When I was little I always though that being famous was a merit thing. If a musician was known it was because he or she was excepcional in his/her art: an incredible singer, a highly skilled guitarist, an amazing drummer.

But then I got older and saw a lot of gigs, and a lot of disciplined and truly amazing musicians that nobody heard about… And most were struggling financially, having a side job just to get by. How come? What is missing from them that the “icons” have?

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
    2·
    6 hours ago

    Famous is different from working. I have known plenty of artists who just hustle and make a living - singing telegrams, weddings, bar gigs, teaching, they make enough to get by. They are working musicians.

    Then there are all those bands who plug on, famous but not wildly so, I think they are making enough to live on just their band earnings.

    Then a very few who get rich. Mostly those are kids of connected people, not always but often.

    It’s the same with any entertainment industry, right? Average earnings on onlyfans is something like $3 a month.

    And there is just So Much Talent in the world, and people have limited entertainment budgets.