Artists Should be Paid Well, but Money is not the Point of Art

Photo by Ryan Stefan on Unsplash

I love that Medium pays its’ writers, but it bugs me that people try to game the system. By using AI or even just choosing what to write about based on what will get a lot of clicks. Or being overly pushy about people following them.

Artists, and everyone, should be able to make a living wage, but money is not the point of art. Art is about connection. It’s about expression and creativity. It expands how you think.

When the main goal is money, art becomes about manipulation.

In a perfect world, everyone could follow their passions and it wouldn’t impact how much money they make. There are lots of ways to make positive contributions to society. For example, I think it’s silly that caregivers make so much less than software engineers.

Art and marketing are somewhat different skills, so the people who are best at marketing themselves are not necessarily the best artists. People with money are also able to devote more time and resources into their art if that’s what interests them, but they’re not necessarily the best artists either.

I focus more on comedy than writing, and my least favorite part is figuring out how to promote myself. There are so many comedians. My comedy doesn’t always translate well to a short clip online, but that’s what…