Unfortunately I’ve met a lot of talented artists, musicians , singers and other forms of creatives not getting paid what they’re worth , or having a hard time getting clients/paid for their work.
What common mistakes do you see artists make with their businesses?
What advice would you give creatives so they can break the stereotype of the “starving artist?”
They aren’t making things people want and refuse to, then demand people support them.
I think this has to do with the starving artist concept many of us internalize. I’m working on overcoming this myself and being pragmatic and allowing myself to be paid for my work. It’s a combo of so many things, such as not believing in our value if it comes easy to us and/or if we love it, not thinking we deserve it, not asking for what we are worth, believing that artists have to struggle in order for their art to be valuable & so on. There’s an old school book called The Artist’s Way that helps address some of this. A lot of this also seems to come down to believing we are worth the $ & not worrying about the wax/wane part of the creative business.
I also have a side business where I have ppl try to bargain me down on my prices. I had to get to the point where I was so tired of giving ppl breaks on the price, only to have them pull up in a fully loaded high end car, etc. I have to value my time to make the prices high enough that I can make money from the business. I found making lists of responses to ppl who ask for lower prices helps, as well as talking about it with other business owners.
I think it’s a love hate relationship. I am a professional dancer that took time off to create a business and learn about different streams of income while my other friends continued in their dance careers. Some of them are so in love with dance that the money doesn’t get to them because they don’t spend money on things that others usually would (nice cars, designer, luxury, etc.). Or the money they make is just enough but would like extra.
At times, it made me feel like I was missing out and I could’ve been farther but I know that I wanted to set myself up now so I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay my rent if I don’t book a specific gig or get more auditions.
My advice is:
- Create a personal brand that includes your talent and other interesting aspects about you
- Create a product or sell a service that you can offer with your experience (something that can help your target audience with or solve a problem)
- Charge what you want because then you will attract the types of people who don’t mind spending $$$ because of who you are and the value they’ll get with purchasing from you
- Provide an experience when someone spends money with you so they’ll want to continue as a repeat customer/client
- Continue to take inspired action, have faith, and don’t be afraid to go ghost for a while to focus on building your craft/business
I think it’s important to point out that just because someone wants to do something within a particular field, it doesn’t mean there will be opportunities to make a living at it.
Artists and musicians tend to be creative people who thrive on doing what they love. And while there are a select few can make it to the top of their field, the vast majority toil in anonymity and will never parlay their passion into financial success.
Just because I enjoy playing baseball doesn’t mean people are going to pay to watch me unless I’m the absolute best. Along the same lines, Just cuz someone makes music and wants it to be there career doesn’t mean will happen.
At some point people have to be realistic about their prospects of making a living at doing the thing they love. The vast majority of people have jobs that they don’t love, but it pays the bills so they can enjoy their hobbies in their free time.
That’s another important point to consider as well. I do think however, there are some artists out there who are not leveraging all possible resources as well, however.
Common Mistakes are; a lack of business knowledge, underpricing their work, ineffective marketing, Avoiding/Neglecting Networking and inconsistent branding. We often don’t know what we can get for our work until we see someone else get it. Artists often don’t recognize that friendliness and professionalism can be more important than living the life of an artist. There is a great clip on youtube where Akon the singer talks about how Eminem treats his art like a job, “He comes in at 9 .a.m. every day to the studio, takes his lunch break at 1 PM, and is out of there by 5 PM. It’s like a schedule. I did not expect that from him. The first day I come, I come around 6 p.m. I get to the studio, they said, ‘Em just left! He said, ‘I am out of here!’ I said, ‘I just got to the studio, you coming back here?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll be back there at 9 a.m."
That is true, it is still a job even if it’s a creative path. Professionalism is an important skill, that isn’t emphasized enough.
Businesses? Most artists have no concept of business. It’s common for artists to have a deep disdain for the economic side of their world.
Those that succeed are usually the ones who take the time to understand and experiment with a variety of business models and monetization types. Micro patronage. Crowdfunding. Art merchandising. Making their art accessible at various price points. Creative partnerships. Dipping into corporate partnerships or publishing. And of course the traditional… art fairs, gallery shows. And the more recent… constant social media, bts videos, mailing lists, events, classes, retreats, etc.
Either that or they’ve got some truly insane unique talent. But I know plenty of insanely talented artists who have such a toxic relationship to money and concepts of value that they will always be starving.
Source: was once a starving artist; still know many starving artists.
These are some really great points you’ve made . Just the ways of monetization you’ve mentioned alone are great ways for them to make money off of their work. I agree that more often than not, they do avoid the actual business side, which I understand because they’d rather focus on the creative aspect, but for it to be sustainable business skills are just as important
this man spittin
I know so many starving artists, and only a few who make a good living purely from their art. The best example I can think of is a local musician who just does everything he can. He performs in wedding bands and markets the shit out of them, booked all year. He makes commercial tracks. He opened a practice space. He collaborates with as many local businesses as possible. He’s very talented - but he hustles like an entrepreneur, and that’s what makes the difference.
This is the key difference I think. Any business can be successful, it just depends on how much you’re willing to do for it, and I feel like that musician has really got it together!