Artists Need To Eat Too
“It's like people only do things because they get paid. And that's just really sad”
- Garth Algar (Wayne’s World)
Artists Don’t Make Art For Money
Artists are expected to give away their art for free. If you are charging for your art, others will look at you as a fake artist. They say
“Real Artists don’t make art for money”
“You’re a sell out”
“You’re not an artist unless you starve and die penniless”
That last one may have been too graphic.
Businesses use this narrative to get free art for their own Marketing. A business by design is to make profit so why would they want to spend more money on our art when we give it away for free?
When Your Art Has Value
As artists, we sometimes believe our creations don’t hold any value. It’s ok to want to make art even though we are not getting paid to do it. We make art for the love of making it. It’s our way of expressing ourselves. But the minute someone wants to use your art for their business or their personal use, then your art has become a commodity. When there is a demand, you supply it but it comes at a cost for your time. You’re art has value.
Artist By Trade
There is no one size fits all solution to getting paid for your art, but from my experience (failures), here is what I’ve learned to get paid for my art. I should preface this by saying I’m a Music Composer by Trade, meaning I trade my compositions for money, exposure or anything I find of value.
I am an Artist that will always make music for myself but I know the difference between my artist side and my artist by trade side.
What’s In It For Them?
If someone is asking to use your art for something whether it be a song in their short film to displaying your painting in their home, it is your right to know how much they are willing to pay for your art. When I’ve told people what it would cost to use my music, they sometimes come back with “I can find the exact same thing for free” or “I know somebody cheaper.”
So what’s in it for them?
Most directors I’ve worked with early in their career are not just making short films for the art of making them. They are adding to their portfolio to get bigger films with bigger budgets.
Businesses don’t market products because they want to show off the cool branding. They want profits and your art is an expense to them. The less expenses, the more profits.
Know Your Worth
Now you may be thinking, "There is tons of art out there and everyone is giving it away for free, I should just take what I can get and move on”. You’re free to do whatever you want but I would be cautious on this mentality. Yes, the market is over saturated. Everyone wants to be a successful artist. It’s cheaper than ever to make and distribute music and would expect it is somewhat the same for other artistic mediums.
But you have to remember that people who ask for your art for free or cheap and get it, will keep coming back to you for more free/cheap art because that’s how they value you. They won’t suddenly start paying you more. You’re known as the cheap person and they will tell their network of people that you’re cheap.
I’ve experienced this early in my career and when I asked for more money the next time, it usually burned that bridge (which is fine). Now when someone doesn’t want to pay me what I’m worth, I respectfully decline their offer and wish them well. Sometimes those people come back and will pay what your worth but if they don’t come back, good riddance. You don’t need that negativity in your life! ;)
If you just really likes someone’s art, at least offer to pay for it and not ask for it for free.
Do I go to a restaurant and ask that my meal should be free because Chefs are artists with food?
Get Paid (Get Trade)
I’m an artist by trade. I mainly trade my art for money when the client finds value. I work with people who know my worth and will come up with the money to pay me. Sounds like the way it should be and a “one size fits all” solution but it’s anything but. While it’s nice to trade art for money, there are many cases where you trade art for other things.
Early in my career as a film composer, I allowed filmmakers to use my music for free. What I was trading for was the exposure of my music tied to their great work and a start of a great working relationship. I’ve heard every sob story from directors not having enough budget for music and that they’ll pay me next time. It’s inevitable to hear them but what I want to know is if their work is good. If the film is really good, I would be willing to trade the use of my art in their film for the exposure and the relationship with a great director.
Though I may not be getting paid upfront for the use of my music, usually the filmmaker moves on to bigger and better projects because they’re talented and I get to move up with them since they reach out to me again to score their next project. My network knows my worth.
If they do have a small budget but the work is really good, I offer a non-exclusive license to use my music for a smaller fee yet I can continue to license that song for other projects. Ownership of your work is very powerful so think about if it’s worth selling your work outright vs. licensing it.
I’ve worked on projects where the song needs an exclusive license or they want to buy the copyright to the song. That’s fine, but it comes at a much higher price because of it’s value. I’ll still make music for me but if it is valuable to another, I’ll figure out a price to where I’m comfortable of letting it go. I also keep in mind that there are songs that I would never give up because I love them so much.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, we all have bills to pay and we need to eat. We may not be able to completely support ourselves as full time artists but that doesn’t mean our art can’t bring value to others. I myself work on my art part-time and hold a full time 60 hour / week job.
I’ll make art until my last breath because that is what I dedicated my life to but that doesn’t mean people should expect that it’s free. I get that the “Starving Artist” is a narrative everyone loves but I don’t think the actual starving artist loves it very much.
Artists Need to eat too!
If you have any questions or comments, please leave one below
