With My Music & Words, It’s Always Been About Freedom
People love to tell me my way won’t work, at first. If they stay long enough to listen, they realize my way is more than a business plan. It’s a philosophical revolution.
Ah, January. The start of a new year. And the time my inbox is filled with people who have new courses to sell me on “how to make it in the music industry.” Now, there are some that can offer wisdom. But those guys gear their material towards independent artists (like myself) in a realistic way (Ari Herstand). They teach you how to be an entrepreneur because at this point, they know you’ve got the whole artist thing down. But there are plenty of others, who may have the best of intentions, who hold the prospect of multi-million dollar sync deals over my head and meetings with key music industry executives. All I have to do is take their course and they’ll tell me how to get past the gatekeepers…
Boom, there’s that word that sends red flags waving in my head.
Gatekeepers.
Politics is full of them, and the mainstream music industry, much like D.C. itself, has its fair share of heavy-hitters you can’t get past unless you play their game. And I’ve got news for you, it ain’t a fair game.
In the words of legendary comedian George Carlin, “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.”
I write about music, A LOT, for various publications both internationally known and independently run, and one thing I unexpectedly discovered during my research is how unhappy and unhealthy so many musicians are, from household names to underground sensations. They are miserable, hooked on drugs, in and out of rehab, constantly going through divorces, estranged from their children… They’ve given up their autonomy to a label and they admit it in interviews, autobiographies, and tell-alls on their Instagram stories.
Why would I sanction this and sign over my life to a “gatekeeper” for a little fame?
I don’t chase fortune, I chase freedom. Forever and always.
While there are exceptions to this rule in different genres, like country music in the 1990s, the industry of today is totally different from the music industry of yesterday.
For one, they are operating in a totally different market because it took them about a decade too long to admit that people were going to stop buying CDs. I even did a paper on this in college, Music Like Water, after reading The Future of Music by David Kusek, and it fell on deaf ears.
I explain the economics behind this evolution in my article for Foundation for Economic Education here.
Another reason why the industry is totally different is because much like the rest of mainstream society, from sports to investing (ESGs anybody?), the political realm has broken in like a welcomed cancer and has swallowed up any individuality and rebelliousness that was left in music.
This is poignantly obvious by the recent announcement that celebrities like Pink and Michael Phelps are partnering with Pfizer and becoming brand ambassadors for them in order to push shots and whatever else the big pharma company wants them to.
With the lovefest that goes on between trendy politicians and big name celebrities like Taylor Swift, you have to laugh and sometimes wonder at all the absurdity. Is Hollywood really just one big C.I.A. op? (I’m only half-joking)
People are often surprised when they hear me perform or listen to my recordings, saying: You’re so good. Why don’t you have a bigger following? You need to move where someone will “discover” you.
Because of countless hours, years, blood, sweat, and tears, yes, I’m good. Yes, my group’s recordings are good. But the simple fact is this, I don’t do politics. I don’t do submission or obedience. And I have ZERO desire to be a part of mainstream pop culture.
Mama didn’t raise no fool.
To be a Rebecca Day and The Crazy Daysies fan means you are in an exclusive club made up of individuals like myself who run opposite of the masses, not towards them.
I make music encouraging listeners to set out on their own paths, think for themselves, and never give in, never, ever give in, to the powers that be no matter how hard it gets. If I then try to go out and get a huge record deal or shmooze it up with the the industry’s “finest,” that wouldn’t be authentic at all. That would actually be taking a page right out of mainstream entertainment’s played out playbook.
There are myriad ways I can reach consumers, connect with supporters, and be a successful musician, without giving in to the draconian nature of the mainstream industry. One of my heroes, economist Ludwig von Mises, once said, “Do not give into evil, but proceed ever more boldly against it.”
And believe me, the music industry is full of tyrannically evil behavior.
I won’t be a household name. I won’t sell out Madison Square Garden. I won’t headline an international tour and find myself playing to a sold out crowd in Japan.
My way is harder. It’s made harder by others on purpose. But I’ve always enjoyed a good fight. And that’s what I have to do everyday as a business owner. Being an entrepreneur in today’s world feels like you’re living the plot of Atlas Shrugged in real time. I’m Hank Rearden. I’m Dagny Taggert. I’m Howard Roark.
James Taggert and Ellsworth Toohey be damned.
If you don’t know who these characters are, I highly recommend Ayn Rand’s books. If the softies haven’t stopped reading this article by now, my mention of Rand sure has sent them running.
No, I’m not famous. The majority of people don’t know me by name.
But I do know many of my supporters by name. They don’t just become listeners, they become allies. We get to know one another. We have conversations in between my sets and on social media about history, philosophy, economics, and how insane society is.
When a venue wants to book me they book me. So many times, when I answer the phone, they are shocked and say, “Wow, the actual artist. Generally, I have to talk to a voicemail before I ever talk to a real person.”
Because I own everything, my music, my books, the risk, my name, I run my life, not some executive who’s going to put me in a dress and tell me to shut up and sing. I know that sounds dramatic, but that’s literally what industry people told me would happen in so many words if I took the traditional route with my career.
Ask anyone who knows me, I’m not one to shut up.
You better believe if there’s a gatekeeper involved with anything in life, I’m not going to flirt with him to try and gain entry. I’m going to sidestep him completely and build something new, absent of his control.
I don’t chase markets. Along with many other independent musicians who now make up 43% of the industry, I am participating in creating a new one.
When you follow me on social media, you aren’t just giving a vote of confidence to my music or writing. You come along with me on a journey of unbridled creativity, confessionalist artistry, and absolute rebellion against anyone that tells me something can’t be done.
When people listen to my songs or read my words, unlike entertainers and celebrities, I’m not trying to get them to fall in love with me. I’m reminding them, just in case they’ve fallen out…
Fall back in love with freedom again.
Want to join me?
Let’s connect:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Youtube
For my music:
rebeccadaymusic.com
For my writing:
rebeccadaywrites.com
Peace, love, and freedom
Forever and always,
Rebecca Day
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