Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Creative Works And Human Nature
Author: Patrick Connors Posted: 8/25/2000; 9:40:11 PM Topic: Creative Works And Human Nature Msg #: 20300 Prev/Next: 20299 / 20301
I am, by trade, a programmer. I've written games, designed databases, ported software, and installed handheld computers in the midst of ice storms.But I'm also a musician, songwriter, and artist. And as such I've spent the last couple of years looking for a way in which I can make art and have money appear in my bank account. The current systems all depend on a distribution system that is beginning to fade away, albeit far too slowly for we the technological elite. That distribution system, of course, depends on selling pieces of plastic (cd's, tapes) which are easy (though expensive and cumbersome) to count and control. Scarcity economics.
We're moving - slowly, painfully - towards the ideal: a system under which artists can do what they love - create (whatever: music, poetry, databases, paintings) - have the products of their labor distributed relatively easily (for the artist is as often as not a horribly bad businessman), and be paid for their efforts according to... Well, what? A complex formula, here - their time, materials used, popularity of the work, probably some other items. But they'd get paid. If the artist wants to give something away, so be it.
The point here is to improve on the current system, in which the financial gamble is too great and the real potential rewards are either too large or too small.
There is a debate going on elsewhere in this discussion group about "what is open-source?". That debate was open to programmers only, which made sense. But the questions I want answered - the problems I want to solve - are much bigger than the programming community.
Here's the problem:
- It's human nature to want as much as possible for as little as possible. In fact, it's animal nature.
- It's human nature to create. Everybody creates something in their life, but few devote their lives to creation.
- It's human nature to appreciate the creations of others.
- It's human nature to be self-centered, and not fully appreciate what others do, how they do it, and how much of what resources (skill, practice, raw materials) a task requires
- It's a fact of the way we humans have organized ourselves, that creation is sometimes expensive.
Putting those four facts together gives us today's world, in which:
- Artists work hard to create their works. 120 hours or more of rehearsal for a two-hour play. Two hours work recording a three-minute song, then two days mixing the recording to get it just right. A year to create a two-hour videogame.
- Their works are appreciated by people, who see the final product but not the work behind it.
- The audience goes for the cheapest price, (zero if at all possible) not completely comprehending the work behind the scenes.
- Distribution systems exist for distributing artistic product. These systems use profits from so-called "hits" to finance the losses from the art that doesn't make enough money to sustain the (very high) cost of making and distributing (and taking back and writing off) all of those pieces of plastic.
Bypassing that distribution system is getting easier all the time, despite that system's struggles to stay alive. So let's jump forward in time, to a point where the distribution system as we know it today is nearly gone. (It'll never completely die, but it will change). We're all connected, music and software flow freely over these connections. You with me so far?
Now: with what we know about human nature, the music and software will flow, but the money almost won't. Because people want something for nothing. I'm a person and deep in my little animal soul I want something for nothing. The cost of music and software recordings will plummet. The notion of paying for art for any purpose other than convenience will all but vanish.
So how does the creative person keep on being creative in today's world?
As a creative person, here's what I do, as well as others' solutions:
- Sell my time - This is, for programmers, the 9-to-5 job. But it's also the world of the rock concert, the motivational speaker, the consultant, the movie star. Sell your time, and bid it up as high as it will go.
Advantages: When you're good, there's a lot of money out there.
Disadvantages: Takes relatively strong business and promotional skills, which can be somewhat alien to the creative person. In a creative profession involving personal contact, lots of travel. (Ever notice how one of the top 10 pop song topics is "how tough life on the road can be"?)- Subscriptions - This is the annual support contract. It's Sports Illustrated. It's those $500/year industry newsletters. It's cable TV. Jerry Pournelle does this - it kept the Chaos Manor website going between the fall of Byte and its online resurrection. Frontier is sold by subscription: sign up for a year. Steven King is trying it on a pay-as-you-go model.
Advantages: Easy to automate; if there are enough subscriptions nobody pays much.
Disadvantages: Favors some creative endeavors over others; adding perceived value to a subscription can be tough (getting over the "Why pay for this?" barrier) in some art forms.These work for me and others. But I want to get to that other system where I'm just paid fairly. The technological hurdles exist and will be solved, but I want to hear about the social issues in this topic: What's really fair, and how do you change the hearts and minds of a billion people? And how do you make it painless for those billion people to support creative folks?
There are responses to this message:
- Taxpayer Support, Seth Gordon, 8/28/2000; 8:26:27 AM
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