If We Don't Start Valuing Artists, We Won't Have Any

As a wannabe artist, an artist in training, a master of procrastination artist (etc. and so on), I feel like I can talk candidly on the subject of art. Well maybe I can and maybe I can't, but I'm going to write down my thoughts anyway.

Last week Prince died. If you haven't heard the news by now then you've been living under a rock. I was deeply affected by his death, just like many people around the world. And also like many people around the world, I've spent some time the past few days watching YouTube interviews and live performances, or listening to his music, or looking at his pictures. Anything to try to reconnect with the soul that flew so suddenly away.

When I watch his interviews, one of the subjects he comments on repeatedly is the state of the music industry. The thing is, I feel like he says (said) out loud what needs to be said about not only music but about all art forms: That the state of things isn't good.

As a writer I am almost equally affected by the state of the "business" every day, because with Kindle and ebooks (not to mention offshoring to India or the Philippines where people will work for $1/hour), the writing business is going the way of the music business - FREE.

And free sucks.

Prince - that is, the worldwide musician that we knew -  was only able to be this person because once upon a time, someone valued him as an artist. Once upon a time, someone figured out how talented he was and subsequently paid him decent money for his art. This allowed him to continue to spin his creative juices, to grow as an artist, to positively affect the lives of millions of people, and to do so without the threat of foreclosure or starvation in his personal life.

Today? A new talent would sign away their creations to the guys in the suits, be used as a puppet to make the "business" as much money as possible, and then set out to pasture. Isn't it a wonder that we still have artists at all?

I hope that when I'm old and gray there will be some artists and writers and musicians and painters around to admire. You know, people who have achieved worldwide recognition for the gifts they bestow on humanity. I fear that as long as people don't want to invest in artists, the artists will push their art to the side while they do the jobs that help them pay bills and take care of their families. Because this is what I do every day.

And you know what that means?

It means that people like Prince are a dying breed. That art, as a whole, is on its way out. And whatever that means for society, well, I don't think it's a good thing. Because the best art is transformative. It helps us all along on our journeys through the ups and downs of life, the triumphs and the disappointments, the wins and the loses, the new babies and the sudden goodbyes.

Artists are the gatekeepers, the traffic cops, the teachers, the elders. And right now I see a massive pileup at the end of the road.