What does the future of music look like? | Petar Kodzas | TEDxUniversityofRochester

Petar explores what it means to be a musician in the 21st century.

Guitarist Petar Kodzas spent last quarter of century sharing his love for music with students and audiences throughout North America and Europe. His goal as a performer, educator and administrator is to make music relevant in the life of people regardless of their age or previous experience. After serving for 19 years on the Guitar Faculty of the Eastman Community Music School, starting in July 2017 Dr. Kodzas will begin his tenure as an Associate Dean for the Eastman Community Music School.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

I remember very clearly

the first time when I had
an opportunity to watch a TEDTalk.

It was the early stages of the Internet,

and I believe that after watching that,

Internet became important to me,
and I said, "If somebody invented this

in order to deliver
such a beautiful thing as TEDTalks are,

I think the Internet is fully justified."

I was right about that.

So, at that point,
I was also intrigued about the words,

the three words that defined "TED,"

and that's Technology,
Entertainment, and Design.

And if you see my presentation,
there is a little "m"

that I took the liberty to add:

"TEDm?"

M stands for music.

I believe that music is as important
as anything else we do in life,

if not even more.

And I believe that everybody
who is involved with music

should continue to do that
throughout their life.

So, my life for the past 50 years

was centered around teaching,
learning, performing,

and my experiences are reflected
in my talk today.

So this is not a theory,
this is not a hypothesis;

this is something that I experience
on a day-to-day basis.

So, I view music as something
that we share.

Music is beauty that we share.

And by enriching ourselves
through performance, we enrich others.

And I can tell you that, as a performer,
I feel enriched when I perform,

and also as a member of the audience,
I feel enriched when I listen to someone.

So my fear is that
this interactive creativity

is something that's diminishing
over the past 20 years or so.

So my plan for today is
to explore music or talk about music

through the lens of those three terms,
those three areas, those three words:

technology, entertainment, and design.

Obviously, technology is probably one
of the most important factors

that changed music in the past 50 years.

And without a doubt, we can say

that the number of people
who have access to music today,

any kind of music you can imagine,

is larger than it was ever in the past.

So the influence of technology
on dissemination of music is incredible.

And probably one of the reasons

why we are trying to figure out
where to go, what to do

is because technology is changing faster

than we can really adopt our knowledge
and our ability to sort of work with it.

So, one way that I view technology
is in the way that I look at you guys;

many of you here,

as soon as you leave this room,
you will pop the headphones,

and you will be going
on your own to listen to music.

So what that does,
it gives you beautiful sound, right,

but that sound is here, within your skull.

It doesn't even go beyond two feet
around you; it's just in your head.

It's like a cocoon that isolates you
from the rest of the world.

It's because technology
allows us to do this.

On the other side, because of technology,

we're able to bring together
5, 6 thousand of people in the arena

and have them be part of the concert.

Well, last time I attended
one of those events,

I ended up watching the entire event

on a screen that was the size of a house,

and the real performers were
about the size of a doll in the distance.

And I was asking myself,
"What would be the difference

if I stayed at home
and watched it on the computer

versus being here with a few thousand
of my closest friends?"

And I really believe
that we are missing a point:

why do you pay so much money
to sit in the first row?

Not because the sound is better

but because you want to feel
close to the action.

That is what's in our DNA;
that's what's in our genes.

We grew out of this tradition
where music was part of the ritual,

and we were all part of the tribe;
we all need to feel the beat.

We all need to feel that music, right?

(Foot tapping and clapping)

(Laughter) (Foot tapping and clapping)

(Audience clapping)

You see that?
I mean we are all together, right?

I never asked you for anything.
You knew what to do, right?

That's what music does.

So, what we are losing
with some aspects of technology

is this immediacy; this needs to be there.

We are not fulfilling our need
to be part of the actual act of music.

We're being passive.

We're just sitting down,
enjoying it from the distance,

or even just kind of closing ourselves
from the rest of the world,

and therefore, you know,
experiencing music just as one unit,

as opposed to part of the larger group.

So,

my point is that we have to be engaged,

not entertained.

So, since I used that word, let's move on
to that area of "entertainment."

So, yes, music should
and can be viewed as an entertainment,

but not solely as an entertainment.

There are so much more to music.

The range of expressions
that we can express through music

is way more than just entertainment.

When I think of the word "entertainment,"

my first thought is music
that's very light, easy to listen,

kind of inconsequential,
somewhere in the background,

you know, maybe you're going
up the elevator - that's entertainment.

I don't think of music
as an entertainment.

I want you to be engaged when I play.

Whether it's a fun tune
that makes you want to swing and hop,

or if it makes you cry,

I want you to be engaged, not entertained.

Entertainment is not bad,
but still, I want it to do more than that.

And unfortunately, music,
over the past 50 years or more,

has been narrowing down from this
huge plethora of feelings and emotions

to a very few chords
and very few musical terms

that we're turning over and over
for about 50 years or longer.

So, we can't blame,
really, just musicians for that.

What's the other word that comes
to your mind when we say "entertainment"?

"Industry," right?

So, at one point,
we start looking at music

as more of a good that can be sold

than we're really looking at music
as something that has artistic value.

So, at one point

when we start thinking about music
as something that should be sold,

of course, our goal is
to sell as many units as we can

because that's the only way
we can make profit, right?

So, what can you sell easy?

You can sell something that doesn't take
too much time to get absorbed.

