Readers letter: Musicians are the new starving artists

Sam emailed us to say he hopes to be touring with his band and making a living from his creativity soon.

Now, following your creative dreams certainly gets our applause, he’s half way to success already.

But the second paragraph of his email set off the money alarm. (In the last readers letter I pointed out how frequently we often hold conflicting beliefs about money that can really limit our success.)

Here’s what Sam said;

I know musicians are the new starving artist, but I don’t care. This is what I love and I would be more than happy to be playing music in bars for the rest of my life, rather than be rich and famous. But of course the riches would be nice to have, for a rainy day.

This will upset a few people

Now I’m going to tell you something that will upset some people and it will upset them because deep down they know it’s true.

1) Many ‘starving artists’ are only starving because they are insecure, lazy, and walk around in their own little dream world.

2) Many ‘starving artists’ use art as an excuse to opt out of the commercial world (because it’s tough and involves making something of real value). Instead they choose to live their lives on the charity of others. They do this by actively producing useless crap that nobody wants or needs and calling this self-indulgence “self-expression”.

3) If you identify with the ‘starving artist’ as a romantic, alternative lifestyle, that’s exactly what you will end up with. (But there’s nothing romantic about it, you’re just a bum with a hobby.)

Some people would have you believe that we live in a world that doesn’t value art in all it’s different forms. That to truly express yourself you must give in to a life of noble peasantry.

What utter bollocks

An artist has more opportunity to deliver value to the world than at any time in the evolution of the human species.

A million TV channels. A million radio stations, A billion websites. A trillion homes with enough disposable income to buy anything that inspires them.

So why should the creative person starve?

Sure, when you’re starting your journey, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Your dinner might be beans-on-toast for a while. Let’s be honest, you might be living on beans-on-toast for a couple of years whilst you “play music in bars” or whatever your creative equivalent is. That might be an essential part of your journey to develop your skills and get to know what your fans really value.

But that’s no place to aim for, that’s no place to even think about ending up. That’s no final destination.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to really think about where you want to end up, to set your sights high and to focus on that destination constantly.

It’s no secret and there’s really nothing metaphysical about it – but whatever you focus on is what you will end up with. It’s just how the human brain works.

A million small decisions

The path for Sam, between his first gig and his final destination is a journey of a million small decisions. Each time he is faced with a decision, the picture he holds in his head, the vision of where he wants to end up, that picture will play a part in the choice he makes.

If his picture of happiness is being famous, that’s where he’ll end up.
If his picture of happiness is riches, that’s what he’ll get.
If his picture of happiness is inspiring millions of people, that’s what he will achieve.
If his picture of happiness is playing in bars, that’s exactly what will happen.

Is it really so bad playing music in a bar?

That all depends on why you’re there;
If you’re music is just a hobby, playing in a bar might be pretty cool.
If you’re building your fan base and developing your skills, a bar might be an essential part of the journey.
If you’re still playing in bars 15 years later, then you’re probably doing something wrong.

You’ve either not developed your own confidence to the level necessary to break out of the bars or you haven’t developed you skills enough to fill a bigger venue or you simply don’t offer enough value to enough people to make them want to come see you.

That’s no place to end up. And unless you have very low expectations of yourself, you won’t be happy there.

Do you believe in your work?

If you believe in your work, if it inspires others, then why oh why would you not want to share that with as many people as possible?

The world is brimming with people looking to be inspired. Why would you want to settle for a couple of dozen drunks who probably didn’t even come to see you?

I beg you to follow this advice

If you’ve found the courage to start your creative journey, don’t sabotage yourself by walking around with a “back-up plan” in your head. Don’t tell the world that you’re off on a journey to conquer Mount Everest, whilst unconsciously telling yourself, you’d actually be satisfied if you just made it to the base camp.

Life is too short to be happy with the mediocre and musicians really aren’t the new starving artists, musicians are the new Kings and Queens.

Many a wise man will tell you that life is not a destination – it’s a journey, and often it’s a series of different journeys, loosely strung together. But as we travel through life, enjoying every moment of the journey, it’s useful to have a destination in mind, those who don’t tend to drift aimlessly. What picture do YOU carry around in your head of your final destination? Is it really worthy of a lifetime of effort or could you set your sights a little higher?

Paul.

PS. Thanks to “Sam” for his letter and for allowing us to share it so that other people might benefit as well. (Names changed to protect the innocent)

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