Joe's Jottings
Jottings Number 55, Reply F, by Joni Podolsky and Joe Podolsky:
Date: Thu, 16 May 96 07:29:41 -0700
Almost ALL music is written with commercial intent. Especially the classics.
If you think of the composers like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, etc. they were
either writing for royalty or for religion. They NEVER were writing for the
sake of writing. That's why people like Bach and Beethoven were so
controversial, because they kept pushing the envelope as to what was
commercially exceptable. They were considered radicals.
Besides, even if serious music were not being written with the intent to sell
for money, most is still being written with the intent of being heard and
played by others. That means that composers still have to sell the idea of
the sound they are creating, not only for people to be willing to listen to
it, but also for people to be willing to play it.
Bringing the argument back to software, there ARE people who write software
for the sake of the art. Shareware is a great example. Again, though, their
intent is for people to ultimately utilize their creation in some form,
therefore it is still being written for commercial purposes, just like music.
What I like about the analogy of software and music is the idea that users
ultimately take the products and create their own interpretations.
--------------------------------------
Date: 5/15/96 5:42 PM
To: Joni Podolsky
From: JOE_PODOLSKY@HP-PaloAlto-om4.o
I agree with you completely that it's like writing a symphony except
that, usually, serious music is written without focus on commercial
results. Business software usually is measured by its financial
success.
Some music, of course, is essentially commercial art; e.g., popular
songs, music for advertising and films, etc., and that, I agree, is
completely like writing software.
Dad
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