One reason for this is
that we've gotten used to the weird idea that art is and should be
available for free. YouTube, Spotify, Facebook – why would you pay
for a new song when there are at least three ways to listen to it for
free? Same with films, articles and blogs – same with pretty much
anything that can be distributed online.
In a way it's great that
it's like this – even people with very low budgets can enjoy the
finest and most diverse selection of art that has ever existed. But
what will happen to our culturally-rich world if the average person
continues to spend more money at Burger King and Primark than in record and book
shops?
Another reason why so many
artists are poor is that the profits are incredibly badly
distributed. It's the same as anywhere else in the economic world: A
few take most pieces of the cake and leave the many to fight over
whatever is left. Netflix, Spotify and some big publishing houses get
rich, while the vast majority of independent artists struggle to
survive. And even those who 'make it', well, ask a musician how much
he gets for the thousands of clicks his songs get on Spotify. Ask a
filmmaker whether films on YouTube cover her expenses of time and
money. Or ask me how much I earn per book. I'll tell you: per sold
copy, I get between 16 and 84 cents. Minus taxes, social security,
traveling costs, work equipment, etc. Means you gotta sell a lot of
books to make ends meet... Here's a few more numbers: 90% of all
published books are sold between 1000 and 5000 times. If you wrote a
book every 3-4 weeks, it would be okay. But how many people do you
know who write 12 books per year?
Most artists do what
they do because they want to. For me it's the same: I write blogs and
books because I enjoy it and because it helps me deal with this
bizarre world; I make films because it's great fun and because I
learn a lot; and I make the mix tapes because I love to listen to
them myself. If everyone around me died and I were the last person on
Earth, I'd probably write a book about it, or I'd do a special doom
mix called The empty world.
However, artists also pay
rent. Most don't own three villas.
Getting to the point of
this little rant: Recently I’ve been thinking about how I could
generate some additional income with my creative activities, and a
very simple answer came to mind: to ask for it! Because that's
something else many artists have in common: we are shit at asking for
money. A defect that seems to come with the job. It was time to fix
it, so:
I made a website (you're
already on it) where all my creative work is displayed in one place –
the monthly blog, books, films and mix tapes. If you enjoy some of
the stuff I do, and feel like supporting an independent artist
financially – helping to pay for paper, some new songs, a better
microphone for the next film or, if you're feeling extra generous, a
two week holiday in Jamaica – there's a donation button at the
bottom of the homepage. Anything is appreciated. Thank you!
What else? In 2019 two
(possibly even three) of my books will be published in English, plus
a new one in German; there will be twelve new blog entries with my
reflections on changing times, and at least a handful of new mixes to
sweeten your days. A new full-feature documentary is planned for
2020. Not sure where to fit in that Jamaica vacation, but I'll swing
it one way or the other.
PS: My 15-year-old
daughter told me she discovered Bob Marley last week. I bet she'd
love to join me on that trip...
"I think people have
been obsessed with the wrong question, which is 'how do we MAKE
people pay for art?' What if we started asking, 'how do we LET people
pay for art?'" (Amanda Palmer)
