Let's talk about one of the most debated issues of our times!
Let’s face it: anyone who makes music will (sooner than later) ask himself the mother of all questions: "is it really worth it to spend my time, money and energy into my music career? Is it ever going to blow up and get me what seems more and more impossible nowadays?"
In this article, I wanna give you a few reasons why the answer is both yes and no at the same time.
First of all: the once called “music business model” ain’t anymore. There used to be an established, rock-solid model based on the production of a physical record that made possible everything we have seen over the last 70 years. That model started to show its first cracks at the beginning of the 2000s and it’s definitely collapsed, never to return. Whoever is professionally involved within this sector and is not full of crap will tell you that this business is not a business anymore. The amount of money that has to be spent in order to create, produce and launch an artist is way higher than the return of investment derived by music itself. For this reason, if we merely look at this world from a cold, business perspective, investing in new artists is simply not worth it. Statistically and financially. Period.
It’s still done though, because “the show must go on”, in a certain way. Imagine yourself being at the steering wheel of a very successful machine for decades. Then, in a few years, everything changes for the worse and you just can’t cope with it. Getting out of business is not an option, as well as there are too many implications and stuff you’ve been carrying around for so long you just can’t let go. That’s where you start looking at different (business) directions that, yes, on the surface, they still imply music is being made; yet under the surface, what’s really (or at least trying) creating wealth has very little to do with making music and records.
There is really nothing more to say about this.
So, what should we make of this, especially from the artist perspective? I talk and deal with dozens of artists daily and I want to personally tell you why you should and should not invest in your own music career. I genuinely think there are good reasons on both sides. I could pick more reasons but I’ll stick to the magic number of three.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T
1) Money is very scattered and fragmented, recorded music is worth fractions of cents and all odds are against any new project. Reaching financial stability in music may take years and, even after a long time, you might still experience a lot of instability in your own finances. If you want to consciously take this journey, make sure you have a revenue stream that does NOT rely on music only, at least for the first years. Otherwise, chances are you won’t last more than 2-3 years.
2) Listeners and fans' behavioral change. Not to sound boomer, but to actually be it. When I was a teenager, after the radio and MTV, buying a CD was the only way we had to discover new music. Things sounded, felt and were really loaded with novelty. A novelty that brought a lot of passion and income streams for recording artists. Music idols were less exposed to their fans and that created even more idealizations. It also made them last longer, because everything we see less, lasts longer. The current digital era floods us with background music and music artists’ social media activities, on a daily basis. At this rate of input, everything becomes more dull, cringy and boring in a much shorter period. Making music ain’t that cool anymore. Because everybody does it.
3) Technology won’t make this better. It will actually make it worse. AI artists, AI movies and soundtracks, ludicrous amount of content creation will fight for our attention (thus, distraction) more and more. Till now, billions of people were daily competing against each other for people’s attention. From now on, billions of people will compete against machines too, besides other humans.
What a dark future, isn’t it? If you think so, that’s where we differ.
WHY YOU SHOULD
1) Because it makes you happy. Seriously guys, read that sentence over and over again. And if you think it’s too naive, read it until it makes sense. Really, we keep asking the wrong question. It’s not a matter of “how do I succeed in music” but rather “how am I going to be happy?”. What makes us thrive financially might (never) go along with something we truly love. Art hasn’t been a profession for most of human history. Though it’s always been there. Since the dawn of times, humanity has drawn, sung, danced, carved, created from a different perspective. It filled voids, sought and created meaning and purpose through art. Today, we have no excuses not to make the kind of art we love because the tools at our disposal, as well as those which provide knowledge and education are cheaper and more available than ever before. Cavemen didn’t discover art to profit off of it. They discovered it felt better than anything else.
2) It’s an extremely powerful way to let you express yourself, much more than words and daily life sometimes can allow. While making art, you can write, compose, draw and make things you could never tell, not even to yourself. Your creations will tell a huge part of yourself that perhaps you couldn’t be aware in any other way. Making your own music will help you answering the questions we’ve all asked ourselves, at least once: “Who I am”?
3) It gives a sense of meaning. It might sound like a paradox but purpose and meaning are not consequences of rational happenings. They’re feelings, vibrational states of being. To feel connected to ourselves, to others and to world/universe is actually the main source of meaning. You will not probably know (in your rational mind) why but you’ll definitely feel it, when it happens. Your art, your creative freedom and the brutal way of expressing your strength and vulnerabilities will inspire others, will trigger them, scrambling and activating lives like very few others things can. An inspired human being will always be the most powerful catalyst to another human being. Not a job, not a salary, not even a masterpiece for itself. It’s rather the story of the person that stands behind. In today’s world, more than ever, we need abstraction and creativity to inspire each other on the quest of a meaningful life. We’re not going through a hard time because the economy and society are getting worse: they’re just a reflection of the demise of meaning and purpose inside of us. We used to draw purpose from a top-down system, one that provided a series of beliefs we all accepted, for the good of the worse. Now, we are called to find such beliefs and answers within ourselves and then to form communities that resonate together. Art can do all this. It has always done it.
One may argue that the negative answers are much more practical than the positive ones. From that perspective, one may be right. Yet that's the point, in my opinion. We attribute art the wrong function and for that reason, we're asking the wrong oracle that kind of answer it's not (necessarily) meant to answer. Remember that if we are complaining it's hard to make ends met through art is because it is possible. Such possibility has never been around for thousands of years. And even acknowledging the struggle of a real frustration that can only be born from a real chance that doesn't become reality, I can't help but notice how harmful this all is.
If you love making music and you are truly happy when you make it, there should NEVER be enough reasons to quit doing something that makes you feel so good. I strongly believe that the right question leads to the right choice.
Keep doing what you do. Keep healing yourself. If you're a better person, there are more chances that those next to you will be affected. And so those next to them. And so on.
