Thank you to Wendell Thorne for the blog post below.
So, You Want To Be A Star?
Those of us who create art--any form of art--have always known that the pathway to "making it" as an artist is rocky, uphill and rarely culminates in what the world calls "success." I'm talking financial success here.
But in our minds, there was always a chance that the content we created might catch the eye or ear of some influential entity or individual willing to bankroll an album or a book or a show. The labels or publishers would plant down a wad of cash to finance --and more importantly, promote--a project and the artists were on an upward trajectory to fame and fortune. A dream come true.
Some of you already realize it, but those days are gone.
Even thirty years ago, when I was in college learning to write, the refrain that echoed was, Everybody with a word processor is a writer. Publishers were inundated with manuscripts, studios received an onslaught of screenplays and record companies were bombarded with garage demos that produced the books, movies and albums we came to know and love.
Not anymore.
Books have been dying a slow death for decades. People simply don't read anymore. A site like this, Goodreads, is essentially a book club, a place where the remaining literature lovers in the world congregate and feel a kindred spirit with the 20 percent of the world that still reads books for pleasure.
The music business has been on life-support for some time, as well. Eagle's guitarist Joe Walsh said he'll never record another album, for the simple reason that, regardless of its quality, it won't sell. The internet has made music freely available, on a wide variety of platforms. The only way artists make any money at all is by doing shows, which is why we see our favorite legendary bands wearily touring, year after year. However, with the realities of a dwindling fan base, the cost of admission and myriad options for our entertainment dollar, even those bands don't draw like they once did.
And cinema? You see what the studios send to the theaters anymore. Remakes and Sequels. Series of CGI-heavy noise-making films that thankfully needn't rely upon thoughtful and thought-inducing dialogue.
Obviously, the reason for the decline in paid artwork is our friend, The Internet. Well, coupled with advances in the kind of technology that allow an eleven-year-old guitar-whiz in Topeka to share his professional-quality recording of "Eruption", easily uploaded to a platform with a worldwide audience. The downside is he doesn't get paid for making it.
The point of writing all this isn't to bum you artists out. It's to say that, if the reason you're writing or acting or singing or playing or whatever is based upon a dream of making the big time, I'm here to say that the big time isn't there anymore. Rather, it's an ocean of small time. And if you're engaged in art in order to make a living, that's the wrong reason.
I regularly hear stories of amazing performances on television talent shows. Unrealvoices that blow the judges away. In my estimation, only one of them over the years has ever gone on to superstardom, and that's Carrie Underwood. The point is, when it comes to chops, lots of people have them; when it comes to parlaying those into a career, the odds are staggeringly against you.
Create because you have to because you are compelled to, because it satisfies your soul. Share it with the rest of us and we will enjoy the kindred spirit that ignites the passion in us all. If you get paid, that's super. But don't kid yourself that you're headed for a comfortable place in the money-making limelight.
Not anymore.
But in our minds, there was always a chance that the content we created might catch the eye or ear of some influential entity or individual willing to bankroll an album or a book or a show. The labels or publishers would plant down a wad of cash to finance --and more importantly, promote--a project and the artists were on an upward trajectory to fame and fortune. A dream come true.
Some of you already realize it, but those days are gone.
Even thirty years ago, when I was in college learning to write, the refrain that echoed was, Everybody with a word processor is a writer. Publishers were inundated with manuscripts, studios received an onslaught of screenplays and record companies were bombarded with garage demos that produced the books, movies and albums we came to know and love.
Not anymore.
Books have been dying a slow death for decades. People simply don't read anymore. A site like this, Goodreads, is essentially a book club, a place where the remaining literature lovers in the world congregate and feel a kindred spirit with the 20 percent of the world that still reads books for pleasure.
The music business has been on life-support for some time, as well. Eagle's guitarist Joe Walsh said he'll never record another album, for the simple reason that, regardless of its quality, it won't sell. The internet has made music freely available, on a wide variety of platforms. The only way artists make any money at all is by doing shows, which is why we see our favorite legendary bands wearily touring, year after year. However, with the realities of a dwindling fan base, the cost of admission and myriad options for our entertainment dollar, even those bands don't draw like they once did.
And cinema? You see what the studios send to the theaters anymore. Remakes and Sequels. Series of CGI-heavy noise-making films that thankfully needn't rely upon thoughtful and thought-inducing dialogue.
Obviously, the reason for the decline in paid artwork is our friend, The Internet. Well, coupled with advances in the kind of technology that allow an eleven-year-old guitar-whiz in Topeka to share his professional-quality recording of "Eruption", easily uploaded to a platform with a worldwide audience. The downside is he doesn't get paid for making it.
The point of writing all this isn't to bum you artists out. It's to say that, if the reason you're writing or acting or singing or playing or whatever is based upon a dream of making the big time, I'm here to say that the big time isn't there anymore. Rather, it's an ocean of small time. And if you're engaged in art in order to make a living, that's the wrong reason.
I regularly hear stories of amazing performances on television talent shows. Unrealvoices that blow the judges away. In my estimation, only one of them over the years has ever gone on to superstardom, and that's Carrie Underwood. The point is, when it comes to chops, lots of people have them; when it comes to parlaying those into a career, the odds are staggeringly against you.
Create because you have to because you are compelled to, because it satisfies your soul. Share it with the rest of us and we will enjoy the kindred spirit that ignites the passion in us all. If you get paid, that's super. But don't kid yourself that you're headed for a comfortable place in the money-making limelight.
Not anymore.
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