Daniel Dowling, Contributor
Waking Times
I think musicians are some of the most influential people in the world. Every day, billions of people are being motivated and inspired through their favorite artists. An artist doesn’t have to have a million different fans to make a profound difference in other people’s lives, but only a handful of committed and devoted followers. Some of my favorite bands have fewer than 2,000 likes on Facebook, and some truly powerful artists I’ve encountered are all but unknown.
Artists are powerful because of their inherent grasp of emotion and of feeling. Musicians wouldn’t make music unless it made them feel something; music is what feeling sounds like. Untold movements have been propelled through feeling, and not all of them good. I’m mentioning this because, whether an artist realizes it or not, their work has profound impacts through their mastery of emotion. I want artists to reconsider what they are filling their music with and how it affects people’s lives. I want musicians to consider whether the content of their music is creating a world of peace, or if it is influencing war.
