Indie Sustainability Ep. 01: Definitions

This is the first of a series discussing sustainability in the arts. Sustainability in the context of indie arts is a target that varies widely by individual artist. It can, but doesn’t necessarily have to, mean making a full time living of off your artwork.

A better definition might be:

“Sustainability in the arts means individual artists have both the resources, and the choice, to approach their artistic lives as they see fit.”

Maybe that means you want to make 50-100k a year selling your art as a full time job.

Maybe it means you want to have the resources to improve the quality and creativity of your work, and making a living isn’t a priority rn.

Maybe it means you want to make art as an irregular effort and find ways to fit that work around other parts of your life.

Maybe it’s something else unique to you. All are legitimate artistic pursuits, and none of these are better or worse than another .

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A lot of artists nowadays are grappling with the idea of being seen as “content creators” more than “artists”. Very understandable!

It’s important to realize that these are all just silly labels we make up. You always have full control over how you choose to portray yourself.

If you don’t like the idea of being a “content creator”, you don’t have to play that game. Do something different.

You can release your work however you choose, in whatever format you choose, however often you choose. No one is forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do here.

And, any business considerations surrounding your artwork should only be considered after the artwork is made, not before. Being genuine and honest as an artist is absolutely your most powerful asset.

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You will tend to be more successful, long term, if you are willing to consider business and your artwork as two things that coexist together.

This is not some new “capitalist” thing, or a bad thing necessarily. Art and money have always been connected. Mozart had wealthy patrons funding him.

The Beatles don’t become The Beatles without the support of several large international corporations helping them.

Radiohead would probably still be a fairly small regional indie band, without EMI’s international marketing support for their first six albums.

The big difference now, is that you don’t need a large corp backing you to develop a sustainable creative life. I think that’s a pretty big step forward, compared to decades past.

You own your choices. If you don’t like to do the businessey stuff, you really don’t have to. It’s not the right thing for every artist. This is one reason why managers, agents, and record labels exist.

But, let’s also be honest about the consequences of making that choice.

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If you choose to ignore business considerations, you will be reliant on side jobs, and finding other ways to pay the bills outside of your artwork. If that’s the right choice for you, then awesome! There’s so many ways to make it work.

Paying the bills vs. creativity is a balance that is different for everyone. You have control over finding that balance, and it is unique to you. No rules here, go your own way. But whatever your choices, make them informed choices. The key item here is that we’re being intentional, and trying to answer these questions:

“What resources do I need to approach my artistic work in the way that I choose? How do I generate those resources?”

“What, exactly, would a sustainable, long term artistic endeavor look like for me?”

“Is money and/or doing this full time important to me? If so, does that change any specifics about the resources I need?”

“What do I want out of this?”

“Why do I make what I make?”

“What would my ideal creative life look like?”

The answers to these questions will help clarify what “sustainable” means in your individual situation.

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