Nourishing Your Creativity
And: Journalling for artists; Beyond superstars; Bringing that beat back; Industry news.
Hey all, YMX here! We are back after a relatively short hiatus. During that time, we launched our new discovery platform, mesmerized.io, which this newsletter will be part of. Expect lots of exciting content going forward, there are great things in the pipeline!
Anyway, we are back in style with @skylumusic - she will be curating a bi-weekly artist journal right here on The Mesmerized Stream, taking us on a reflective journey through the ups and downs of being a creative in our challenging society.
SKYLU, aka Louise, is not only a talented artist but also the founder of London promoter @jamsandwichlive.
Nourishing Your Creativity
I left the city to stay in a loft above a garage in a tiny village and be on my own for a few days. Sometimes you have to leave the place you know with all of its familiar distractions and a schedule that often doesn't leave space to sit and be. That's the thing about creativity, it's not meant to be squeezed into the creases and cracks. I, for one, need to coax myself into it, I need to be idle and frustrated and bored and then gentle and kind with myself. It's a process, right?
Of course, I found other things to distract myself with, out in the countryside. I tired myself out staring at a screen. I had to hide my phone from myself. I took myself for walks and took in all the sights and smells of wildlife, including a field of pigs down the lane. I marvelled at the lightning and rain hammering on the roof of the loft space I stayed in.
“Once I began, writing a few lyrics and humming a melody or two, it no longer felt like a mountain. More like a river”
Eventually, I began. I didn't even know what beginning would look like but I knew it was important to begin. The first step is often the one that we put off the most, it seems too huge and important to begin. My inner critic was very loud, suggesting that I didn't have anything to offer and that I shouldn't trust myself to get anything done. Why are you here anyway? What are you expecting to happen?
Gradually, I found myself quietening my inner critic, turning up the volume of my self-trust and coaxing myself into creativity, into starting...something. And, once I began, writing a few lyrics and humming a melody or two, it no longer felt like a mountain. More like a river, one that I could dip into and follow the current of, one that would be there waiting for me when I was next ready to immerse myself.
The new season and 'new term' in September feels like a new beginning (perhaps more so than the new year in January) so now that I'm back in London, the challenge is to carve out space for creative time and sit in it, be there. To know that simply turning up is what matters. I might not have a deadline created by an employer or an invoice to file for each session but what I know is that it feeds me, I am committed to creativity. And that is enough. That is success, to me. To live a creative life, to play and make, experiment and learn along the way, to grow.
Reflective questions:
What kind of environment feels safe and nourishing for your inner artist and how can you create that for yourself?
What is success to you?
If you are comfortable sharing your answers, you can do so by commenting under this post (you can do so in the browser version). In alternative, send us a DM at @mesmerized.io, and we might share your thoughts on next week’s newsletter.
WMG is moving beyond superstars – and that is a good thing - Midia
“Superstars getting smaller is music to the ears of independent labels and artists alike, but it is far from the death knell for big labels. Instead, it simply reflects the new environment in which they will operate. Indeed, Cooper said WMG is pursuing a “portfolio” strategy “across a bigger number of artists” to reduce financial “dependency on superstars”. This comes after BMG’s CEO, Hartwig Masuch, said of their latest results: “The extraordinary thing about our first half result is that we grew revenue 25% with virtually no hits”. Having no superstars does not mean having no hits, instead it means more, smaller hits.
In 2019, MIDiA wrote that “Niche is the new mainstream”, that the water cooler moments of the linear era were being replaced by cultural moments. Audiences are in different places at different times, with algorithms delivering them different personalised content. Concepts, such as ‘song of the summer’, are becoming different for everyone. Each listener has their own song of the summer. In the era of fragmented fandom, water cooler moments across the masses, where everyone heard the song on the radio at the same time, are replaced by smaller groups of people finding pockets of like-minded fans across the world.
Bring that beat back: why are people in their 30s giving up on music? - The Guardian
“It’s easy to chalk this up to simply getting older, as the rabid enthusiasm, naivety and passion of youth dwindles, but that has an ageist presumption baked into it. There may be more hurdles to committing to cultural discovery but people don’t become fundamentally less curious because they get older. Most people don’t stop discovering new books, films, podcasts or TV. Yet music seems to be something that more commonly slips away – or is even perceived as something you’re supposed to grow out of. Music is a key part of youthful identity formation: once your idea of yourself becomes fixed, perhaps by distinct markers like marriage and kids, the need for it slips away. Sometimes when I speak to people about going to gigs, festivals or raves, I see an almost pitying look wash over their face: “Really? You’re still doing that? Bless.” As if clinging on represents some childish refusal to let go of youth, the equivalent of a balding mod refusing to shave off their depleting feather cut.”
Industry News
💎 Ireland Will Now Pay Artists And Musicians A Basic Income - Bobby Owinski
“The Basic Income for Artists plan originated by the Ministry of Culture and Artist has a budget of about $23 million to spend on creatives of all types, including artists, musicians, dancers, actors, writers, and even circus performers. That said, not all creatives that applied were accepted. There were about 9,000 submissions but only enough funding for 2,000.”
🎹 YouTube reveals its plans for ‘Creator Music’ revenue sharing - Music Ally
“That’s one reason why there’s such a big and thriving genre of ‘play-through’ videos where people play a game and talk about it, but nowhere near the same thing for people, say, playing albums and talking about them. So, YouTube’s new system *could* ignite a new wave of creators and content around music, where those creators can get paid and so can the rightsholders.”