P Diddy proved the industry was always broken.

"The good ol' days" were dark times, it's time to move on.

Students in our music school span every generation.

We have high-schoolers that have eschewed college to work with us instead (good choice), and we have retired folks with some of the sharpest talents (and inappropriate jokes) I’ve ever seen.

But regardless of age, everybody seems to want the same thing:

To - make it in music -.

And yet the more I examine this idea of “making it in music”, the more confused I get.

Because no matter how well their music careers are going, a majority of artists, producers, and songwriters I speak with seem to feel like they’re on the outside looking in.

They feel like time to - make it in music - is running out, and whatever success they have is unwarranted or “fake”. Even successful musicians admit a serious feeling of inauthenticity in their careers.

It was these exact feelings that made me decide to stop promoting my own music a few years ago.

And since I made that decision, the question has remained an open tab in my mind….

“Why did I give up chasing the dream”?

“Was I not strong enough?”

“Was my music bad?” (Please God no)

“Was my lonely indie-rock not moving enough?” (Surely not…)

But right when I was about to admit I was a coward that gave up on my dreams too soon…

The P. Diddy news broke, and everything became clear.

---

Nearly every movie, TV show, or documentary about a music hero involves mass amounts of pain and tragedy.

Biographies of major artists always detail a life of burnout, drug addiction, abuse, or all three. These deep pains are often the subject matter of the very music itself.

And yet every day I see musicians from all around the world (including myself) climb over each other frantically for one bite of that very apple.

It’s so strange. Why do we do this?

Because everyone has the same thought….

“Surely, I’LL enjoy it… right?”

For some reason, we feel immune to the twisted incentives that lured our favorite artists into the abyss, and we assume that we’re strong enough to focus on what truly matters - the music.

But it finally dawned on me when I found out P. Diddy was P. Diddling (I know that jokes been done 1000 times but why reinvent the wheel)….

I don’t want to - make it in music - and chances are, you probably don’t either.

Because - making it in music - is very different from - making music -, and somewhere along the line we lost sight of this distinction.

Somewhere we became convinced that true musicians are famous. True musicians are wealthy.

True musicians *checks notes*, have a cement star on the Hollywood walk of fame and a creepy wax statue?

WTF?

What does money, fame, or cement stars have to do with music?

Nothing. They’re illusions that are created to take your eye off the ball from the only thing that truly matters - making transformative music.

Now let me be clear, I’m not immune to the allure of wealth and fame either. I’m a human being after all… and there are many times in my life that the gravitational pull of money of societal validation have affected my decisions.

I’m sure it’s a component in why I started this SubStack.

We all crave these things. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or Jesus.

But how many P. Diddy’s, Harvey Weinstein's, Dan Schneider’s, Bill Cosby’s, etc do we need before we see these mirages for what they really are?

Chris Cornell, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Biggie, Aaliyah, Mac Miller, Avicci, Justin Bieber, Brittany Spears, Kesha………..

None of these artists escaped the music industry without severe mental or physical harm, if they escaped at all.

Even today, I challenge you to point to one Top 10 artist that is part of “the industry” that seems mentally well adjusted and healthy. Maybe Noah Kahan? But “the industry”only cared about him after he blew up on his own lol. Same for artists like Jelly Roll, etc.

Most give the impression that they’re barely hanging on, and many have already cracked completely.

Keeping musicians on the brink of collapse is exactly how “the industry” manipulates you into thinking you need them. It’s what allows them to abuse and monetize the very people they should be in charge of protecting.

P. Diddy wasn’t just a “bad egg”.

He wasn’t even the egg carton, nor the shelf the carton sits on.

He’s one of the grocers that stocked the shelves.

And if you want to see the other grocers, just look at who is implicated in the court docs….

So what’s my point?

It’s simple:

It’s time to let the old ways die.

We’ve spent the last decade at each other’s throats for political, social, or cultural reasons…. But somehow, despite our supposedly ruthlessly high moral standards for each other, we still clamor to be part of an industry that continually protects some of the most monstrous villains in society.

Why?

Because we convince ourselves that cases like P. Diddy and Harvey Weinstein are simply unfortunate side-effects of “the industry”, rather than accepting the actual truth - that they are the very pillars “the industry” is built around.

Until we swallow that nasty pill, the music industry will continue to remain broken…

So I’d like you to really consider my next statement.

Stop glorifying the gold ol’ days. Stop trying to - make it in music -. We clearly do not understand what that means.

The “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll” appeal is what tricked our musical heroes into giving their lives (figuratively or literally) to the few that stood to profit from them, and many in the industry today are still at the mercy of the ones who haven’t been exposed yet.

I get that many artists are troubled to begin with (ask my therapist 🤓). I’m not suggesting that there’s a way to separate the pain from the artist.

But I can assure you that life is painful enough to write a discography of transcendent music without voluntarily seeking it out.

So if you’re working a 9-5, have a family, and make music from your bedroom, stop telling yourself you aren’t a musician because you aren’t snorting coke in a tour van in Idaho right now.

And if you’re snorting coke in a tour van in Idaho right now, God bless, but just know you don’t have to do that to be a musician either if you don’t want to.

Stop trying to - make it in music -…. and just make music.

I have students in their 60’s making club bangers, and students in their 20’s tackling some of the most nuanced and challenging topics possible…. and there is a massive audience for both if they’re able to stay true to themselves.

Channel whatever angst, or worry, or FOMO, or imposter syndrome you’re struggling with into making the most honest piece of music you can, and the community will form around you over time.

You don’t need anyone or anything to make transformative music. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar - full stop. No additional context needed. They’re liars.

Because the music industry is broken, and it always has been.

It’s time to push away from the table and step outside into the fresh air where we can build something better.

I will meet you there 🫡

Long Live Mad Records ⚔️

- mike (no one sue me I’m joking about everything)