Control

Artists of all stripes are control freaks. That is not an insult—it is a simple statement of fact. Anyone with a desire to create does so because they want to control…something. Their environment. Their past. Their pain. Their joy. Their space. Their right to be who they are. Something.

So I find it super odd that so many creatives don’t take control of their businesses. 

You spend all this effort and take all these risks to create. Why aren’t more of you doing whatever you can to protect what you create and to make a living from your creations? 

An artist will fight for their vision—making something because they simply want to create, must create, and they must do it the way they envision it, and they do without apology for that vision. 

But then they will apologize for asking for money for that creation or for the rights to reproduce that creation. Or buy into the story sold to them by those who do not, cannot create: getting paid to make art is a defilement of, an anathema to Art. 

Until humans get to the Star Trek future where money doesn’t exist, the rich will always try to exploit the poor, especially the artists, by selling them ideas like that, or that an artist is lucky to get exposure.

It is bullshit. 

You have every right (and need) to make money. What you do is of great value—that is why the rich spend millions, if not billions, trying to invent artificial ways to do what you do (think AI). They can’t do it. Not yet and, in my opinion, not ever. Art cannot be created by inorganic things, ever; a thing might “create” something—but it will be soulless, for sure. Art is not art if it has not soul. 

So, you have this amazing and valuable ability—control the business side of that and you can make your life’s necessary money, or even more. So start doing that, please.

Some of the things you can do are: registering your copyrights, having good licensing language, saying “no” to bad deals, pursuing infringers, and protecting your personal assets by creating an entity for your business (LLC, S-corp). Other things are working with someone like me when you need help in those areas (and other legal stuff) and working with a CPA to help get a handle on your taxes and finances. Yes, you may have to spend some money for some of that help, but it is more like a very safe investment than an expense: it has a very strong likelihood to pay off in the long run.