this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024
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I totally get where you're coming from, have done the DIY production thing, etc. And with full respect to the piece of art you put your soul into, I have to ask, was it a commercial success? As in, paying the bills at home? Because in my experience, you do end up having to invest those kinds of sums if you want to make a return at that level. I hate how music is commerce, trust me. But that's just what I've seen so far.
No it was not what many would consider a commercial success. My music is a bit niche, but it was a success in its own right. We had label support (non-financial, basically just printed CDs) for our debut release and more than recouped the cost and if we followed up with releases it likely would have had potential to snowball by re-investing the money into the band. We only released digital and CD digipaks of the album, no merch no extra anything and that gave us more than enough for a second release and then some. I just have no use for the music "industry" as it were. Music is not a means to an end for me, its an outlet and I do it on my terms. I don't jive with the industrialization of art in general and I certainly don't want to whittle my relationship with music down to how much money it can make for me. I get it if people wanna commoditize it though. That angle is just not for me.
Indie artists by and large self produce and a metric ton of them do so to an incredibly high caliber. Big tech Spotify man is not wrong, he's just an asshole. A leech, if you will.
I appreciate you taking my question in the spirit it was meant, and the thoughtful response.
I guess what rubbed me the wrong way about CEO Douchebag's comment was that it discounts just how relatively enormous of an expense production can be for the small artists trying to make a living. I've spent some time in the music industry and it has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The necessary evil of commerce intersecting with art is a big reason for that, especially coming to the realization of just how necessary that evil is.
But yes I agree, it is definitely possible to create excellent art of high technical quality from home.