Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!

Ya know, I used to be sympathetic, but I’m getting really tired of hearing musicians whine about illegal file trading. “If I can’t get paid for my work, why would I write and perform songs?”

Okay. So what I’m hearing is: I’m in this for the money.

Right. Good luck with that.

The notion that musicians will stop making music because they don’t get paid is a ridiculous and misinformed one.

Oh, I’ve heard some pipe-dreaming about how someday, some big name artist will walk away in disgust. Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

See, here’s the problem. The artist, being inherently egotistical to some degree, believes that their work is worth what they (or, if signed, their labels) say it is worth. In other words, art alone justifies that $18.99 price tag. This is not the way markets work.

Markets work this way: there is a demand for something, then several suppliers come along to fill it. The supplier to gives the people what they most want, the way they want it, wins.

Artists mistakenly think this demand is for their music. No. In the current context, the demand is for access to, and portability of, music.

Repeat after me: the consumers have spoken.

So, you’re not making money from your music, and you blame illegal file swapping. (Did you say that in public? Excellent move. 50 million potential fans are now looking at you crosseyed.)

Did you consider that your album is overpriced? Or maybe you should have stuck to a smaller recording budget? Or maybe you should have released an 3-song EP instead of a 13-song LP?

Or maybe, just maybe, you need to write better songs?

Sorry comrade, I have no sympathy for ya. If you need an example of an artist operating at a loss, you’re lookin’ at one. I have made exactly zero profit from my musical venture. (And I deserve every negative cent of it, by not promoting it or playing gigs or the umpteen other things that “music career” encompasses.)

What, don’t I want to make money? Duh, of course I do. But let’s cast aside these delusions that we’re somehow going to maintain the status quo by killing off file sharing. It’s not going to happen.

Music, art, writing. These are commodities that know no scarcity. People will continue to create stuff long after the money tap is shut.

So let’s bury this stupid idea that artists won’t make art if there’s no money in it, and get on with making this new thing work in our favor.

(PS: this post is partially a response to a message sent to Anders Rasmussen’s IFS (Inspirations For Songwriters) newsletter, which contained a tired rant from some musician in TX, about how illegal file trading alone somehow brought down Wherehouse Music, which recently filed for bankruptcy. My advice to him? Work smarter, or take a pay cut.)