Do we have to make money from our music?

One of the problems with the nature of a capitalist dominated world, is that we often forget that money is not the only measure of value and success. The pleasure of being creative for purely personal reasons is rarely promoted, but we can all derive huge pleasure from making private creative breakthroughs in our music.

Music composition and recording can be an essential part of our lives without needing to generate income. There is nothing quite like the feeling of creating a great chord progression and melody, writing the perfect lyric, or achieving the perfect snare drum sound.

These can be solitary experiences and need not be shared at all. If we follow our creative impulses without considering what others might think (have you ever done this?), chances are that you will produce something that pleases you but which contains elements that you would be self-conscious about sharing, never mind trying to sell.

So even if we don't intend to monetize our music we may be constantly considering what other might think of it as we create it. This is understandable but inhibits our natural creative urges. We're touching on issues of psychology and what we seek to gain by sharing our music with others here, but the practical question if we intend to distribute our music is should we charge for it?

If you are a professional, and make your money from your music the answer is clear, and most professionals are firmly against the idea of giving anything away for free.

Leaving aside the difficult questions of the relationship between art and commerce for the moment, if you are not a professional, why not create and freely share your music with others? Some might say that unless a listener pays for your music they won't value it. But is that really true? Value isn't just about money, its about your music affecting someone in a positive way. Making them happy. Does it matter if you never know, and never get paid for it?

If you make music in your own personal studio for the pure pleasure of it, why not consider giving it away for free. If people like it, some of them will let you know, and you will have contributed a little more happiness to the planet.

What do you think?

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