A musical act should be rated against this rubric to determine their quality:

Band’s name – 3%

Band’s aesthetics (clothes, make up, hair, physical attractiveness, showmanship) – 7%

Ability to attract listener’s attention (lyrical hooks, real life publicity, etc) – 10%

Instrumental proficiency – 23%

Originality/inspirational quality of lyrics – 26%

Ability to perform live (without production effects/mastering) – 31%

If we used this rubric, we’d prevent over saturation of pure entertainment acts being passed off as musicians and talented.  It also avoids the ostentatious personalities that think just because they can shred on a guitar means they are the best thing that happened to the world.

Modeling isn’t a career.

Neither is DJ’ing.  I’m sure you can think of a bunch of others that fall into this category.  By definition, “career” means “an occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training, followed by one’s life work.”  There’s a reason for the existence of the expression “don’t quit your day job.”   Ultimately, your career should lead you to a way that lets you take care of someone else too, other than just your immediate needs.  There’s certainly a period in life when it’s acceptable to chase these occupations, but if they don’t work out, do the responsible thing and walk away, even if it’s to find a career that can support your hobby.

Checking out BoringPGH.com the other day and stumbled on this gem.  I’ve never heard of the band Formula412 before, but I dig it.  The video is pretty decent, and I really like the concept.  Might even make PAT Transit look cool…if that’s possible.  It was done by Bill Paladino, who you’d recognize as the guy behind Wiz Khalifa’s Black and Yellow video.

The only time it’s acceptable to wear a band’s t-shirt to the same band’s concert is if you’re in the band.