Originally published Winter 2016 by ASCAP We Create Music and by Designing Music Now. Get Over Yourself If you are afflicted with the idea that a working composer or songwriter can also be a pure artist, the best thing you can do is get over yourself right away. In the music industry composers can be artists, but they are service providers first and artists second. They are serving a film, TV show, artist, game, or advertisement, and many of those products don’t require music that is groundbreaking or thought provoking. Composers often need to write simple functional music that does a job in a very specific way. Sometimes there is a need for great artistry, but other times the right music for the …