In the current business culture, all creatives are struggling with the devaluation of their work. Although I primarily work with visual artists, I have been lucky enough to be involved with the Content Creators Coalition which has exposed me to the struggles of people working in music as well. Last Sunday, here in San Diego, the 3C had a fundraiser concert where they played the trailer for the unfinished movie Unsound. I met the filmmaker, Count Eldridge, as well (although we had talked several times on the phone before this), and to say he’s passionate about this issue would be understating it a bit.
As a firm believer in the rising tide floats all boats theory, I’d like to encourage all of you to share the link to the film and promote it. Musicians’ issues are very much like your issues. Also, if you can, donate something to get the film finished. Count has spent years of his time on this project and now needs to raise the funding to finish the editing. Every bit helps and there is a link on that site to contribute.
Finally, think about your own use and acquisition of music. Yes, tools like Spotify and Pandora are cheap and convenient, but they aren’t paying the artists anything close to a fair rate. How can you expect to be paid a fair rate for your creative work if you don’t buy music in forms that are best for those artists?