Do you want to be a star?

Photo credits: Satine Diamond

Darling,

I wonder if being a Musician means to you being a Star. A music star, a movie star, a Hollywood, Bollywood, Broadway, Opera, Club, Rap, Hip-hop, Electronic, Rock, Metal, Folklore - star or any other example you wish. Being able to sing, and doing it really well - doesn't necessarily make you a star for others. Being able to sing and perform other things such as acting, dancing, etc. - doesn't make you one either. But what does being a star really mean?

The www.freedictionary.com offers the explanation.

    a. An artistic performer or athlete whose leading role or superior performance is acknowledged.
    b. One who is highly celebrated in a field or profession.

So if you are acknowledged or highly celebrated, you are a star. And what if you're not?

What if you are a terribly talented young person who is known only by friends who are completely in love with your skills and always ask you to lead the karaoke or campfire nights? What if you are the soul of every Christmas, because of your unique way of caroling like no other? What if you are part of a really cool band that succeeded in creating some personal songs, maybe a quite exquisite album and have some shows, but not many people know your name?

Often, good musicians are not very famous. They are not what today's business calls a star. They are nor on TV, neither on well-known, glittery and bombastic stages, in clubs or theaters that sell expensive (and they should be!) tickets that allow you to enjoy the show.

If I were to be honest, my true belief is that good musicians nowadays are not a good business. They don't sell. Not shocking at all, right?

Why don't real artists sell?

•     real artists can't be manipulated

•     real artists want their art to be unique, personal, and not "in line" with the "trends"

•     real artists want to have the space and time to think about, choose and implement their own resources and they don't need a lot of "helpers" to do the job for them (as opposed to some other "artists" that need a full-time team of everything-doers that are actually real artists that remain backstage everytime - and obviously, are underpaid)

•     real artists are ingenious, smart, informed, free-thinkers, creative and often a threat to those people who only copy and paste what they see that sells (those ones bring a lot of money though, so real artists are on queue)

•     real artists have integrity, they don't commit for money or for fame (talk about music full of Illuminati messages, nudity, vulgarity, superficial lyrics and common melody,etc)

•      & so many more reasons

Clearly, you already know that the biggest, most impressive painters you read about have been poor or undervalued at their times. Also have the composers, poets, sculptors, and so on. Vincent van Gogh has sold only one painting during his life, even if his entire work of more than 2000 paintings had a lot of success after his death. Edgar Allan Poe has been a starving artist all his life, and Franz Kafka earned his living only because he used to work as an insurance officer. Being a "Starving artist" is actually a concept and I've found quite an article about it here.

Also, wikipedia has a quite big vision upon it too:

    A starving artist is an artist who sacrifices material well-being in order to focus on their artwork. They typically live on minimum expenses, either for a lack of business or because all their disposable income goes toward art projects.

Taking all this into consideration, you might already be quite discouraged. I advise you not to! There are still a lot of real, fair and true opportunities for talented hearts that are in seek of their place in this big world. Myself, I have left the path of trying to be famous. Truth be told, I would rather be the best I can be as an artistic entity, than being famous for a short period of time or life-long famous but not able to keep up with the things that I must do in order to please everyone along the way. No one can tell you what you can or can't do for your own future: you decide for yourself every step of the way, while taking the journey. If you find something that you are not comfortable with, change it ! Step out of it ! Or see where pushing your limits brings you ! Research, try, experiment. It's your life. It's your art.

However, if you decide that fame is what you are looking for, be sure to have all your ingredients prepared for when the moment comes. I'm going to pour myself some fresh coffee and start a new letter for you ASAP. Is that OK?


I'm just around the corner of your voice...
Yours faithfully,
Your music teacher