Processing Creativity

The Tools, Practices and Habits Used to Make Music You're Happy With

By: Jesse Cannon

Narrated by: Jesse Cannon

For over a decade, Jesse Cannon has been pushing creative ideas in music. You may know him from writing one of the most popular books on the music business, Get More Fans, or from his recording credits on records with the most varied set of bands you've ever seen, including The Cure, The Misfits, Animal Collective, Brand New, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Menzingers, Limp Bizkit, Basement, Leftover Crack, Saves The Day, Senses Fail, Weird Al, Lifetime, Say Anything, NOFX, Man Overboard, Bad Books, Transit, Somos, Conflict, and over a thousand others. You may also know his work as the host of the podcast Noise Creators and Off The Record or from writing for outlets like Alternative Press, Tape Op, Hypebot, and countless others. He just wrote a book about what he's learned working on all those records and writing about music's bleeding edge, taking on the subject he knows the most about; helping musicians fulfill their creative vision. Processing Creativity: The Tools, Practices and Habits Used to Make Music You're Happy With is the culmination of four years of poring over scientific studies, books and thoughts from top creators as well as his own experience to write a book every musician should listen to about what goes into making great music versus what bands do when they make a bad album.

Covering the pitfalls of creating music, the book thoroughly explores the hidden reasons we actually like music, how to get along with your collaborators, and patterns that help creativity flourish. While every musician says that being creative is the most important part of their life, they barely explore what's holding back them back from making music they are happy with. When trying to navigate the ways our creative endeavors fail there's no YouTube tutorial, listicle, or college course that can help navigate the countless creative pitfalls that can ruin your music.

©2017 Jesse Cannon (P)2017 Jesse Cannon

Great book, but not well narrated audiobook

I have only positive things to say about the content of this book, as a musician and composer I found it gave me a much better perspective on my work, how to be more convinced of what I want to do and why, instead of trying a bit of everything and end up doubting my work. The audio version I must say it was not so good: as a non-native speaker it was much harder than other books, the narration is really too fast, not so well enunciated, quite monotone, full of cuts and punch-ins. It can be listened to, but I found like others that at least a 0.8x slowing down was needed, making it even uglier to listen to, but at least understandable. The content was really great though, and was worth the extra effort.

Concise, Organized, and Practical Information.

Jesse does a great job organizing and presenting his ideas. most "how to" or "self help" books are very cut and dry and offer vague information. Processing Creativity offers advice and practices back up by data. great read/listen!

One of the best books I’ve read about creativity

I’ve been watching his YouTube videos for a long time now. This is a really good read and shows a great mindset towards success

Great for stumped artists or people in general

I've been listening to this audiobook on and off for about a year or so. Anytime I felt lost or depressed especially musically, this book gave me the push and advice I needed to feel inspired again and feel proud of the music I would make. A definite recommend for not just struggling artists but also people that need some kind of drive in what they do. Thanks Jesse Cannon.

A ton of great info and practical advise

I found out about this book after I was already a fan of the author's YouTube channel, which I highly recommend to any musician trying to figure out how make it in music. If you like his videos you'll love this book. To me it's actually about a lot more than just creativity. It's a ton of excellent advise from all his years of experience in the industry. When you hear him talk, there's no question, he knows his stuff. One thing I like is the way he breaks down everything in a way that is very straight forward, easy to absorb and entertaining.