How To Make Creativity Pay in the 21st Centuryđ€
Plus, get a FREE copy of my new short fiction for Kindle!
Apologies for my absence last week but I was finishing my latest fiction entitled âAnalog Boyâ which is finally out and FREE for the next 48 hours! Hereâs the pitch:
As middle-aged advertising executive Nigel becomes disillusioned with his work he develops an obsession with Gen Z YouTuber Analog Boy who appears to be living the "off-grid" life he dreams of. However, when Nigel tries to track him down he discovers all is not as it appears and has to ask; is this the real life or is this just advertising?
Itâs a short(ish) story, about a half-hour read, and is only semi-auto biographical! Please download now, FREE, from your nearest Kindle store and let me know what you think:
A Strange Coincidence
As fate would have it, on the very day I published my story this week I was contacted by an agency owner whom I knew by reputation but not in person. He contacted me through LinkedIn asking for a chat because he was feeling stuck in his career and his agency. He was shocked when I responded immediately but I get these requests about once a quarter and I know how it feels to be in that position, timeliness is important.
We talked on the phone and he shared his concerns that creativity has become commoditised, standards have dropped and AI is coming to hoover up its remains. Essentially, he said, clients have stopped caring about making things good when they can make them quick and cheap instead.
I know how he feels, when clients and indeed broader society stops valuing original creativity - by not buying music or going to the cinema, by slashing marketing budgets and pushing down prices - it can seriously damage your self worth. The talent you have honed all your life suddenly seems valueless. Well, Iâm here to tell you that is NOT true, but the way you create and deliver value using your talent has likely changed and you must change with it. How? Here are some thoughts based on my journey from frustrated agency owner to contented creator.
Making Money From Creativity in the 21st Century
First, if you enjoy being creative and donât need to make a living from it, donât. Invest in your hobby for the sheer love of doing it, like I do with fiction writing. Would I like to get published and paid for it? Of course I bloody would! But I donât need to, itâs not something Iâm aiming at and Iâm not fussed if it never happens. It makes me happy to have produced a few things, under my own steam, with no brief or deadline that are an unadulterated expression of my imagination.
However, if creativity is your career, ask yourself, did you base it on a 20th Century ideal? My brother is a professional guitarist. He grew up on 80âs hair metal, listening to Guns nâ Roses, Van Halen, Mötley CrĂŒe, Skid Row, et al. However, by the time he came of age not only was that genre dead, the whole of rock was dead and the music industry on life support. He practiced for hours every day from childhood, he competed and won a scholarship to a music academy, his only option is to be a guitarist. But he had to put away his rockstar dream, based on a 20th Century model, and look at how he could create value with his talent in the 21st Century. Now, he tours and sessions for pop acts, function bands and tribute acts. He taught himself production and composes and produces for TV shows and video games. And he teaches at schools and in his private studio. He has monetised his talent in multiple ways that are valuable to the world as it is not as it was and he still gets paid to play guitar for a living. (You can hear a bit of his story in his independent album launch video from 2016, below).
If you are writer, designer, musician, filmmaker you probably started off inspired by the likes of Earnest Hemingway or Vaughan Oliver, The Beatles or Martin Scorsese. But remember, they are legends because they broke the mold, not because they replicated it. Hemingway wrote in a minimalist style that was completely at odds with the florid prose of his Victorian forbears. Vaughan Oliver refused to put artists on his record sleeves like everyone else but tried to visualise the music instead. The Beatles insisted on singing their own songs, which was simply not how things were done at the time. And Scorsese, who adored old Hollywood, went against the grain by shooting the grit of Mean Streets instead of the glamour of Sunset Boulevard.
However, these are artists, they sell their vision rather than their skills, which is a decision you need to make too. Are you an artist or a creative? A creative is hired for their ability to apply their skills to their clientâs brief. An artist follows their own brief and hopes someone buys their particular vision of a story, poem, painting or song. The former will give you a career, the latter will give you a legacy - but last time I checked, my mortgage provider doesnât accept legacies!
