I think it was the Beatles who early on put out music they knew would sell. They once had a quote somewhere along the line of “We are writing a new swimming pool”. Only later on did they put more creativity in their work.
But yeah, Bob Dylan bucked the trend but then, others, including the Beatles, when they saw his success, started copying him.
I know a friend who is a musician who won’t bend. He doesn’t mind the debt or homelessness, as long as he’s doing what he wants, despite the few dollars he receives.
We have good friends who have 2 sons, both in their 20s, who are professional ballet dancers. One is at the Sacramento Ballet, the other in Leipzig, Germany. I think both make enough to house and feed themselves, but are still getting some help from their parents (plus, both are under 26 and can be on parents’ insurance for now).
My father’s youngest sister (who is only 8 years older than me), went to art school in the 70s and did her degree work in computer graphics (primitive by today’s standards, but somewhat cutting edge at the time). I don’t think she ever tried to sell her art, but she used the skills to go to work for NBC doing graphics for the News and Sports Department at 30 Rock for many years (for which she shared several technical Emmys). Now she works for Disney Animation in LA, and she’s got a couple of pictures of herself holding Best Animated Feature Oscars for the films she’s worked on (her name ends up in very tiny print near the end of the credits). She’s a union member, and makes a good living. She’s not making a living doing her art, but she’s making a living using her skills in art.
My wife, a high school English teacher, had a couple of students a few years ago who were very talented artists and started making t-shirts with their own designs as a side hustle while still in high school. They are now married and making a living from the business. I don’t know how good a living, but they were in at least one national holiday gift guide this year, and they employ other people besides themselves to work in their screen-printing shop in Denver, so probably not too bad.
My son will be graduating with a BFA in Studio Art in 2020. We’ll see what he ends up doing, but he’ll definitely be looking for art-related jobs while he tries to make a business out of selling his own work. He recognizes the need to be making stuff that people actually want to buy, even as he also makes stuff that is more conceptual than commercial. His girlfriend is also an art student, so I don’t think either of them will be able to rely on the other for support, at least not in the short term:).
(over-due for an updated gallery)
Very nice, dontbesojumpy, thank you for sharing.
Yes, I mean it literally, but it’s rare that an artist can’t make enough money to support their art. What with family and odd jobs, it’s usually possible to pay the rent while creating. A simple day job can do a lot. The myth is that you need to concentrate only on your art in order to succeed, but you can do that while holding down a 40-hour job and earn money from your art part time.
The major exception might be people with physical issues or problems like depression which gets in the way.
Let’s see… I know a few people who are somewhere between 1 and 5- not raking in the cash, but not struggling. The ones I’m thinking about are a writer I knew in college who’s somewhat well known, but not super-famous, and some jewelry-makers/metalsmiths who also teach on the side.
A lot are category 4- people who work a day job, and have their art as a sort of more serious hobby than most. Like say are in moderately popular local bands on the weekends, or make a few bucks at art/crafts shows, but not enough to live comfortably on.
I can’t think of any 2 or 3s- most either end up getting a day job, or end up being successful enough.
I know of a few similar people. It doesn’t seem to register with them that if you want to make a living (never mind a fortune!) with your art, your art has to have broad appeal. someone I know of was once grousing about how much time and effort he spent in life on music, to little success. Unfortunately, his chosen genre was jazz saxophone. You’d think that if you wanted to have a hope of making it big on your musical talent, you’d choose something other than what most people treat as background music.
Yes okay. My son when he first graduated, he had family help and held several odd jobs in order to dance.
1. struggling thru and making a meager living off of it?
My daughter-in-law, a singer, who also teaches music.
2. had to give it up and take a regular job?
My father, who chose between being a writer and having a family. (I’ve read his writing; he chose well)
3. married into money or have a spouse or family that can support them?
Or
4. Work a regular job but do it on the side?
Damn near every creative person I’ve ever met: My son; a high school friend who writes romance novels on weekends; a computer programmer/musician; a whole bunch of advertising agency creative types who do “real art” on the side, etc. In fact, I know a “successful” artist who always answers the question, “How do you make a living as an artist,” with, “Marry someone who wants to support you, possibly forever.”
Or Even better!
5. Have actually done well and turned it into a good paying career with benefits like health insurance and retirement?
Only those who taught art, drama, writing, etc. You have to work for some sort of organization or belong to a union for benefits. Teaching is probably the most available art-for-money path.
Nope, not true. I know quite a few people who are not only fully self-supporting as self-published authors, but who actually make seriously good money (I’m talking six or seven figures a year). Sure, they have to pay for their own insurance and put away money for retirement, but writing’s the kind of job you don’t necessarily have to retire from if you don’t want to.
A fair number actually. I can think of maybe half a dozen people I know from high school and maybe a dozen more who took on careers in music, acting or art with varying degrees of success (as in named on IMDB or Playbill or have purchasable music on Spotify, etc.).
A lot of them I know through my friend’s wife. She was an aspiring actress at one point, with a couple of minor credits. So when they throw parties, they have a fair number of guests who are involved in the arts in some way.
I don’t know specifically what a lot of them do for money. I have trouble believing you can survive off of working an episode of “Chuck” or “The Blacklist” every two years. I know a few have other sources of revenue like spouses, trust funds or inheritance.
A few of them it is their full time job. Like they have roles of Broadway or continuously tour and release albums. One guy I know is an art director for a major gaming company but also publishes a lot of his own artwork.
I know rather a lot of circus performers.
