---
title: "Why Music Has Worth"

description: "In my last pod, we talked about why music itself is worth (or not worth) pursuing. I wanted to share more about why music matters to me, and how making and expericing music is a good thing for the soul and for the world. I also dig into my next LP cycle, and whether or not the music I’m making right now is the music I’m supposed to be making."

status: complete

date: 2023-07-11

kind: solo

guestSlugs: []

listenUrl: "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Why-Music-Has-Worth-e26q7kn"
appleUrl: "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-music-has-worth/id1567355195?i=1000620767830&uo=4"
spotifyUrl: "https://open.spotify.com/episode/5IPY806Pd2GztqwY3e7gub"

topicsDiscussed:
  - "Creativity"
  - "Philosophy"
  - "Value of Music"
  - "Creative Authenticity"
  - "Impact of Audio"
  - "Music and Identity"
  - "Upcoming LP Cycle"

hostNote: |
  The value of music is physical. It changes the environment the way a fan in the next room does, you feel it before you think about it. That's where I start: not with art theory but with the brute fact that sound is our best way of manipulating the physical world into something we can share with someone else.
  
  I get into why music matters beyond the aesthetic, how it shapes our sense of joy, danger, and community, and then into something harder to articulate: what it means to make the music you're supposed to be making right now, versus the music you think you should be making. The record cycle I was working through at the time was built around an idea that the sense of self is an optical illusion, a Möbius strip with no real beginning or end.
  
  The episode stays committed to music for music's sake. Not as a career strategy, not as a brand, but as something worth doing because of what it does to the people who make and experience it.

selectedMoments:
  - label: "I discuss the inherent value of music"
    startSec: 48
    note: "Explores how music changes our environment and perception, using the metaphor of sound from a helicopter."
  - label: "The connection between sound and identity"
    startSec: 229
    note: "Argues that sound shapes our understanding of joy, danger, and community, relating it to the essence of music."
  - label: "The concept of the Mobius strip in music creation"
    startSec: 723
    note: "Explains how identity is like a Mobius strip, always changing yet constant."
  - label: "I reflect on his musical journey"
    startSec: 588
    note: "Describes his thoughts on making the music I i meant to create and the importance of self-exploration."
  - label: "Personal stories behind upcoming releases"
    startSec: 857
    note: "Shares insights about his songs 'Stories' and 'Memory Land' and their thematic relevance."
  - label: "Exploration of idealism in music"
    startSec: 453
    note: "Discusses how I maintain a belief in the worth of music beyond nihilism."

excerptQuotes:
  - text: "The value of music to me is physical. It changes the environment...just like when you turn on a fan or you have a fan in the next room."
    startSec: 94
    reviewed: true
  - text: "When we ask, is it worthy of anything? I say yes, not just as an art form...it is our best way of manipulating the physical world into a way that we understand and share it with someone else."
    startSec: 272
    reviewed: true
  - text: "I remain committed to, you know, preaching the idea of music for music's sake."
    startSec: 580
    reviewed: true
  - text: "The fun thing about a Mobius strip is that there's no real beginning, no, there's no real end...it's a bizarre little idea."
    startSec: 903
    reviewed: true
  - text: "What I'm trying to get out with this record cycle is the sense of self is an optical illusion."
    startSec: 768
    reviewed: true

faq:
  - question: "Why does music have worth?"
    answer: "I discuss the intrinsic value of music as a medium for communication and expression."
  - question: "What is the Mobius strip concept in music?"
    answer: "I describe how identity and music creation are interconnected through the metaphor of a Mobius strip."

transcriptPublished: false

draft: false
---