Artists question the status quo.
But this is hard for most people, because they've been taught from birth to fit in, not make a ruckus, be a member of the group...which is why I say the captain of the football team or the class president is rarely an artist. Artists tend to be loners, or members of an outside group. They question every precept and react to it.
Now don't confuse this with disrupting the status quo in D.C. Those are business people. Whose actions affect millions. Artists can affect entire nations, but they do it through people's minds. The work of an artist contrasts with society, the conventional mores, and it makes people think. It's about speaking truth to power. And if you're so uncomfortable you can't handle negative feedback, you can't be an artist.
So school was invented to create good workers. Many artists can't even work a conventional job, they can't show up on time. Not all, but I'm just letting you know the skills of an artist are different.
You may be able to do math, take notes, be efficient and organized...but an artist may be unable to do all of those things yet still be very successful.
I started out as an English major in college. One of the reasons I left that pursuit is they didn't want to know my take, my opinion, how I reacted to the material. They wanted me to study the historical take, what the great seers of yesteryear had to say about the work. We had to shut up and bow down to the gods.
But when I switched to art history...
First and foremost the lectures were different, all of them, they were ENTERTAINING! The professor was giving a performance, it wasn't rote, it was alive, just like art itself. As for the artists...
Sure, there were historical breakthroughs, like perspective, but the greatest artists, the ones who are remembered, all created breakthroughs.
Let's start with minimalism. The average spectator says I CAN DO THAT! And in truth, they may be able to, BUT THEY CAN'T COME UP WITH THE IDEA! And the goal of a minimalist artist is to challenge preconceptions... Is this art? What is art?
And then there are the abstract expressionists, like Jackson Pollock. He knew how to draw, but he yearned to express himself in a different way.
And then there is the recently departed Frank Stella, who didn't know how to draw at all!
Actually, to be an art history major, you have to take a year of studio art. I can't paint, I can't draw period. But I tended to get a better response from the professor than those who could, because of my conception, where I was coming from.
And sure, some of my compatriots went on to work in museums, but I took inspiration from the artists themselves, I wanted to challenge the field, do it differently.
Now they've cut arts education from schools. And if you go to college...you'd better come out with a job! None of this foments artists, these people don't have the right mind-set.
Whereas the baby boomers...
There's a reason they created so much great art. Because they questioned their parents' ideas, the government's ideas, they thought there was another way to look at things. And the goal was to stand out and be a winner.
Conversely, millennials haven't yielded a plethora of artists, because the goal of a millennial is to fit in, be a member of the group, they even go on dates in a group, if you can call it that. They don't want to stand out.
I've given a zillion presentations. And when I ask a question, people are loath to raise their hand. They don't want to stand out. They don't want to be the object of ridicule. Now there are shy artists, then again an artist can't break through unless they create and interact.
Then you have the music schools... Berklee can teach you how to play, but that doesn't make you an artist. We want someone who breaks the law, breaks the code, and makes us stand up and recognize them.
I'm not saying every artist is going to be commercially successful. However, I'll also say there are many acts who are known by all, who make a ton of money, who are not artists.
Clive Davis specialized in commerce, not artistry. Even worse, he wanted control. An artist has a vision. That does not mean they cannot be affected by feedback... But if Clive is picking the track or changing the lyrics...where does that leave the artist?
And we know being a great singer is not enough, almost no one from a TV singing show becomes a star. But Clive could pick one of them, match them with the right material and blow them up. Kudos, but that does not make that person an artist.
David Bowie? He challenged preconceptions.
Madonna too.
You know the acts... You may not have even liked them when you first heard them because they were so different.
And it can be the whole package, the looks, the attitude...
Or it can just be the song, the lyrics.
And the funny thing is despite all the success of lowest denominator commercial music, the public YEARNS for artistry. They're looking for it, it can move mountains.
It used to happen on a regular basis. Some new sound would come along that would wipe out the previous one. Whether it be the Beatles and Perry Como or Nirvana and hair bands. The new sound was so fresh, so different.
Now to a certain degree, I believe artists are born, not made. I don't think you can teach someone to be an artist, because to a great degree it's a sensibility.
