especially when it comes to music. What purpose is there to create music and lyrics if no one can relate to them? Senior Diana McDade, who plans to study music in college, agrees, saying, “If I can relate to the lyrics then I like the song.” The foundation for the relationship between artists and their fans comes purely from relating to the music. When an artist writes a song and records it themselves, they are able to apply so much emotion, emotion that was intended to be heard in a certain way, allowing them to convey the exact message they wanted to relay to the audience. Even if artists write something just to get the thought off their chest, there is someone who is feeling the exact same way, and the resounding agreement seems to be that this is what artists thrive off of.
Boston native Sarah Blacker is one of the many singer/songwriters striving to reach more people with her music and personal lyrics. In an interview with Bill Copeland Music News, Blacker talks about many of her songs and their personal meanings to her. For example, she says of “Shiver,” “This song relates how I’ve healed myself, and hope that others will connect to this as well.” Through the messages in her songs, she hopes to allow people this feeling that they are not alone and ultimately strives to connect with listeners in a way that will give them hope. “I write to make sense of life, and hope that others can make sense of their lives through my songs as well,” says Blacker.
Writers of the blog “themusicmentortv” captured this underlying drive in a single sentence. “Connecting with an audience is key.”
underlying drive in a single sentence. “Connecting with an audience is key.” The one thing that makes music a universal language is the experience, especially of live shows, and the relationship built between artists and their fans. This relationship is most easily constructed with the “singer/songwriter” genre because everything is more personalized, but this same relationship is also true for more labeled artists who do write their own songs.
The connection with the songs, artists, and their audience is how some of the more “industrialized” artists gained their fame. As such, Taylor Swift has raked in all her success undoubtedly from the millions of teenage girls who feel that Swift accurately illustrates their boy troubles... or interactions.
The bottom line is that music is made to connect with people and bring them together, and ultimately, the best connections made with audiences are the ones that come from singers who write their own music. Writing their own material gives artists so much more creativity in terms of the emotion given off whilst performing, or even while recording, at that. Fans then have a chance to get on a really personal level with someone they may never meet, but then again they don’t always have to. The root of the best relationships in the music industry simply comes from knowing that someone out there feels the same, and knowing that you can listen to that feeling over and over again. That is the magic created by singer/songwriters today, and it casts the type of spell that will be with us forever.