I know what you're thinking, "Luke, for god's sake shut up about music already!", but you know that I won't listen. I'd like to tell you exactly why musicians from all backgrounds deserve more respect from us, as an increasingly consumerist society that sits back and demands more and more, for free.
Firstly, it is hard being a musician. You're expected to produce ideas all the time, which can be fun but rather exhausting as time goes by, and god forbid you run out of ideas if you have some sort of financial backup. The more creative you are the better, and it almost always shows through your work. But like your creativity, your lack-of-creativity can also show through. That's why artists need to adapt and change their sound with every album, and that's what's fun about being fun about being an artist, isn't it?
Nope. There are artists who work and work to the brink of death for their albums, only for the fans and critics to turn around and shun them because it's "rubbish" or "not as good as their old stuff" or just "too different". OK, I may be being over-dramatic as not every artist ends up in this position, but to some extent it is true. Just look at Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux - it received mixed reviews from fans and critics, and then they went on a 5-year hiatus.
Plus, after touring the world for a thousand times in 2-3 years, I'm surprised most international musicians such as Beyonce and Fall Out Boy aren't collapsing with exhaustion. The relentless calls for energetic performances that musicians endure can be a threat to their health and their creativity, especially when they've got fans screaming for more, and record labels nagging them to make that next thing to stay financially stable.
One of the hardest parts of being a musician is dealing with record labels. Of course, some artists manage to get lucky with the ideal contract that allows them as much creative freedom as desired. But for many, a music contract is highly complex and binding - if you want out of it, you can either wait it out until the end of the contract, or you take it to court.
Record Companies such as EMI and Sony Records may offer more money and financial stability than independent labels like Domino Records, but so many musicians endure the horror of the very controlling, very strict and even abusive major record labels that can completely ruin and distort the artist's 'vision'. I'm sure you've all heard about Kesha's story and the sexual abuse allegations against Sony and Dr. Luke, but stories like these are sadly quite common. Anything can happen to affect the artist's career - the head company could refuse to give you enough money because you didn't quite sell enough albums; having to deal with a narrow-minded producer who can completely alter your original sound, and what's worse? You discover a clause in said contract that you never noticed before, and it means that the company has full control over your music and there's nothing you can do about it because you've already signed it. Is it me, or are musicians just used for commercial opportunities?
Back in the 1970's or 80's, if you weren't musical, i.e. you couldn't write music, play guitar or sing, there was no chance of you being a musician. Nowadays, our radio stations and music playlists are filled with sampled, over-used pop music and so-called "artists" who completely block out the true artists who work really hard for their music. And of course, you can't differentiate which artist is authentic or not. Just listen to Blurred Lines if you want to know.
This is why artists want respect - not just from the general public, but from the people that they work for. I'm not just saying "give them more money", or allow them more creative freedom without structure, but some of these people don't know anything but how to make music - you take that away from them, and they might as well be dead. I know it seems over-dramatic, but I often dream about becoming a musician myself, and feel there's no point in doing that unless things change for the better. The industry right now doesn't look too pretty.
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