Zuko’s Music Industry Theories for Success Vol. 6: Merzbow & Noise Music....... Why?!

Lets begin: HHT has been unanimously hating on this noise album, Pulse Demon, meming it up, destroying vinyls of it, putting it on fake Topsters etc. everyones been asking why would somebody make something so repulsive and more importantly why would someone listen to it?

Enjoying noise music is a journey. You turn it on & your ears want to fall off. So you turn it down and force yourself to continue. Then you don’t mind it anymore. Then you feel comfortable in it. Then you start to miraculously enjoy it. You turn it up. This is the noise fan arc!

The journey ends and you’re left with a question, why tf did i enjoy that? Why do i feel good after it? It makes you question the Function of music. So whats the purpose of regular music? Most people say its because it gives you relieving pleasure and is an emotive transmitter.

Noise raises the question, are there other uses and functions for music? Now some genres like trap are very functionalistic, trap is for partying edm is for dancing. Some genres are just for arts sake and have little functionality. Songs you love but wouldn’t play for friends

What is Noise’s function because it is not pleasure! To answer that we must start at the begining of Noise Music in 1913. The man who invented it believed it would be music’s answer to the industrial revolution. Classical music had gotten so complex this was the only way out!

And there lies our first answer, A Way Out! Some have tried to justify Noises spot in comparison to artistic freeform Jazz or to texture explorations like IDM. But noise itsself is a compltetly different beast, its not artistic at all it is an extreme form of self-functionalism

Noise is a way out of music, a way to clear your brain in a way that even silence cant. Noise will remove songs stuck in your head. It can remove bad thoughts. It is the only cure to a common problem in music communities “Listener Fatigue” especially for producers & mix engineers

Noise music is a giving and useful genre if you let yourself take its offerings. Its musical meditation, the only way I’ve found, to not focus on anything at all bc there is nothing to focus on. Its a way to escape from the technological boom we’re in yet it compliments it aswell

The Lesson:
Find the Functions of Music. There are more than you could ever imagine. Ask what can this music do for me (or my audience)? This question is how new genres are formed, how we can get irreplacable feelings from genres like Trap or EDM. Its what makes music addictive.

Noise is the “most difficult” genre to get into but can also be the most rewarding. And if you can listen to Noise you can withstand any music and that mentality can open up so many doors. Heres a video bc i love DeepCuts and he explains noise so well.

Thats it! Do you unironically enjoy Merzbow? If not do you think you ever could? Do you value function in music? do you value artistry? A combo of both? Is Noise actually music? Did you enjoy this thread? Let me know

-Zuko