As you may have read on social media, I have recently decided to remove my albums from all streaming platforms. The short answer as to why is: I realised they weren't any good. In truth, I was unhappy with them from day one, and I only released them because well, they were at hand at the time, and some people liked them...
A couple of months ago, I became fully conscious of my sensory perception of music – which is visual more than anything else – and while I've always been able to immediately spot irregularities in music, I suddenly began to see the mistakes in everything, with much greater acuity, even in works I had previously loved.
As for my own music – the verdict is even worse, to the point where the flaws almost always outweigh the charms. These recent insights have now pushed me to a point where I feel I can no longer leave this music online; because every minute someone listens to those inferior concoctions is a minute they're not listening to a great recording of Dussek, Hummel, Sacchini... composers who are almost forgotten nowadays and whose works certainly deserve the attention more than my shoddy efforts.
I suppose this is good news for anyone who's ever bought a digital and especially a physical copy of Piano Sonata No. 3 and Fool's Gold. Congratulations, you own a rare edition now.
There's good news, I hope, for anyone else who enjoys my music, too. As painful as it is to look at nearly 500 works and not find a single one worth the paper it's written on, it isn't devastating. After all, I still have time. And I can still make something better.
— R. F.
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