Do you take it personally...

[shark_bite]

when anonymous people slag you because of your music?

Case in point here today. Seems I've got a hater on last.fm. I know it's one dude being an asshole, but I'm kind of annoyed all the same.

Anyway, I'm just curious how personally everyone else takes stuff like this, whether it's a rude comment from an asshole in the audience to a reviewer not liking your record or live show to some d-bag on the internet yammering about how you're an impostor or something.

John Mayer, feel free to pipe in here

 

[soulohio]

embrace the suck...but don't encourage it...

 

[MikeNiteRail]

embrace the suck...but don't encourage it...

Yeah. Sometimes they might make a good point...don't take it personally as there are people who will go out of their way to hate. Just make sure you don't become a hyporcrite!

 

[KRosser]

Many years ago I had a reviewer in the LA Times say "the best thing I can say about Ken Rosser is I couldn't hear him"

That goes down in my personal history as the best "WTF" review quip

I think you have to let ALL of it, the positive and the negative, roll off your back.

 

[mark norwine]

Art isn't competition....

Do your best, enjoy what you do. Some will follow you, others won't.

 

[Member 995]

Many years ago I had a reviewer in the LA Times say "the best thing I can say about Ken Rosser is I couldn't hear him"

I kind of wish I had a quote like that. The only time I was in the L.A. Times they managed to cut my head off in the picture so that they didn't have to credit me in the photo. I guess you could say that the best part about Bryan T is that you don't have to look at his face.

 

[shark_bite]

I suppose in my case I'm a little more prone to taking it personally since there are slags on my character in addition to my music in that last.fm wiki. But that did lead to wondering how I would feel if it was just a comment on my playing/singing/writing/whatever. Fortunately so far the things people have said have always been good or the people have kept their mouths shut, so it's not something that I've got a lot of experience with. But I feel like if I was at a gig and someone ripped on my playing, if I could see a decent point to what he/she/it was saying and it didn't just sound like someone blowing hot air for some completely unrelated reason, I'd spend the rest of my week in the woodshed trying to keep it from happening again.

 

[JMarck]

Art isn't competition....

Do your best, enjoy what you do. Some will follow you, others won't.

+1...I could careless what people say

 

[reddgeetarzan]

Well, you could do what Ryan Adams did to one of his critics......
Some people are just haters, plain and simple- they get pleasure from it. Ignore it.....as long as you're happy making your music, F*** 'em.

Check this out........maybe you can get this guy's phone number that's slaggin' ya........this will at least make you feel a little better about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoTUXBbaFjE

 

[Tomo]

+1...I could careless what people say

I pay attention all posts... and I try not ignore anything... try to understand each.. but I don't pay attention if someone say negative things.

YouTube videos... read some of posts on my YouTube...

One time someone emailed me and complained that... I didn't play any lydian scale or modal enough! I like to keep all bad comments and reviews!

Be happy and enjoy!

Tomo

 

[fetishfrog]

Nope, gotta let it slide. In fact, I'd say an absense of some bad reviews might be a sign you're playing it too safe...and safe is just about the last thing we need in music.

 

[gaspedals.net]

If youre any good, which you are, you will get much worse reviews than that. Here he is simply attacking your character and integrity , it can be worse when they say you are talentless, boring or have no feeling. Really you get to decide what it means. I find reviews in general, good or bad say more about the person talking than the artist. On some level they know that and since it is their time to shine they want to make a statement which often becomes more important than the review.

Ken made a good point, some say praise and blame go hand in hand. To allow yourself to really get into the good reviews is to feel the sting of bad reviews - the ego (even a well meaning one) is very protective.

 

[Wooley]

Well, you could do what Ryan Adams did to one of his critics......
Some people are just haters, plain and simple- they get pleasure from it. Ignore it.....as long as you're happy making you're music, F*** 'em.

Check this out........maybe you can get this guy's phone number that's slaggin' ya........this will at least make you feel a little better about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoTUXBbaFjE

THAT is HILARIOUS!

 

[shark_bite]

Thanks guys... can't take it too seriously since the charts indicate more people are listening to my music than the other guy's... I wonder if it's worth editing it, and my guess is that it probably isn't. It's not like there are thousands of people a day looking at it/listening to anything EITHER "me" is putting out there. For now, at least... haha

Here comes the vanity record 2009!!! With actual promotion this time!!!! This other guy should disappear after that. I have put almost no effort forth in getting my music out to anyone beyond my friends and family (and I guess TGP since it's in my sig). If I tried, it stands to reason there would be less confusion.

 

[jtm622]

I remember opening up for "Be-Bop Deluxe" at the coliseum in Dallas... Got BOO-O-O-O-ED
for the first time, ever... That's not easy too take. Then Be-Bop Deluxe took the stage and the same drunk cretins BOO-O-O-ED them after the first song... I mean, when the headliner is getting booed after just one song, that put things into perspective as to what was really going on in that audience.

P.S. - Believe me, you can hear ONE lonely "BOO" from a drunk sombitch who needs an ass-whippin' OVER 10,000 other folks all simultaneously applauding...

 

[billm408]

I'd put it in the press kit under the "it's an honor just to be nominated" category.

 

[Bankston]

You gotta have a thick skin when you do anything creative.

It's a given that no matter how good you are, somebody is going to not like your work and find a reason to slag you.

 

[Seegs]

we opened a medium sized blues festival here in Kiel, Germany around 2004 or so with...what we thought was a hard-hitting powerful set...the next day a local reviewer said that listening to us was like being hit repeatedly in the stomach...

to this day I'm not sure it that was a compliment or an insult...methinks the latter...pissed me off at the time...now I laugh at it...

Chow,
Seegs

 

[johneeeveee]

Nope, gotta let it slide. In fact, I'd say an absense of some bad reviews might be a sign you're playing it too safe...and safe is just about the last thing we need in music.

Excellent point. It's impossible to create music that will enthrall some without making others cringe. Just look around here, and use the search function for say, Radiohead, or even Led Zeppelin or the Beatles.

You just have to keep your head down and stay true to your vision. You can't start to second guess what folks will think or you're done. Reading reviews, good or bad, shouldn't validate or negate your worth as an artist. Be grateful and generous to the fans that do get it and don't worry about those that don't.

Print reviews are seldom without an agenda. Positive or negative reviews are often fueled by things that have nothing to do with the music, and have to with relationships with the press, jumping on a trend, backlash from other reviews, or someone just trying to ruffle feathers. Again, just look around here... where it's called trolling.

It's hard not to take it at all personally. After all, you are a person, and it never feels good to be criticized. Read them if you must, take what you can from them that might be helpful, and move on.

In the end, being written about in any fashion means that at least someone is noticing what you do. A bad review isn't going to change the minds of fans who dig you... but is more likely to have them rally in your defense. Again... just look around here

 

[tastylicks]

No, I don't.