So I'm going to use
a very simple example,

maybe not even appropriate.

Imagine you are hungry.

Somebody brings you a slice of pizza,

or you have this wonderful, fresh
assortment, straight from the market,

healthy nutritious vegetables,
and everything you need,

about half an hour later,
you can sit and eat;

you have to prepare that meal.

What's going to happen? We know.

You go for that slice of pizza
because you're hungry.

You're going to satisfy
your need, like this.

So that's what the music industry
does with us with music:

they give us quick satisfaction;

we don't have to think about that;
we don't have to analyze it;

it just goes in and makes us
happy and satisfied.

So, you know what that
is going to do to your diet,

if you continue eating
pizza day after day.

We know that's not good for us,

but we continue doing it
just because of the magic of marketing

and everything
that industry brings with it.

So, my point here is that,
yes, industry is good,

yes, music that we're listening to is fun,

but let's not view music
just as an entertainment,

just as a good that can be traded.

It almost seems like we're evaluating
music through non-musical means.

We're saying,
"How much can we sell of this?"

instead of saying, "How good is this?"

So this duality, this kind of view
of music as two different things

makes me think of design.

And seriously, when I was thinking
about those three words,

"design" - I was wondering, why not "art"?

It will make a very nice acronym:
TEA Talk, right?

We relax, we drink tea, we talk
as opposed to TEDTalk, you know.

So, unfortunately, there's design -
right, not unfortunately, but here it is.

So what is design?

What's the difference
between art and design?

Design serves two masters.

It has be aesthetically pleasing;
it also has to be functional.

So it seems like everything
that we're talking about multitasking

is also expressed in that view of art:
that we have to satisfy two things.

I see a lot of students here,
so I'm going to ask you one question:

how many of you were involved
with music in your high school?

Alright, very good, this is a good school.

How many of you were involved with,
in the back of your mind,

the idea, "This is going to help
my college application"?

Don't be shy. They can't see you,
I can see you, alright?

How many of you were saying,

"This is going to be good
on my college applications

that I'm playing music in the orchestra"?

Nobody? Alright.

I know, I teach students who say,
"Oh, I really should be taking music

because it's going to help
my college application

to show that I'm interested
in different things, et cetera."

I am very sick of that idea of trying
to prove music as something that you need

in order to become a good math student.

Through the research,

we know that if you study music,
if you're involved with music,

it will contribute to your emotional
and intellectual development as a child.

We knew that forever,
but now science proves that too.

How many times you read a novel

with the idea that it's going
to improve your research?

Maybe it will, but that's not the primary
reason why you're reading a novel.

When you study physics,

do you study physics
because you want to be a good athlete?

No!

You study physics
because of studying physics

and the good that you can get from that.

So let's make music what it is.

Study music for the sake of music,
for the beauty of aesthetics,

and for understanding
how it works with other people,

working, creating music
with other people and all that.

Let's not study music
for the sake of something else.

So, a few trends that I noticed

and that I hope I was able
to share with you

is that all the time, we are disengaged
and less involved with music.

We see music as a very simple thing,
something that's fun and entertaining,

and we don't try to go deeper into music.

And music is reduced
to a very simple set of rules,

as is opposed to
all the beauty that it can be.

And we also see, because
of the way the industry works,

that diversity is not as present
as we would like to have it.

I grew up in a country
where within 80 miles,

I could go and visit to hear
seven, eight different languages

and also hear music from seven,
eight different sorts of cultures.

When I arrived in the United States,

there was absolutely no way for me
to find any other music on the radio

except pop songs.

I couldn't hear French,
I couldn't hear anything

other than English language,
and I really missed that.

So what are we going
to do now about it?

What are the steps that we can take

in order to make music
relevant in our lives?

First of all, coming from my background
as a performer, as a teacher,

I think, as many people as we can
get involved with music is the first step.

So, it's very easy to be involved
with music at any age.

Parents and future parents,

you can start to bring your kids
to music classes as early as three months.

And then, you know what you went through
in your elementary school;

start playing music, seek lessons,

and then, when you get
to your age, college age,

that's probably the hardest time

because there's so many things
going on in your life,

and it's hard to find a little time
for music to be involved.

Well, try it.
I know it's hard, but try it.

If you're a professional musician,
on the other side,

you should actually go out
and seek the audiences;

don't wait for audiences to come to you.

Go out, go into schools,
go into libraries.

That's how we're going to build
our audience for tomorrow.

And, as educators, we need to build skills

for people to evaluate music on their own

rather than expecting
that the industry is going to give you

the right answer to what's the kind
of music you should listen,

or what is the quality in music?

And finally, we should try
to open our eyes and open our ears,

and include as many different cultures
and as many different kinds of music,

the many different genres
into our repertoire.

So, my point was not to make this
into a battle cry for my cause,

but I can't help it; I have to do this.

So I would like to leave you
with two challenges:

one is, if you're not involved with music,
do get involved with music.

It's going to make you
a happier person, no doubt.

If you are involved with music,
bring others with you, share that,

and talk about benefits and beauty
that you actually get through music.

And finally, I know
that within the next four hours,

all of you are going to go outside,
either plug in your headphones,

turn the radio on in your car,
turn the radio - whatever.

My challenge is, before you set on a dial,
or before you set on your playlist,

ask yourself, "Am I brave enough

to try something different,
to listen to a different kind of music?"

Thank you.

(Applause)