mirrorman2
Member
- Mar 22, 2025
- 6
hi c:
this post is a discussion about the option of suicide as it relates to being a musician or work in the music industry in a creative capacity. this is my area of interest and effort, so i feel as though i have more to say on this topic than other areas of art.
i am a jazz/rock/pop performer in the US so this relates mostly to that area of music. this pertains mostly to the performance arts, but obviously includes recording artists as well. the classical music scene seems too much a different world for me to be comfortable enough to speak on it objectively, although i would be shocked if it is anyway meaningfully different to what i will describe.
the number one predictor of success in music, i.e being able to make a living in the industry or make music one's occupation, is networking and sociability. this is evident from university bands of classmates to those who studied at music school who would go on to form successful acts, to artist communes popping up in large cities like NYC, to simply being a (and this is a often repeated phrase in the music world) "good hang". ones ability to make fast friends easily and connect with strangers is incredibly important to building up a resume and getting real performance experience. in todays world of social media and personality-driven music, it is simply impossible to find any kind of success without equal measures of musical virtuosity with effortless charisma -- it is perhaps arguable that personality and also physical beauty plays an even greater predictor of success than musical ability alone.
your personality and your physicality is as much a part of your portfolio as a musician as your musical technique and performance skills. this becomes incredibly obvious once one begins to analyze the obsession humanity inherently has about youth and beauty in the industry- just look at any of the largest pop stars of the last 50 years. physical beauty sells. obviously. this is a consequence of the studio system and how capitalism has dictated where value is in music and how that value is advertised back to us. beyond an overthrowing of capitalism, the dominance of physical beauty in art will remain paramount.
if one lacks the prior skills/attributes described, the path towards self-sufficiency in the industry and the ability to sustain oneself even at poverty-levels rapidly approaches zero. the sad irony, however, is that the unquenchable burning desire to have music be the center of ones existence (as most musicians have) still remains despite the complete unfeasibility due to the material and social conditions of the industry. the almost laughable inherent desire to be heard remains. this manifests itself as a nagging, yet almost sorrowful protest from ones creative side. it will attempt to romanticize ones suffering into a narrative of redemption; "if i only put this out, then people will get it" or "why haven't we had success yet?" or further condemnations of ones art. and the cruel irony is that even in the most ideal of successes in the rock music world, this inherent questioning of ones artistry remains. there are no good endings in this.
the answer to this is suicide. if one does not have the social skills required of a successful musician, or the unchangeable physical aspects that is required for even minimal studio attention, then these narratives of the struggling artist remain and strip every part of an enjoyable life back until there is nothing but regrets.
musicianship is a curse.
fanks for readin c:
this post is a discussion about the option of suicide as it relates to being a musician or work in the music industry in a creative capacity. this is my area of interest and effort, so i feel as though i have more to say on this topic than other areas of art.
i am a jazz/rock/pop performer in the US so this relates mostly to that area of music. this pertains mostly to the performance arts, but obviously includes recording artists as well. the classical music scene seems too much a different world for me to be comfortable enough to speak on it objectively, although i would be shocked if it is anyway meaningfully different to what i will describe.
the number one predictor of success in music, i.e being able to make a living in the industry or make music one's occupation, is networking and sociability. this is evident from university bands of classmates to those who studied at music school who would go on to form successful acts, to artist communes popping up in large cities like NYC, to simply being a (and this is a often repeated phrase in the music world) "good hang". ones ability to make fast friends easily and connect with strangers is incredibly important to building up a resume and getting real performance experience. in todays world of social media and personality-driven music, it is simply impossible to find any kind of success without equal measures of musical virtuosity with effortless charisma -- it is perhaps arguable that personality and also physical beauty plays an even greater predictor of success than musical ability alone.
your personality and your physicality is as much a part of your portfolio as a musician as your musical technique and performance skills. this becomes incredibly obvious once one begins to analyze the obsession humanity inherently has about youth and beauty in the industry- just look at any of the largest pop stars of the last 50 years. physical beauty sells. obviously. this is a consequence of the studio system and how capitalism has dictated where value is in music and how that value is advertised back to us. beyond an overthrowing of capitalism, the dominance of physical beauty in art will remain paramount.
if one lacks the prior skills/attributes described, the path towards self-sufficiency in the industry and the ability to sustain oneself even at poverty-levels rapidly approaches zero. the sad irony, however, is that the unquenchable burning desire to have music be the center of ones existence (as most musicians have) still remains despite the complete unfeasibility due to the material and social conditions of the industry. the almost laughable inherent desire to be heard remains. this manifests itself as a nagging, yet almost sorrowful protest from ones creative side. it will attempt to romanticize ones suffering into a narrative of redemption; "if i only put this out, then people will get it" or "why haven't we had success yet?" or further condemnations of ones art. and the cruel irony is that even in the most ideal of successes in the rock music world, this inherent questioning of ones artistry remains. there are no good endings in this.
the answer to this is suicide. if one does not have the social skills required of a successful musician, or the unchangeable physical aspects that is required for even minimal studio attention, then these narratives of the struggling artist remain and strip every part of an enjoyable life back until there is nothing but regrets.
musicianship is a curse.
fanks for readin c:
