Part III: A sit-down with Sivers, founder of CDBaby

Wrapping up his three-part interview with Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby, WordPlay T. Jay asked him about mastering being a skill artists should strive for, which led into a conversation about masters of crafts and virtuosos.
“My introduction to music was in the mid-‘80s with fast heavy metal guitar players, and I started at 14 doing finger exercises and did that for years,” Sivers said. “By 16 or 17, I was pretty fast and on that mastering path. It reminds me of a violinist long ago who people said was possessed by Satan because he was so amazing. But, I have mixed feelings because I hate listening to virtuosos and that ‘watch me’ approach to music. I prefer a well-crafted recording or arrangement. But, I also believe mastering is the way to go when you do anything.”
T. Jay chimed in that he likes to study Young Guru, the audio engineer who crafted many of Jay-Z’s albums. T. Jay said every time Guru puts something out, he studies it and tries to emulate it.
“There was a person in the ‘90s like that for me that went by Flood,” Sivers said. “I always bought his work and would sit in my studio trying to imitate that sound. Some of the behind the scenes people are like that, like Max Martin. He’s a Swedish guy who’s like 49 and has written almost as many No. 1 hits as The Beatles. He wrote ‘Hit Me Baby, One More Time’ and still writes a lot of pop songs for artists like Katy Perry. I’d consider him a master.
“Another like that is Tom Jackson in Nashville. He is a show consultant who helps artists craft their stage shows and concerts. We love that idea of virtuosos being the fastest or the best, but those guys are virtuosos of their own craft.”
T. Jay then moved on to asking Sivers about how artists can be “in the now” when they work, or is that even important?
“I know a lot of people who write hit songs sit down deliberately with the goal of doing that,” Sivers said. “The Beatles were that way. They sat down to write a swimming pool, to make money. They were future-focused in that way. There are also people who do not have success even living in the present moment. I think it’s all unrelated to what you’re going to create. You can do an amazing job or make crap either way.”
T. Jay then moved on to ask Sivers what his favorite hip-hop song is and what elements he looks for in hip-hop music.
“I’m almost embarassed to say,” Sivers said. “I wish I had something new, and I need some new stuff, but for now, when I moved to New York in the ‘90s, the sound was Low End Theory. I love that it’s like a Polaroid photo of my past self.
“[As far as elements], I love listening to instrumentals. I used to listen to The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy because there was so much going on there musically. I don’t like to listen to folk music because it’s all about the lyrics and someone is just strumming behind it. With hip-hop, it’s also about the lyrics, but what’s behind it is so interesting. I guess I’m more of a music guy than a lyrics guy.”
Finally, T. Jay asked if there was one piece of music every artist should study to become better, and Sivers’ answer was to the point.
“No,” he said. “When I was in music college, my teachers would make me analyze all their favorite music, and I never liked any of it. It did nothing for me. After a couple of years, I realized how to use those analyzation techniques on the music I liked.
“Don’t let anybody, especially just the founder of CDBaby, tell you one song you have to study. Instead, learn the techniques and how to dissect songs. It’s like, if you want to understand a car, you can take it apart and you may learn something, but if you really want to understand it, you have to put it back together. I think that applies to music, too.”
For more from T. Jay’s conversation with Sivers, check out the video below!