There is a hybrid model wherein artists, famed for a specific look and feel, can be hired to replicate this in the service of a client. For instance, I directed a series of videos featuring Singaporean street artists (below), who were hired by Canon Pixma to create sticker packs in their own style to the loosest of briefs. This is one of the models to explore, creating a style that is so unique to you that clients and collectors can only come to you to get it. But the personalities of the artists also added value to their work, which is why they too appear in the campaign.
What About AI?
Obviously the biggest challenge to the 20th Century model of creative employment is AI and thereâs really two ways to tackle it.
Incorporate it into your workflow as way to amplify your work rather than originate it.
For instance, last year I produced a podcast called âThe Business of Storytellingâ in which I interview professional storytellers. It was conceived, researched, shot and hosted by humans but I used Opus.ai to turn it into the hundreds of social media clips that I need to promote it but hate having to produce.
I employed a human editor to cut the main show because I needed a person who could understand the topic, the rhythm of the conversation and the nuances of the facial expressions, but once heâd done that it was actually beneath his skills to slice and dice it into TikTok-sized pieces. If heâd been a bit more canny though, he could have offered to put it through Opus for me, selected the best clips, tweaked them for the best outcome. I couldnât pay him a full editing fee for that, but it would have been a really easy upsell to his service.
Be visible as the creator behind the content.
Calm down, this doesnât mean become an influencer. I find that clients want to work with me partly because of what I do but also because of who I am. I always volunteer to meet them in person and I make it my mission to ensure that they look forward to that meeting because it should be the most fun one they have all week. Letâs get coffee, cake, cocktails! Let me come with stories, insights, ideas for you based on my studied understanding of your role, your challenges and your company. Let me give more than I take so that every interaction with me has value above and beyond the specific deliverables. In this way you make your irreplicable self at least as valuable to them as your work.
Finally, you need to diversify. Itâs difficult for anyone to make 100% of their income as a writer, designer, musician or filmmaker these days. So, how many ways you can you put your talent/s to work? I was originally trained as an actor and journalist so I write, I speak, I produce podcasts and videos, I teach other other people how to write and speak and produce podcasts and videos. I continue to act, even though there is limited roles for a middle-aged white guy in Singapore. I built and sold an agency, so I help others do the same in a consulting capacity. No two days in my work look the same which, as a creative person, is actually the most fulfilling part of my job/s.
Okay, I appreciate this was a bit of a worky post but it was on my mind and I thought that some of you might find it useful. But itâs Sunday so stop thinking about work and unwind with these recommendations.
Recommendations for Relaxation
I hate to say it, having railed against endless sequels lately, but I did really enjoy âBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceâ for a nostalgic shot in the arm packed with Easter Eggs, a decent story and the return of the winsome Winona Ryder.
The BBC has released a follow up to series one of âThe Coming Stormâ, a podcast that unpicked the bizarre âPizzagateâ conspiracy about an alleged satanic paedophile ring run by the Democrats from a pizza parlour in Washington DC. Series two goes deeper into Americaâs underbelly to talk to the people who are preparing for civil war - fascinating stuff from the strangest country on Earth!
Jon Hopkins is a keyboard player and composer who has collaborated with ambient icons such as Brian Eno and David Holmes. His new album âRitualsâ is described as âa 41-minute electronic symphony built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplayâ and is best listened in a cool room with eyes closed.
Baybeats, my favourite festival of the year, has finally released its lineup of local and regional bands - never heard of them? Doesnât matter, come anyway, the quality is always amazing and the vibe unlike anything else in Singapore. Iâm confirmed for Caracal and B-Quartet but will be on the hunt for my new favourite band across the whole weekend.
Thatâll do ya! Have a good one, Nx
Love the distinctions between creatives & artists and between careers & legacies. Room for thought!