"Peter T." said:

"It seems that in the performing case people get so much pleasure out of being immersed in playing the music that they have no idea what an audience is hearing. It is interesting because obviously you want to have both -- pleasure in participating, and also giving pleasure; but the shifts back and forward over that divide obviously require some work for some people. I never thought about it in music before."

My friend McCormack put out a publicity brochure years ago, in which he said essentially the same thing but more strongly. He said, approximately:

"An artist who performs only for the audience is a whore. An artist who performs only for himself is an insufferable bore, unless he's a genius, which I'm not."

His point was the same, that a performer has to strike a balance - unless, I suppose, if he likes being a whore because it pays better.

Peter.