Then again, you can have influences. My father questioned everything, he took nothing at face value. Furthermore, he ultimately employed this perspective to become very successful as a real estate appraiser, which is normally the job of a schlepper.
I'll save how my dad did it for the moment, but I want you to know if you're just like everybody else, your odds of making it are poor.
There are tons of great guitar players. What can you do differently? Most people had never heard anyone tap the strings like Eddie Van Halen.
So what we've got is a ton of sour grapes. The people who jumped through all the hoops want their reward, they want success. But artists don't jump through hoops!
And no one in business wants their cheese moved, that's their worst nightmare. But it happens all the time. Look at the deletions from the Dow... General Electric is no longer in it, never mind AT&T and even Hewlett-Packard. These companies have been superseded, they're no longer pushing the envelope.
I don't want to get into an argument about these specific examples... I'll just say few of the companies of yesteryear are dominant today. And most acts have a short lifespan on the chart. But those who reinvent themselves tend to have lengthier success.
If everybody else is doing it one way, an artist does it another. And shrugs when people put them down.
If you can't look at the landscape and see a way to do it completely differently, you're not an artist.
Music is going to stream forever. There is always a great desire for music to listen to. That does not mean every era is equivalent. And I've already stated that just because you're a chart success, that does not make you an artist.
After all the artistic breakthroughs of the sixties and early seventies, record labels and wannabe acts divined a formula. They started making music they thought people wanted to hear and buy as opposed to making a statement, i.e. corporate rock. But then the public shrugged its shoulder. The record business crashed. You can look it up. But most won't. However, if you understand history, it gives you context, a view of the landscape that people can react to.
Most people who want to make music for a living drop out. They realize they're not good enough, or they don't want to sacrifice that much. And artists give up too. But just because you continue that does not make you successful.
And I don't care how many hours you've put in, 20,000, that does not make you an artist. 10,000 hours OF HARD PRACTICE makes you a world class player, it does not make you an artist. Artistry is in your DNA. It's perspective. It's attitude.
Furthermore, most ultra-successful artists are not so good with people. Forget the image, if you meet them... They may be incredibly off-putting, they may have little to no friends. They can be an artist, but no more.
Of course there are exceptions. But I'm stressing here that just because you've paid your dues and your song is on Spotify that does not mean the public will clamor for it, no matter how many guitar lessons you've taken.
Artistry is elusive, unquantifiable. And society hates this, but loves what is produced.
Once again, society wants hoop-jumpers and order.
And there are the clichés, like "starving artist." Then again, anyone can starve, that doesn't take a huge commitment. However, "tortured artist"..? Artists tend not to be well-adjusted, they are tortured, most people have learned how to get along and be happy, chances are the artist has not.
Many need that hit from the audience in order to feel good about themselves. They're trying to fill an unfillable hole... Get the love they never got from their parents, or they're reacting to rejection in love.
The above is just the way it is.
But many don't like it. Especially in this era where the barrier to entry is so low and so many are playing.
To throw a curve ball into the action... Great social media influencers can oftentimes be artists. They're questioning the status quo.
Do not be influenced by those invested in the status quo. That is death. And those people fade away... So many who complained about Napster and Spotify and everything in between, who lamented the destruction of the old paradigm...have faded away and not radiated. Young people accept the present as gospel. They're not burdened by the past. (Once again, it's good to know the past, but an artist is free, unconstrained.)
Is this the way you feel? That you've got to do it your way and if no one pays attention and you're poor for the rest of your life you're happy?
I know commercially unsuccessful artists who are happy. They create their art and that's enough.
Is that you?
If not, maybe you're not an artist. And that's a reason why you're not winning in the music game.
People hate when I say that. Everybody wants encouragement. Hell, that's one of the reasons I'm successful, I'll say the unsayable. Submit your track to a professional and they'll never say it sucks. Or they'll give you bogus criticism to get you off their back.
The music business is not based on honesty.
But artistry is.
Man, you know it when you hear it. It's like a light bulb comes on. A car wreck. You're jolted alive.
And we're all looking for that.
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