The frightened kid whistling in the dark and the aborigine banging on a hollowed-out log are inspired by the same urge; to cry out to an uncaring world, " I exist ! Don`t abandon me !" So I think that the desire to express yourself is the most common motive for creating music. It`s the reason why most aspiring artists pick up a guitar.
As that`s not one of the poll options, I`m going for "money" for these reasons :
In the past, just to be heard was reward enough for musicians, like those old monks singing their Gregorian chants, but in these materialistic times, musicians want to sell albums. It may sound cynical, but I suspect that for every genuine love song that`s written, there`s at least one that`s written just in the hopes of commercial success, so I don`t think sex is as big a motive as the music business would have us believe.
Anyway, here are some quotes which might shore up my shaky theory - I just wish more of them were from actual musicians :
*The original instrument ... the human voice : Zap Mama liner notes
*I celebrate myself : Walt Whitman
*Sun Ra created music pretty much for no other purpose than the love of music : Skaligojurah
*Our culture is infatuated with nothing but "silly love songs" : Jastrub
*We`re only in it for the money : Frank Zappa
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