Why Your Band Needs Haters of Your Music And Band--It Why Will Help You Succeed

 "NickelBack, the group everyone loves to hate" including me. I hope they have material in their vault that's better than their mainstream stuff that they'll never put out, or just for a friend's consumption. But they are solid music businessmen.

What your band needs is people who criticize your work, not just fans who love it.

You as a musician need haters. Don't ask why. If you don't have haters that means your music is only hitting people's positive emotions. That's all fine and good but it should hit people's negative tendencies as well. There is a music critic in everyone, including "little old me". Believe me if you work things right, you'll have     a whole army of haters, and people who love your music. I've done a few reviews of bands who sounded like crap and didn't take the time to become consummate blues and rock players. I hope they decided to improve their playing and technical skills to become the kind of musicians they want. Not what some fans or music industry shit-heads want.


You can't just have positive reviews. Your band won't be focused mentally to do better if that happens.Don't analyze what I just said. Don't take it personally as a challenge to prove a music journalist wrong. Just be a better band because you want to play music that moves you and your band.

Find your band's own sound.

Compose and play music that just blows you fuckin' away! Not what the public wants. They don't count. The music media and the music industry don't count either. Make music your band likes--and if you develop a rabid crowd who are fans, great!  I would rather have 500 people who love your music and bought your  CD's, than 10,000 people who bought it listened to it once then threw it in the pile and never go to a band's gigs.

The people who do buy and go to a band's gigs are the people I want on my buyer's list. They buy for the right reasons. The people who just look around, aren't really lovers of a band and put them down for just about any reason including what other people say, regardless.

But the real rub here is real music lovers always show themselves, and real musicians and fans show that music is the real truth. Critics from media to fans will always show themselves and your band needs to wrap it's head around the fact that negative press is every where. By pass it, and bring the bad press on. The people who get hung up on pigeon holing your music and saying you don't know shit about being a band, don't ever worry about them. Nickelback are great musicians, but what they chose to do with some of their music marketing wise, leaves much to be desired. Like I said, I'll bet some of the music they never market, is a lot better than the music that sells a million copies.

Just keep putting out better and better Demos, Albums and gigs fellow musicians.


Mark Grove