should we stop

[Emerald Tablet]

Many of us have been making electronic music for over 10 years.
Obviously we (me to) aren't really successful at it.
We wouldn't be wasting our time here if we were (Moby excluded - we don't know why you keep visiting KVR)

What's the use?

I mean I can only truly speak about myself. With all this time it cost me / us, is it worth it? Is there anyone beside me who would regret it if I'd stop this hobby? I guess not. Or would I get addicted to porn or booze or cigarettes or coke as a substitute for making music if I'd quit? wait .... lemme try first

Anyway ... the reason i'm posting this
Is there anyone who's tried to quit?
Did it help?

[Zombie Queen]

Is there anyone who's tried to quit?

Yes.

Did it help?

No.

[tomtoo]

Many of us have been making electronic music for over 10 years.
Obviously we (me to) aren't really successful at it.
We wouldn't be wasting our time here if we were (Moby excluded - we don't know why you keep visiting KVR)

What's the use?

I mean I can only truly speak about myself. With all this time it cost me / us, is it worth it? Is there anyone beside me who would regret it if I'd stop this hobby? I guess not. Or would I get addicted to porn or booze or cigarettes or coke as a substitute for making music if I'd quit? wait .... lemme try first

Anyway ... the reason i'm posting this
Is there anyone who's tried to quit?
Did it help?

Iam multi-addicted and if i stop this or that the other parts get more attention.

[Vintage73]

Who cares if you're successful if you enjoy it?

People have hobbies, many of which cost many thousands of dollars. It's what people do to feel satisfied with life.

I know I'll never be a professional musician or producer, yet I keep piling money into this hobby. Why? Because I enjoy it.

Make music for yourself, not for others.

[V0RT3X]

Many of us have been making electronic music for over 10 years.
Obviously we (me to) aren't really successful at it.
We wouldn't be wasting our time here if we were (Moby excluded - we don't know why you keep visiting KVR)

What's the use?

I mean I can only truly speak about myself. With all this time it cost me / us, is it worth it? Is there anyone beside me who would regret it if I'd stop this hobby? I guess not. Or would I get addicted to porn or booze or cigarettes or coke as a substitute for making music if I'd quit? wait .... lemme try first

Anyway ... the reason i'm posting this
Is there anyone who's tried to quit?
Did it help?

Well i was going to quit producing and try and sell off my software studio. I actually ended up selling alot of it successfully but i stopped myself before it was all gone. While i was waiting for people to buy my stuff i made some music with just the bare minimum which is my DAW and found I have improved ALOT over the years.

I remember a time when I couldn't even finish a whole track.. now i can finish something and sure it might not be professional sounding after only 5-6 hours of work but hey it's something!

If i give up it would make me feel bad for throwing away all the skills i learned over the past 8-9 years.

I might not be a true musician in the sense that I can play in a band and read music but I think i fit in there somewhere.

I figure hey if i suck now but not as bad as i did 5 years ago then thats an improvement. Now im curious what i'll sound like in another 4-5 years if i get more serious with this.

Don't give up!

[The_Hidden_Goose]

Yes give up. Send all your hardware and software licences to me, I'll look after them

[jethrobull]

Who cares if you're successful if you enjoy it?

People have hobbies, many of which cost many thousands of dollars. It's what people do to feel satisfied with life.

I know I'll never be a professional musician or producer, yet I keep piling money into this hobby. Why? Because I enjoy it.

Make music for yourself, not for others.

+10000000000%

[sazb30]

This is an interesting question and one that is at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Speaking personally, I find it very difficult to maintain a healthy relationship with my music. I struggle to get a balance that suits my life and other commitments. Short bursts are not particularly productive for me but short bursts is my only option. Even while I'm not making music, I'm still thinking about it, and thinking about how unfair it is that all these other things in life stop me from doing it. On the rare occasions that I do get a sustained period of time in the studio I will literally not come up for air. I will forget to eat, do other stuff I was supposed to do, and by the time I actually have to stop, I feel like crap. I wonder if it's worth it. I wonder if I should just quit. I wonder if I'd be happier if I did. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder.... I wonder if I'm wasting too much time wondering and missing out on stuff that's far more important!

Just one last song and then maybe I'll quit

[tehlord]

The risk of stopping making music is you might take that extra time and money you have and do something like golf.

Which would make you a cvnt.

[Aroused by JarJar]

People admire "primitive" tribes because pretty much everyone in the tribe is a musician and a dancer. And why should it be any different in a "cvivilized" tribe?

[VariKusBrainZ]

I make music and have zero need for anyone else to hear it or stroke my ego.
Im capable of doing that for myself lol

I stopped wanting to be a 'real' musician in my mid 20s I think.

I find that just hearing chart music affirms that Im more musical and creative than whats out there

[funky lime]

successful?
if i make a song, that is a success! it's such a wonderful feeling!

music doesn't pay my bills (yet) but I am trying.
- started offering drum lessons (just got my first student!)
- starting to build guitar pedals
- playing shows with a few bands (hell, i've even gone on tours in 3 different countries)
- making music for radio ads (only done 2 so far though...)
- and producing "beats" for "rappers" (but the last time i did that, he paid me with weed instead of money. it was pretty sticky stuff though!)
- running live sound occasionally at my friend's record store/venue.
- i used to play street music when i was homeless, and it at least kept my belly full!
(one day, the drummer from Foghat threw $20 in my case. i count that as success!)

now my own solo music, i don't do specifically to make money. i have made a bit here and there, but it's on more of a "tip jar" kind of thing... you know, toss a few bucks if you like what you hear, but it's mostly still available for free.

you can give up after X amount of years. or you can just keep on trying because you have the rest of your life to achieve success.

and as illustrated above by others, success is all relative, and is different for each person.

if i made a song that the whole world listened to, i wouldn't necessarily call it a success, from an artistic standpoint. i mean look at that miley cyrus song with the balls or whatever. I was at the bar last night and that song came on the jukebox, and all these dumb girls got all excited, and the bartender went over and cranked the jukebox up really loud.

if success means all the drunk sheep with horrible taste in music start hollering for me when my tunes come on, then i'd prefer obscurity.

i've played in front of several thousand people before at a couple of festivals. but the most rewarding and best show i've had was in front of less than a hundred people, but they were a devoted crowd of people that came to see us specifically, instead of six thousand people who just want to party and don't really care who it is that's making the un-tiss-un-tiss noises.

have i tried quitting? nah. this stuff is my life. quit music, and i quit living.

if only i could quit my day job...

and hey! golf isn't THAT bad! it just sucks to watch.

[Numanoid]

Many of us have been making electronic music for over 10 years.
Obviously we (me to) aren't really successful at it.

Why do you have to be successful? What is success? Don't let others judge you. Be happy in your own skin

Where other people get excited by looking at classic cars. I get exciting reading about vintage synhts, and testing out new plugins.

Why should I stop that, it's a hobby for chrissake, jeez

[vurt]

The risk of stopping making music is you might take that extra time and money you have and do something like golf.

:shudder!:

[dgkenney]

Or would I get addicted to porn or booze or cigarettes or coke as a substitute for making music

Only if you played your cards right.

Oh, wait...sorry...that would be gambling.

Never mind.

Dan