Originally posted by DonM:
True talent won't ever be negated, but it may be harder and harder to showcase that talent, when a lot of consumers don't seem to care.
I agree, but I want to add that I believe one of the other reasons less people appear to notice or care about actual musicianship, is because the arts & music education (both band, orchestra & music history & appreciation) have suffered neglect in public school education over the years, with school ciriculum geared only to classes which promote careers that reap as much money as possible.
In the not so distant past, both television (variety shows like Ed Sullivan) & major radio stations presented a broad range of music (from classical, jazz, folk, and rock) which gave people both exposure and the apprecation for different types of music.
The entertainment corporation giants have since discovered that to make huger profits for their advertisers, they needed to create radio & tv stations aimed only at a specific segment of the population. Unfortunately, the American public suffers, as not surprsingly, many young people today have never heard of Beethoveen, Mozart, or even Gershwin. They only equate music with rap & hip hop artists because they only watch MTV. This leads me to me to the belief that begining of the downfall of listening to and appreciating music for music sake, began with MTV. Try turning OFF the picture on a lot of those music videos and tell me how satisfying the music alone sounds.
I get the feeling from the posts from some of the pro's here, that the measure of success is how much money you make, or how many gigs you play a week. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but the financial rewards of making music is not the driving force behind my passion for music & performing. As with the other arts (painting, photography, writing, etc) there are many types and levels of art to choose from. People pursue these in different ways and to pursue different goals. My personal goal in music is to preserve the appreciation of classic american pop standards for future generations. What brings me most personal satisfaction is when people in the audience who are in their twenties come up to me and tell me how much I have broadened their appreciation for classic pop standards, and that because of me, they have now added sinatra to their CD of collection. The fact that I'm able to make a living at this, because there are enough people willing to pay me, is just the icing on the cake.
I view the arranger keyboard, not so much for its OMB potential to make more money, but more as a tool which allows me to 'perform independently', freeing me from the things that can go wrong when working with other musicians: endless rehearsals, flakey no shows, and disagreements between band members.
Everyone here must decide their own music career path, as everyone has different priorities. Perhaps it's because I live in a large metropolitan area where arts & music appreciation flourish, and that is the reason there are enough people here who enjoy going out to actually sit and 'listen' to live music. Will I get rich quick, perhaps not, but I'm certainly financially comfortable, so I will continue to do what I love most, passing on the american tradition of classic pop music.
Scott
For more discussion re the Yamaha PSR3000 'performance assist' feature: 
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