends about me, and if you want to rely on word of mouth, you have to make it easy for people. I got lucky because I had a few songs that hit big and got a lot of links on blog posts.” PeopleSongEasyShareLuckyMusic IsRelyWord Of Mouth Author:Jonathan Coulton
“I thought "I don't need to reach out to my fans, I don't need to have that dialogue with them." But as a musician, you have to constantly - especially since my music is not on the same level as my acting - you have to connect with your fans. I actually feel like I have developed friendships through Twitter, people that I've worked with I can kind of keep up with them. I've totally turned a corner. I get it. And Instagram.” PeopleKindActingMusicianMusic IsDialogueReach Out Author:Bryan Greenberg
“I do like people who are popular across the years and stuff like that, but I'm not a big pop music fan. I don't listen to the radio unless it's KCRW, like Booka Shade. Yeah, like weird music is what I'm really into right now. But I like anything really. There's just so much. I buy new music almost every day, so there's so much coming in that I don't even have time to listen to something more that twice.” PeopleMusic IsPop Music Author:Ashley Tisdale
“The point of my music is to make people feel good. When I do it right, it makes me feel good too.” PeopleMusic IsFeel Good Author:Willy Mason
“I like to make people dream and think and imagine and learn and study. Nowadays, music is so literal - it's telling you, "This is how it is," and my music's the opposite. I come from an era where lyrics were full of imagery and metaphor, and that's all I know.” PeopleThinkingDreamStudyImagineMusic IsMetaphorImagery Author:Dawn Angelique
“Music is entertainment, but I would like to be able to inspire the audience in a way that makes them leave, saying, "Wow, I just left with something I didn't have before going into this concert." I hope that people can leave either a live show or listening to our band record with a sense of peace, where the music was a moment of escape.” PeopleMomentsAudienceInspireListeningMusic Is Author:Amanda Michalka
“I think the best way to listen to my music is through recording. I would love to be one of those artists where you can go into a coffee shop and watch people pass by and then my music is in their ears. Not necessarily a sensory deprivation thing, but that's cool too. Unfortunately in order to focus on nobody else, you would probably have to go into a dark room and just sit there and listen to it.” PeopleThinkingArtistDarkFocusMusic IsCoffeeCoffee Shop Author:Willis Earl Beal
“I think that live music is really pretentious - all of it. I hate festivals and live shows, because as soon as I get on stage, I start performing for people and it becomes about sex, banter, and skill. They're looking at me and not thinking about themselves. I'm thinking about how cool I look. It's just stupid - all live music is really stupid. I wouldn't encourage going to see anybody live, ever. Not even me.” PeopleThinkingHateStupidMusic IsI HatePerformingPretentiousReally Stupid Author:Willis Earl Beal
“I think music is better listened to with other people. Music is better shared. It depends what situation you're in - if it's a song by Tom Waits, it can be nice to be on your own, but if it's something slightly more upbeat, it's amazing to be around people.” PeopleThinkingSongWaitingSituationNiceMusic IsBeing NiceUpbeat Author:Tom Odell
“You can learn to write. But what you write is something that depends on your taste and on your vision or whatever. Also, of course, the music I listened to inspired my idea of music. When people ask me "Where's your inspiration? Where does it come from?" I have no idea. Music is about music. Not about life and love.” PeopleWritingInspirationVisionMusic IsInspiredAsk MeLife And Love Author:Nils Frahm
“Music is generally important to blind people, and most of the blind people that I have come into contact, through my parents, music is very special to them. Obviously, because it is more salient, you know? We might like going to the movies, and of course we like music too, but when the eyes don't work then the ears pick up slack. Music is all the sweeter at that point.” PeopleImportantEyeParentSpecialMusic IsBlindBlind People Author:William Fitzsimmons
“I think the thing about music is, it's about communication. If you communicate to anyone, whether someone unknown who's a fan or Lady Gaga, I think that always gives you a nice feeling. It's always nice when people say nice things about you. But we tend to think about people as equals.” PeopleThinkingGivingFeelingsNiceCommunicationMusic IsCommunicate Author:Susan Ann Sulley
