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When I was touring Europe as a classical singer, performing in majestic venues, castles and cathedrals, I experienced the pinnacle of artistic expression and cultural immersion. Singing at esteemed venues like Guildhall in London, the UK House of Commons and The Vatican for the World Changers Summit has been an immense privilege. My rendition of “O Mio Babbino Caro” in 2022 topped the iTunes Classical Charts in under 24 hours.
I’ve opened for Enrique Iglesias and performed alongside Andrea Bocelli in Las Vegas, earning accolades from Renee Fleming herself. Praised as “singing magic” by The Las Vegas Seven magazine and commended by the Las Vegas Review Journal, I achieved the top Classical Artist position in The Netherlands and on ReverbNation globally.
However, my career faced an unexpected halt when I was denied a work visa for an opera tour. This pivotal moment led me to reinvent myself, transitioning into journalism. While this journey taught me the precious skill of resilience, sometimes I think to myself, “Am I still a singer?”
This self-questioning can not only be discouraging, but mentally harmful. We are taught that anyone can be — and make a livable wage as — an artist. Indeed, the quest to earn a livable wage as one is fraught with complexity. Exploring the ways in which we are all still artists, regardless of today’s modern tethers, is crucial for our creative souls to thrive.
The Historical Significance of Art
Art has woven itself into the fabric of human history for thousands of years, serving as a profound expression of culture, emotion and identity. From the cave paintings of Lascaux to the Gregorian chants of medieval churches to the Renaissance’s Mona Lisa, art has chronicled the human experience, transcending time and geography. It has been a tool for communication, a means of protest, a vehicle for spiritual connection and proof of human ingenuity in the face of strife.
Thus, the significance of art lies not only in its aesthetic worth but in its ability to reflect society’s deepest values and beliefs, inspiring and challenging us to see the world through a new lens. However, with the advent of AI and shifts in priorities over centuries, the weight placed on cultivating artistic talent has fallen by the wayside.
With differing regional definitions of a livable wage, understanding this issue globally is a challenge. Nevertheless, various studies provide glimpses into the economic realities that professional artists face:
In the United States, 61% of musicians do not earn enough from their craft to consider it their primary source of income, according to the Music Industry Research Association and Princeton University Survey Research Center. Despite this, only a small fraction achieve a livable wage. Globally, only a small percentage of musicians and artists make a livable wage from their work alone. MixMag reports that “only 0.4% of musicians would be potentially able to make a living solely from streaming.”
Yet inherently, we are still artists.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Addressing the Stereotypical Idiom
Art is not confined to traditional definitions or professions. One could argue that it permeates everyday life in myriad forms. Consider the accountant, who transforms numbers into coherent financial stories and feels their own sense of meditative flow while doing so; or the software developer, whose elaborate code becomes a digital masterpiece. Chefs create culinary art, while teachers nurture young beings into maturity — perhaps the highest form of creative mastery.
Each profession, from project managers to healthcare workers, from data analysts to logistics coordinators, involves a unique blend of creativity, problem-solving and personal expression that begets artistic flow. Artistry is not limited to those who are paid for their creative endeavors.
That response might be conventional — we’ve all heard it before — yet certain parts of the brain light up when artists are “doing their thing,” so the adage does have merit.
Nuances and Subtleties
The nuances and subtleties of being an artist: It’s not always black and white. You’re still an artist even if you don’t practice regularly or get paid for it.
George W. Bush is a portrait painter, but we know him as a politician. That doesn’t mean his lesser-known paintings aren’t artistic expressions for him. Or Gavin Wood: You may not know him, but he’s a computer scientist who has founded one of the biggest blockchain technologies, Polkadot. You may think of him as just a computer scientist; however, he would see himself as an artist, and he sees his passion for blockchain technology as his artistic expression.
Those of us with artistic minds are passionate, and we cannot help ourselves.
I had the honor of interviewing the latter recently. While speaking with Wood, his love for what he does to make the world a better place was palpable, and I could feel his energy through my computer screen. We could follow the usual template and say that his literal daily work is art, yet I am compelled to introduce a more poetic view: By taking something as polarizing as Web3 and making it so captivating, it is as though much of what he thinks and says is the art.
Real-World Applications
This brings us to a fundamental question: How can artists and musicians achieve both financial stability and creative fulfillment in a world that often undervalues their contributions? The answer lies in embracing the duality of stability and creativity.
Ultimately, the pursuit of art, whether as an occupation or diversion, reflects a deeper philosophical balance between realistic security and indulgent imagination. It is a dance between the certainty of a paycheck and the freedom of individual expression, an amalgamation that stimulates personal expansion and fulfillment. Our creative spirits cannot be confined by financial constraints or traditional definitions, and there will always be those of us with the irresistible urge to infuse our world with beauty and meaning.
