Music Marketing and Professionalism - Knowing Your Artistic Value
The "Fallacy" of Giving Art / Music Away for Free
Doing art for free too often is a misguided approach. Has this strategy has actually worked for creatives or does it set a low bar for their perceived worth?
The analogy of a restaurant being asked for free food and service in exchange for a review highlights the absurdity of expecting free high-quality work from artists.
Quote: "So why would anyone expect you to give your best away for free?"
Knowing Your Value is Crucial: A central theme across both sources is the necessity for artists to understand and recognize their own worth. The podcast links the lack of success for some talented artists to a "blind spot about 'knowing their value'." It encourages artists to look at peers and those above them to gain perspective on pricing and worth.
Quote: "among the highest seems to be a blind spot about 'knowing their value', that maybe giving away your gold is not the best strategy."
Quote: "Knowing your personal value is critical. Look at other artists in your same experience level, then look upward and beyond your own level."
The Detrimental Impact on Future Earnings: Both sources raise concerns that giving away work for free too often can negatively impact an artist's future earning potential.
The podcast posits that it "sets the bar low for what you will be seen as worth."
The statistical research request directly questions if this practice "demean[s] a good artist and actually cripple[s] their future earnings?"
Quote: "is that a very bad strategy in that it sets the bar low for what you will be seen as worth."
Quote: "does it really work or can it be an effective strategy? It seems on the surface to demean a good artist and actually cripple their future earnings?"
The core argument is that routinely giving away artistic work for free is likely a harmful practice that devalues the artist.
Recognizing and asserting one's personal value is paramount for artistic success and financial sustainability.
The potential for free or comp work to cripple future earnings is a significant concern that requires investigation. We just don't have enough data, so this requires you to know your market well.
Artists should explore strategies for building their presence and reputation that do not rely on giving their work away for free.
