Power, Art, and Entrepreneurship

I’ve been thinking a lot about power lately… and how it has this odd intersection with art and entrepreneurship.

For those who don’t know me, I’m not just an artist, but also an entrepreneur that runs multiple companies. 

In fact, my companies provide a great living for me, and provide me with freedom of time so that I can spend a good amount of time creating art and music.

It’s an odd path, but one I am loving.

Yet, I’ve come to realize a few things about how all of these worlds intersect. 

What is power?

In Ayn Rand’s book, The Fountainhead, she depicts a character named Gail Wynand who is the manifestation of power.

Gail achieves power by running a large newspaper called “The Banner”. 

A banner is a great metaphor for power because what she shows in the book is how Gail has no internal compass. He simply shifts his viewpoint and stance on any issue in order to gain popular opinion of the public. 

Gail is hard worthing, productive, and in all aspects of life, a very accomplished and successful man.

But… Gail lacks integrity. 

He cares not about what he believes is right, he cares about doing that which the public wants. 

In this way, Gail achieves massive success, wealth, and power.

What is entrepreneurship?

As an entrepreneur who has built up multiple companies, I’ve come to learn one fundamental truth.

You have to give the market what it wants.

I’ve dreamed up many entrepreneurial ideas in my head, but when I put them out in the world, no one cared.

Where my entrepreneurial successes have really taken off is when I have hit this intersection of “What I can create” and “What the market wants”.

In a sense, to build a successful company, you must in some way cave to the demands of the market…

Your banner must wave to that which the market tells you it is willing to pay for. 

What is art?

In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand depicts another character in contrast to Gail Wynand. 

Howard Roark is an architect. And he is an architect who is true to his entrepreneurial style no matter what the world throws at him.

They try to break him, they try to force him to change his work to fit popular style. But Roark does not break.

Rand describes her goal with the Fountain head as to “depict the ideal man.”

Roark is that ideal man.
He has work ethic, and drive.
But he also has integrity.

He believes in his own vision and he does not falter to appease public opinion. 

While Wynand is a banner that waves in the wind, Roark is a rock who stands against the storm. 

This is the challenge of artists… 

Balancing power & art

Recently I was watching a masterclass from Deadmau5. One of the things he said in the class which stood out to me is. Pardon my paraphrasing but it was along the lines of: 

“If I could, I would probably make a lot of music without drums. Just droning experimental synths. But that’s not what kids want to hear. They want a kick drum on every quarter note. And by making that music I can buy all of this gear and equipment you see around me.” 

That statement encapsulates exactly what I am hitting on here.

Deadmau5 has in many ways compromised his artistic integrity to achieve the success and fame that he has.

Now… is that a bad thing?

It has provided wealth for him. It has provided him with the funds to build an amazing life and studio. And he has still charted and pioneered great music… but he does so with a constant care of “what the market wants”. 

And so it makes you wonder… if Deadmau5 didn’t need the money… if he already had it… what would his music have become? 

The money challenge that many artists face

In conversations with many other artists, I see this challenge arise.

Many hit “burnout” whenever they grind too hard and try to make a living off of their art. This leads to them leaving the field all together. 

This happened to me with my first ventures into the entertainment industry… I pushed so hard, I waved like a banner in the wind to whoever would pay me, and I compromised my artistic integrity in every way… and I burned out… 

I’ve seen others follow a similar path. 

But then I spoke to a man named El Huervo. And he was someone who I felt had walked a very strong balance with this.

In our podcast interview he said something along the lines of:

“Money is something I try not to think too much about. I’m focused on creating and just kind of let it happen. I keep my costs of living low, and as a result I can focus on creating good stuff.”

As a result, El Huervo’s music has a very unique flare to it. Yet he is also seeing commercial success. 

Certainly, money has in some way shaped El Huervo’s art along the way. It is inevitable that it hasn’t when he does get paid to make music and art for video games. 

But in my viewpoint, he walks a good line and balance.

What happens when you no longer need power?

This whole article is really my own musings on this topic because I am faced with an interesting question.

If I don’t need to make money from my art, what does that mean? How will that change me, and my journey?

It’s a question I am thinking a lot about. 

Does this mean I just go and create weird-ass experimental shit that I like and most of the world will never gravitate toward. Do I just create for me?

Or am I thinking about it wrong?

What if money is a resource for artists?

What if I look at money as a resource? I still aim to make money with my music… but not with the goal of paying my living. My companies already have that covered.

Instead, I seek money from my music so that I can pour that money back into new gear, a support team, complimentary artists, etc.

Imagine I land a $10k contract to design some music for a video game. Since I don’t need that $10k to pay my bills, I could pour that into the project. 

I could hire people to help me. 
I could buy new gear and equipment. 
I could use the money I make from art as a resource to make better art. 

It’s an interesting perspective.

At one point I read a book 33 artists in 3 acts. It was a fascinating read that studies and follows many of the leaders in the world of Modern Art.

What I found fascinating is that many of the biggest artists of today are not a one man show. In fact, they often have massive teams. In fact, they are almost factories of art production.

They dream up a concept, and then hire a team to implement. 

Another example would be Trent Reznor. At first, I saw that Trent Reznor scored The Social Network and all of these films. 

While I imagined a musical genius at first, I’ve learned through studying his process more that it’s not quite the case.

Trent doesn’t do the full score. 
Instead, Trent essential records an album of music for the film.
Then a team of music editors takes the album and edits and fits it to the film. 

Many of the great artists we admire get to where they are because they work in teams.

Another example… Elon Musk. One of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time who is paving the way into uncharted territory. 

The man builds not because he wants more money, but because he wants to build. In interviews, he talks about how he needs to make profits so that he can reinvest into making his vision a reality. 

The paradox of power, art, and entrepreneurship

As I conclude this article, I feel like the best way to describe this is a dance.

There’s no clear answer.
There is no right or wrong.
There is no one path.

It’s simply a paradox to manage.