Music is a human force that goes beyond humans' #power.
It is a universal #language that transcends all languages and remains mysterious at points too.
It is inexplicable yet so natural - it is an extension of the brains that moves the entire system inside out to extents that are ritualistic and beyond the self. It stems from the physical and transitions to the abstract emotional state of being.
When a phenomenon is described like that, one can but think that those who create music are exceptional humans.
By exceptional, I mean gifted, and by gifted I mean powerful through their talent.
Such exceptional, talented and powerful individuals must be so wealthy one would also think.
Upon any encounter, when asked what they do, musicians get two out of three common reactions, one of which is a constant and the second varies upon people's general knowledge of the music industry.
The first reaction is almost always being astonishingly impressed - the oh, waw, that's amazing, I wish I can sing, I wish can play music, I wish I can be on stage in front of an audience, and so on. And the second reaction is either being so certain that said musician makes tons of money, having a blast performing - the wow, so jealous, you must be making a lot of money doing what you love - or being sympathetic to the fact that being a musician does not always pay the bills as should be (and sometimes being a little judgmental and looking down on those who choose to do so) - the "but" that always follows - but how can you afford a decent living, is it really a way of living, how can you manage your expenses...
Truth is musicians are often underpaid - this is clearly not about A-listed #celebrities or those who have "sold their soul to the devil" playing #music they don't even like just to make the bigger numbers and fit a certain status quo and worst of all, those who don't even do it that good.
This is about real talented performers who struggle every day with the biggest #misconception about live #entertainment and that is the belief that those who create one of the most powerful forces in #existence should not be paid an actual decent #salary that can actually provide a lucrative #lifestyle and not just make ends meet marginally.
The scenario we are examining here is the music #dilemma. The blessing of being talented and the curse of not being able to live off of your talent, in an industry that makes so much profit to feed an entire village of #musicians. In fact, what is even more atrocious is how musicians are faced with situations where they would have to pay instead of being paid.
At the heart of this dilemma is a system made out of a vicious cycle where both musicians and any other relevant party involved are responsible for the cons and downside of this whole mechanism.
Another #controversy is the following question: is there really a monetary #value to music?
While there's a price for everything, music as an intellectual property is being valued upon its physical rendition through musicians performing. Well that sounds great, too bad most performers have to work, at least, another irrelevant full time job to survive, which completely takes away from their ability to focus on what they were clearly meant to be doing full time. If that's not atrocious enough... I don't know what is.
It is a shame that hundreds upon thousands upon more find themselves being oppressed because of their choices as artists; a category of people often shunned and looked down upon when it comes to the #payroll while praised and so elevated when it comes to the talent. Why isn't there a balance? Why aren't these two values compatible? Why is it okay to think that musicians can play your events for free?
The psychological underlying structure behind this includes a lot of factors and those we shall explore in "Music Dilemma II".