Indie Sustainability Ep. 02: Why This Matters

Last time, we defined what sustainability means, and asked some questions clarifying application to your individual creative practice.

Today, we’ll get into the why.

Why, exactly, should you care about being sustainable as an artist? Isn’t all this talk of economics just a distraction from the artwork you should be working on?

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Even if you don't plan on making music a career, I hope we can all agree that when artists are paid fairly and can afford to live, creativity improves and the artwork gets better.

Art and culture is not made better by artists having a hard time paying the rent. In most cases, the opposite is true: the quality of the art improves in line with the situations of the people making it.

Currently, most musicians trying to make it work super duper hard in their 20s, then burn out or quit in their 30s when new priorities that require money arise, like starting a family or buying a house.

Every time that happens, the musical world gets just a little bit more bland and boring, which is a real shame.

Sustainable creative careers mean that more great music is being made by more people, for longer periods of time. Sounds like a good thing to me, and I hope to you too!

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A common assumption from the amateur or hobbyist artist is that because they're just having fun, and don't necessarily care about making a living or building a career, they can do whatever they want.

Well, you can do whatever you want, of course! But, it's also true that all actions have consequences.

I would hope that, as an artist, you would want fellow artists to do well, and to be able to make a living off their work, if they chose to pursue that goal. In a public space, your actions effect both yourself and others: by giving away all your music for free, forever, you are making other artist’s lives harder, and devaluing the work that we all do.

If you're choosing to release your music publicly, your business choices, whether you’re conscious of them or not, always have an effect on other artists.

And, this happens even if you personally choose to ignore business considerations altogether-none of us live in a vacuum.

One reason why artists have a hard time making a living is from a historic lack of attention to professionalism + organization, particularly in the DIY/indie space. When this is a widespread practice, it creates the impression of a divided labor force that can be exploited. This is where we are at now.

Individual artists choosing not to care about business leads to every artist being taken advantage of.

Regardless of your thoughts on the merits of capitalism, it is the system we're currently living in. Vote and demonstrate more if you’re not into that.

“But I didn’t get into the art thing to write resumes, trade stock options, etc.” Of course, most people didn’t! I would never suggest writing a song a certain way because you think it will sell better. The rehearsal/recording studio is the proper place for creative looseness: that is your time to do whatever you want, however you want. However, that attitude does not continue to serve you when you leave the recording studio, and release your music into the world. Making your music, and releasing your music effectively are two different things, and that’s ok! Arthouse films still have trailers.

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Choosing to care about getting a return for your time and creativity doesn’t just automatically turn you into some capitalist sleezeball. Just like choosing not to care about any business related stuff doesn’t just automatically make you a more honest, genuine, or truthful artist. It’s not that simple.

Artists caring about developing sustainable creative careers means better art and culture for all!

That’s why this matters!

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