The 3 Archetypes of an Artist

There are at least three archetypes or roles that musical artists embody: the student, the craftsperson, and the entrepreneur.

The student learns the skills required to make the work, the craftsperson makes the work of art, and the entrepreneur shares the work of art.

The Bookbinder Analogy

Take the analogy of a bookbinder. A bookbinder must learn how to use certain tools, such as a bookbinder's knife, an awl, and a scalpel. They need to spend time developing the craft of binding books. Once they have become experienced at bookbinding, they need to find customers to sell the books to. 

A bookbinder could bind the most beautiful books in the world, but if they keep their books at home and only show them to family and friends, they may never be bought or enjoyed by others. 

Similarly, you may make the most beautiful music in the world. But if you only show it to family and friends, and don’t actively promote and market it, no one else will have an opportunity to listen to it.

The Hobbyist 

Perhaps you don’t want to grow an audience, and prefer to remain a hobbyist. This is perfectly fine; in fact, there’s something wonderful about making music for its own sake. Being a hobbyist has certain limitations: you may have less time to make music. But it is also a creatively liberating pathway. However, even hobbyists may benefit from adopting these archetypes, particularly the student and the craftsperson. 

If you’ve decided to accept the three roles of the student, the craftsperson, and the entrepreneur, you might wonder how much time you should spend in each role. The amount of time an artist should spend in each role depends on both their level of experience and the kind of music they make. 

The Student

At first, you should consider spending the vast majority of your time as a student. For the first few years, you should dedicate yourself to learning skills, such as learning instruments, songwriting, recording, production, or other skills. 

Perhaps you plan to outsource the musicianship and production to focus solely on being a recording artist. However, you can still be a student by practicing your vocal technique, listening to music to grow your palette, learning music theory to help you communicate with producers, and immersing yourself in art to broaden your perspective. Regardless of your chosen path, there are important skills to acquire. 

You may feel tempted to skip the student phase and go straight to the craftsperson phase. Many artists are filled with ideas, and would rather create music than practice music. I often feel this way. But if you skip the student phase, you may lack the skills to create finished works that measure-up to your initial ideas. 

The Craftsperson

As you grow your skill set, you should consider spending increasingly more time as a craftsperson. Learning a craft is an iterative process. The entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant wrote, “it’s not 10,000 hours, it’s 10,000 revisions.” Create songs, get feedback on the songs, and then apply the feedback to the song or to future projects. 

To get feedback, send your music to friends, put your music online, or submit it to playlisters. In my view, the value proposition of submitting to playlists is low if your goal is to grow a genuine fanbase. However, I still submit to playlists because I love to get feedback from the curators. They listen to thousands of songs, have ample experience, and can provide you with objective feedback. Feedback is invaluable. 

On that note, here is my latest release: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/seandavidson/stupid-to-pretend-2

Please provide me with any feedback you have on it. 

The Entrepreneur

Musicians no longer make the bulk of their income from the music itself, but from selling show tickets, merch, sponsorships, content monetization, etc. Given this, becoming an entrepreneur is essential if you would like to become a full-time musician. 

Alternatively, you can partner with someone, such as a manager, to focus on promotion and sales. However, artists who avoid the entrepreneurship role may lose autonomy and control of their work. If you choose to outsource the entrepreneurial role, ensure the members of your team are honest and dependable.  

You may come across new artists online who have only created a couple songs, but spend the majority of their time promoting their music. In my view, this approach rarely works. You have finite time and resources so, at the beginning, it is generally preferable to invest your time and money in developing as an artist before focusing heavily on promotion. 

However, many artists, including myself, feel uncomfortable promoting their music. With the amount of music that is available online, promoting your own work can feel futile. However, there is someone out there who needs your music, and they will only hear it if you share it. 

I wish you luck on your journey as a student, a craftsperson, and an entrepreneur.