What does the music industry often tell us?
“Buy this gear, buy that equipment, and you’ll sound like your favorite artist. Then you’ll be as famous and as rich as they are.”
Marketing works by separating bands into individuals. One band becomes four separate consumers: Four home studios, four drum kits, four guitar amps, and so on. Then comes the next step—more guitars, more instruments—so you can sound like every artist you admire by buying what they use.
But the result?
You don’t truly sound like them—you remain a copy. Bands break up, you spend money promoting yourself, and you never quite become the artist you dreamed of. You don’t play like the musicians you see on YouTube either, many of whom rely on editing and production tricks to perfect their sound.
So, what is music actually about?
Music is not about equipment. Music is what you create with whatever instrument you choose. It can be a guitar, a bass, a synthesizer—or even something as simple as the salt and pepper shakers in your kitchen.
Music is about sound. It’s about someone creating something and sharing it with others who want to listen.
There will always be someone more famous than you. Even The Beatles weren’t the biggest act when they started. When you look at their story, it wasn’t about equipment—it was about playing live, creating their own material, experimenting, and finding their own voice. Yes, they had influences and went through a phase of trying to “sound like” others—but in the end, they became themselves.
Today, some say that playing an instrument isn’t even helpful to become famous artist. As Frank Zappa once put it, “People come to see, not to hear.”
And yet, there are still people who truly listen. There is still space to experiment with sound, to express something meaningful, to say something through music.
Selling instruments is fine. Everyone should try playing one at least once in their life, just to see what it feels like. Buying gear is fine too—if you can afford it.
Maybe you’ll make a living from music. Maybe you’ll even become famous.
But there will always be someone more skilled, more successful. And that’s not what music is about.
In the end, it comes down to what you do with your instrument.
Do you play? Do you enjoy it? Alone or with others?
Does making music—or listening to it—add something to your life that nothing else can?
That’s why music is too important to be left only to those who see it as just a business.
