There is no perfect artist: What the Tidal wave of criticism says about us.
Via Artist Empathy:
"We live in a society where CEO’s get paid astronomical severance packages when they leave the helms of failing companies that have left their workers without hope of retirement, and we don’t say a word. We live in a society where Spotify is raking in venture capital from investors like Goldman Sachs and not yet turning a profit, and we don’t dare tell them their offices are too shiny. We also live in a society where most artists and musicians are expected to give away their work even as they struggle to feed their families. We pass the hat for them every now and then, maybe if they’re dying and if their work has had a certain measure of critical acclaim. But if they ever reach an arbitrary level of success we reason we should stop paying them - because they have enough.
"So which is it? Should musicians and other artists be a part of our capitalistic society and be allowed to stand up to corporations to fight for their true economic value in the marketplace? Or should we continue to police artists as if they were charities doing a good deed, and decide just who deserves our financial support and who should live in poverty while we enjoy their work in relative comfort?"
"We live in a society where CEO’s get paid astronomical severance packages when they leave the helms of failing companies that have left their workers without hope of retirement, and we don’t say a word. We live in a society where Spotify is raking in venture capital from investors like Goldman Sachs and not yet turning a profit, and we don’t dare tell them their offices are too shiny. We also live in a society where most artists and musicians are expected to give away their work even as they struggle to feed their families. We pass the hat for them every now and then, maybe if they’re dying and if their work has had a certain measure of critical acclaim. But if they ever reach an arbitrary level of success we reason we should stop paying them - because they have enough.
"So which is it? Should musicians and other artists be a part of our capitalistic society and be allowed to stand up to corporations to fight for their true economic value in the marketplace? Or should we continue to police artists as if they were charities doing a good deed, and decide just who deserves our financial support and who should live in poverty while we enjoy their work in relative comfort?"