“I think a lot of people are having their midlife crisis in public. I think if you left something unfinished, go ahead and do it. But I guess I can't really answer that question in respect to my own music, because it's inconceivable.” PeopleThinkingMusic IsCrisis Author:Grant Hart
“Music is the highest art form.I still think that. I wish I was really talented in music because then I would be doing it. I felt that I could write a decent song, but it was a big struggle. It took a lot of time and effort for me, whereas a lot of my peers and other people seemed to have a much easier relationship to it. But I profoundly love music, and I still dream that I might one day try to write some new songs and record something - just for myself, to see what would happen.” PeopleThinkingWritingTryingArtDreamSongWishEffortStruggleOne DayMusic IsDecent Author:Johan Renck
“If 5000 people bought my record, I would appreciate those 5000 people. I make music for them because music isn't supposed to be so money driven. I didn't get into the music game because I wanted to make money. I sing because that's a God given talent of mine and it's something I love to do. If it's 10,000 or a million people, I'm going to give people the music they like from me. That's what being an artist is. Whoever likes your work, that's who you do it for.” PeopleGivingArtistTalentMusic IsAppreciateDrivenMaking MoneyBeing An Artist Author:Marcus Ramone Cooper
“Here, in the US, people like our music because it's very similar to blues. It's the same thing in Europe. Everyone listens to blues and rock, it's universal. Everyone dances.” PeopleMusic Is Author:Amadou Bagayoko
“There are so many people in this world that have the look and have talent, and yet they keep putting out this teenybopper singers that have no vocal capability at all. Sometimes I think there's no real music anymore. We don't have singers like we did back in the day. Music is supposed to convey a message. Music is supposed to make you feel a certain way. Now, I don't want to hear about big bootie shaking on the floor. Music just isn't what it used to be. I think that with the times changing, labels do actually need to get that and stop signing all these crap artists.” PeopleThinkingWorldRealSometimesArtistTalentMusic IsCapabilityCrapShaking Author:Brianna Taylor
“When I listen to my songs, they seem like pieces of music or art, like a painting that you look at. The reality is that, yes, when I wrote the songs upstairs or wherever, I was writing very specifically about my life or a specific subject matter that's very personal. I've never shied away from that. The vocals and the performance that come after the record, I don't think of that as confessional, but the core of the music is completely. It makes sense that people would see that as being the main thing. I guess not everyone is able to speak so candidly.” PeopleThinkingWritingArtRealitySongSpeakPaintingMusic IsMake Sense Author:Martha Wainwright
“I think all of us set out to try and reach as many people. That's the whole point of being in a band: trying to get your music out there. So, any opportunity to do that, within reason. We're informed about where our music is going to be used; we get to say yes or no. There are things we can turn down, and there are things we can agree to. When it comes to movies and stuff like that, it's great for us. I don't think it's selling out. Maybe 10 or 20 years ago it was seen as selling out, but nowadays I think it's the only way to get your music out there.” PeopleThinkingTryingReasonOpportunityMusic IsAgreeSellingSelling OutYes Or No Author:Daniel Taylor
“Everybody's looking for some kind of authenticity in music. Or some kind of truism, you know, "This is true!" And the thing about gospel music is, these people are singing about their faith. So it always comes across with, as authentic, you know? Gospel choirs put across this amazing sound but they're singing from the heart because they truly believe it. And I kind of have that faith, but I just have that faith in music.” PeopleBelieveHeartKindMusic IsSingingAuthenticityChoirTruismGospel Music Author:Jason Pierce
“I'm trying to work out a way to be a singer and to create cool content. I'm willing to do that as an entertainer. But I'm not willing to give up my actual self. And the way the system is built up, there'll be a backlash soon. Just recently some people published 11 photos of Sia's face. It's a bummer for me because it's going to elevate my profile and make me more recognizable. But I don't look the same as I did when I used to have my photo taken. Music is for your ears, not your eyes, right? But film is for your eyes, and I would like to give you something.” PeopleGivingTryingEyeFilmTakenGiving UpMusic IsWork OutProfile Author:Sia Furler