Do Musicians Hate Their Own Music?

Nov 14 · 4 min read

Musicians are pretty crazy people, and it's no secret that they don't always love their own music. However, if you're a fan of a particular musician, this can be confusing. What could possibly make someone who created music hate it? Read on to find out why some musicians don't love their own songs.

Musicians want to play new material.

We’re all familiar with the concept of artists hating their own music.

But what about musicians? Do they hate their own music?

Well, it depends on what you mean by “hate.” Let's break down the various ways that musicians can feel about their own music:

Musicians want to play new material. They don't want to get stale, so they're always looking forward, not back—even if it means criticizing their past work.

Musicians want to play their best work and even improve on previous projects or performances in order to make something truly great.

Musicians want to play music they are proud of—and will often try out new things for the sake of making something special that reflects who they are as an artist at this moment in time (and not because someone else told them so). This might involve recording songs that aren't necessarily popular, but feel right for them as artists right now—like Kendrick Lamar did with DAMN! last year where he used Lauryn Hill samples instead of more traditional rap beats like those found on To Pimp A Butterfly (2015).

Musicians are their own worst critics.

You've heard the old adage, "A musician is his or her own worst critic." But what does that mean? Well, it's true: musicians are their own worst critics. They hear every mistake they make and know how they want it to sound, so when it doesn't come out exactly as you imagined, it can be disappointing.

The problem for musicians isn't necessarily that we hate our music—it's more complicated than that. When we're recording new tracks in the studio or performing on stage, we know exactly how things should go down and what they should sound like; however, once we get home from a show or session and listen back through our recordings with fresh ears (and zero sleep), all of those ideas tend to crumble as reality sets in.

Every time I finish an album with my band mates at home (and then listen back through it), there are always some parts that stand out immediately: "I hate this part"; "This track could use some work"; "What were we thinking?!" These moments usually send me into these weird cycles where I try everything possible just not to hear my own voice coming through the speakers — which is impossible if you're working alone!

Musicians hear mistakes that fans don't.

Musicians hear their own music differently than fans do.

Musicians are always listening to themselves and hearing mistakes in their own work that don't register with listeners. When you listen to a song for pleasure, it's often just one of many songs you've heard recently or will be hearing in the future—but when you make music, each song is your whole world for a while. You know every single detail of its construction and have experienced every moment many times over before anyone else has heard it once. You know exactly what went wrong on the third verse, why the chorus feels flat, why there's an abrupt change in mood halfway through—but most of these things will remain invisible to even your closest friends and family because they simply can't hear them as well as you can.

The same applies if you write fiction: as soon as someone reads your work (or hears it), they're going to pick up on aspects of plot structure that aren't immediately obvious but which become painfully clear once pointed out by someone else.

For whatever reason, some musicians don't love the music they created!

It's true: some musicians don't like their own music. But why? It could be for a number of reasons. Maybe they're just sick of it, or maybe the song is too old for them to appreciate it anymore.

One thing's for sure—it's not because they're bad at their art! For example: some musicians are so good at what they do that even small mistakes stand out in their minds after listening to a recording. They hear things that fans never would have noticed, which means those same fans will never hear those tiny imperfections in their own recordings (unless you're into that sort of thing).

At the end of the day though I think what matters most when we ask ourselves if musicians hate their own songs is whether or not we feel connected with them through our own musical experiences! If so then great but if not then no worries either way because who knows? Maybe your next favorite tune will have been written by someone else anyways :)

The fact that I dislike my music is both a good and bad thing. It means I'm constantly striving to improve, it means the art will continue to grow and develop into something better. Like any creative field, there's always room for improvement, and I feel lucky that I can still be inspired by my own work even after years of making music.

Musicians don’t hate their own music. They love it, even if they know it isn’t perfect and that there are things to improve. They love their music because it reflects who they are and how they feel about the world around them. It’s something special that doesn’t come along every day, even if you do have those days when you just can’t deal with it anymore. But then again, those days will never last because music is always there for us—even on our worst days!

To talk to some musicians about their music and whether you think this blog is true of false. You can contact our school to get in touch with some of our teachers and peformers. We are a school who provides music lessons in Redmond

WRITTEN BY
Marie Bergman
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