I’m only interested in it as a hobby, I’ve never tried to get past the ‘free festival ticket’ stage, but I reckon I know people who are or have been in all of the categories. I know a few people scraping pennies together to live in a van on the street or a spare room, some doing side jobs, a few who are mainly supported by family or partners (not so many of these, it’s maybe not something most parents are happy subsidising), rather a lot who gave up and now just stick to the hobby side or quit altogether, and a few who make a good living at it; mainly those who do cruise ship work or corporate gigs. Some have branched out and are also running performer agencies, making props or running workshops and multi-day training events, as well as formally teaching at circus schools. I’m not sure what that counts as.
The lack of worry about health insurance here definitely helps; it’s physical work, even the stuff like juggling that doesn’t really look like it, and injury is common. Those who are really serious practice hours every day, more when rehearsing a particular show, and you can’t do that with even minor muscle strain without risking real damage or just screwing up shows, and I think all my ‘serious’ friends have had to take at least one season off due to injury at some point or another. Equity membership is usual among the serious performers, which can provide some financial help when it happens, but not having medical bills means it’s just the more manageable loss of income, not a double whammy.
Only after he got famous. The man who learned to play guitar in Dinkytown with my father in law and who owes my mother in law $20 and a bag of weed made a lot of compromises in his art to get famous and then have the freedom to do what he wanted.
My boss’ former secretary. Left a corporate job to pursue an acting career in Hollywood in 1999. Last I heard she was working as a waitress in LA. Her #1 qualification for being a secretary was that my boss liked to have good looking women around him. No idea if she had any acting talent. Her credits before moving to LA were all in community theatre. Her current IMDB page has quite a few credits, but not in any movies made by a recognizable studio. She has no credits since 2012, so maybe she’s moved on to something else.
A former co-worker had a good corporate job (over $100k income in the 1990s). She was married to a successful businessman. She described herself as a painter and eventually quit to paint “full time”. Her husband was a serial cheater, and she would rather tolerate that than leave Him and have to go (eventually) back to work. Finally he left her, and she married the oncologist who unsuccessfully treated her mother. He died in a few years, leaving most of his money to his adult children. She married a friend of his, another doctor. I don’t know if she ever sold a painting to anyone other than her rich friends.
An artist who was married to one of my coworkers. His thing was drawing. He had a job drawing greeting cards for a very large company back when greeting cards were a thriving business. He complained constantly about drawing bunnies and Christmas trees all day. Finally he quit, and then started complaining about not being able to sell his art for anything meaningful. She got tired of the whining and left him. Last I heard he was drinking through his spousal support in a week each month and living with his retired parents in his forties.
My daughter’s math tutor was a professional ballet dancer in a very famous Russian company for eight years. Got injured, went back to school and got a BS then MS in Math. Started tutoring math in addition to teaching ballet. She now owns a tutoring center with 20+ employees and 500+ students. Still a ballerina at heart. Absolutely brutal standards in both math and ballet. Students either love her or ask to move to an easier teacher.
An ex-gf’s brother is a talented guitarist, went to school, played in several bands, moved to LA to make it big. At 55 he’s still in a band, hoping to make it big.
…but during a spell of moderate success in his 20s, he bought an apartment building. And, to preserve his “street cred” as a starving artist with other musicians, he’s spent little of what he made from it, investing it instead while living out of a van or couch-surfing. So he’s quite well off, and has spent his life doing what he loves, without having to worry about making a living from it.
I think are quite a few writers in this boat. They were successful at something else, set themselves up comfortably, and now write and self-publish, unconcerned with making it big or even making a living.
I did classical music pretty seriously growing up and thus know several people who are in that world full-time and doing OK for themselves.
-A couple of them are in professional quartets and go on tour. One of those is from a fairly well-off family but also has a ton of siblings, one with profound developmental disabilities, so I wouldn’t assume he’s being supported. Another was able to obtain an EU passport via a grandparent and is living and performing exclusively on the other side of the pond.
-A couple are professional conductors and also sought-after soloists in their own right. One is the sibling of the first one above. Another has a parent who’s a famous name in the classical world, so there might be a bit of nepotism involved, but he’s quite a talent himself.
-A few teach in conservatories as well as operating their own private studios and are doing well that way. They all have multiple kids and appear to own houses and be solidly middle-class.
-One is a legit prodigy and known internationally. He’s an EU citizen with his home base in Europe and his wife comes from money, but given the prestigious positions he’s in, I think they’re quite comfortable no matter what.
Most of the others flamed out before or during college and went into something else. One guy in my high school was a super talented actor who got into NYU Tisch, but now he appears to be a chemist in Europe, not sure what happened there. Another quit conservatory and became a clergyman. A third developed bipolar disorder, had a psychotic break, and killed himself by accident. A couple gave it up after a few years and went to med school. One puts out recordings that probably don’t sell but also does modeling gigs because he’s that good-looking. Another is dithering around in Hollywood but her father manages a hedge fund so she doesn’t need to actually support herself.
I think I only know one genuine starving musician who really wants to only be in that field, isn’t quite talented enough to get the gigs that can support herself comfortably, but won’t give it up and go into another field. She’s perpetually moving around and working menial jobs. The ones with the truly exceptional talent level to go along with the drive are all making it.
One issue I see is many that are not making it grow resentful of the ones who do or at society in general for not supporting them.
Ummm, maybe not resentful. I’ve discussed this with my son and some of his dancer friends. They know the deal, they are going to struggle and they generally aren’t going to make great salaries. But that’s the life and career they chose to pursue, and they do it because they love it. But as a group they aren’t resentful at successful dancers or at society for not supporting them. They’re not looking for handouts. And some do quit the career to get job# so they can afford a living wage.
So I’m confident there are some who are resentful, and there are some who are not. But the several I’ve met and that my son knows are generally happy people.