In the end, you have to make music you want to make... that you like, that pushes where you want to push ... and then if other people like it great. If you try to please the crowd, but that doesn't motivate you ....
Frank Zappa pops into mind as an example. Eric Satie another. They just did their thing. It's an important decision: If pop sounds are your thing ... which might be called 'musicality' ... it's a much easier road. But most ear candy is soon forgotten. And the 'deep' stuff takes time to find an audience.
Hundreds of thousands of people have access to the technology, so sounding modern but standing out from the crowd is really hard. Luckily, the tech has also provided the means to reach an audience you could never reach before. So whatever you do can find an audience.
Frank Zappa pops into mind as an example. Eric Satie another. They just did their thing. It's an important decision: If pop sounds are your thing ... which might be called 'musicality' ... it's a much easier road. But most ear candy is soon forgotten. And the 'deep' stuff takes time to find an audience.
Hundreds of thousands of people have access to the technology, so sounding modern but standing out from the crowd is really hard. Luckily, the tech has also provided the means to reach an audience you could never reach before. So whatever you do can find an audience.