#smallmusician

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

Most recent song in this series this time! I gave it the title "Your Therapist", and in terms of title expectations, it's a bit of a plot twist.

Also, I sometimes wear glasses irl (I'm not blind without them, but they are a requirement to drive…or read menu displays) so I thought I'd add that to the drawing this time. This song does feel like the musical equivalent of an anime glasses tilt, after all.

If you like this, head over to @athy-art ! All my work is archived on there for easier access.

[ladymacabrebeth]

8 Struggles of Being a Small Musician by Lady Macabre Beth

Going a bit off brand today, but I wanted to shed some light on some struggles I experience as a small/starting musician. This is not universal, but may apply to some who can relate and who are struggling, whether you’re a small musician, artist, business owner, etc. 

This isn’t a rant per se but something I need to get off my chest and bring awareness to. So most of you know me for my nom de plume, Lady Macabre Beth, here on Tumblr and I do appreciate you all for being so supportive and finding comfort with my random reflections about life and my yet to improve short horror stories. But apart from that, I am also a musician under a different name. I’m not gonna reveal what my musician name is—that’s another public persona I don’t wish to disclose here since I want to keep my identity strictly confidential. Anyhow, here are 8 struggles I face as a small musician:

1. Paying more for the production of my song but only getting less in return. Imagine, I spend about $250 for quality mixing & mastering, $179 for my album cover & visualizers, and around $50 for renting a recording studio. And guess how much I earn in return as a musician? For instance, I only have 2k streams on Spotify. Do you know how much I earn for 2k streams? $2 only. I’m not joking. That’s how bad it is. I’ll even show you a screenshot via DMs if you like. And that’s why being a musician isn’t my full-time job. I work an 8-5 corporate job on the side just to make ends meet and live a stable life.

2. You might be thinking—well, but to be an artist is to struggle and starve. No. I don’t buy into that BS. Sure, I get the whole struggling artist trope maybe when it comes to experiencing emotional pain and using that to fuel our art but definitely NOT the starving artist. I think that is so toxic and we should stop romanticizing it. We are humans—we need to eat and use that as fuel to become better artists and create. The more people push that artists should starve and struggle all the more reinforces the idea that artists aren’t deserving to be as respected as lawyers, doctors, engineers, and whatnot. It’s further pushing the agenda that being an artist is not a regular job and below what is considered a job in conventional standards. 

3. You might be thinking—well, why not ask your collaborators to mix & master, etc. your song for free? That’s not easy when the ones you’re collaborating with aren’t people you’re necessarily close with. Have you considered those who don’t have connections? Where else do they reach out? Of course, to strangers who have a price range. And sometimes, we spend because we want the best quality for our music and we pay because the people we’re collaborating with are artists that have families to feed to. But I guess the frustrating part here is that I pay more than what I get. That’s the painful truth that sends me into crippling depression, especially since I need to work a corporate job I’m not into.

4. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate my job per se. In fact, I’m grateful because that job feeds me, gives me a comfortable life, and afford luxuries, but it’s not my passion. Sure thing, the financial stability makes me happy, but it’s soul-sucking to repetitively do something you’re not passionate about and doesn’t suit your personality, but then you need to keep working because you haven’t made it as a musician. You need to sacrifice because you’re doing this for yourself to survive even if it’s so soul-sucking. 

5. You might be thinking—well then do some networking so you can collaborate with people who can work with you for free and endorse you. Another thing is that not all artists or musicians are good at networking. Some have crippling social anxiety. Truthfully, I may sound confident as I’m writing this, but I suffer from terrible social anxiety. I can fake my confidence irl—yes, but my social anxiety is so bad inside tbh. And the weird thing is that even if I’m so loud here on Tumblr, I don’t know how to network online either. I know what to say and start the convo, but in the long-term, I fail in sustaining relationships online and irl because I don’t want to sound ingenuine or as if I just need something from people. Another thing is that when I meet people online, I die to meet them in person and become part of my tribe only to find out they’re in the other side of the world. That part frustrates me because I hate video calls that feel fake. I’d rather meet people in person and form genuine connections and collaborate and be a pack of wolves that just vibes together and create music.

6. I have supportive friends, families, and strangers of course. I’m beyond grateful for them, but if I were to be honest with you, most of them are doing that to motivate you as a starting artist and musician. Some will genuinely love your music, but others don’t but I don’t blame them for it because everyone has their own cup of tea. So expect most of them to support you just to get motivated but if they don’t memorize the lyrics to your song, don’t get surprised. Not that I’m ungrateful. It’s just some brutally honest thing I want to share and of course, I don’t want to coerce my loved ones to share my music and be a solid fan. That’s up to them. I announce to them my latest work. Sure thing. But I don’t want to force people to appreciate something they don’t genuinely like. The right people will like it, and to have a few genuine ones that do appreciate it is worth it than millions who don’t really like it.

7. I’m not the best musician out there. I don’t have an extraordinary voice nor do I have Ariana Grande’s ability to belt. If I were to be truthful, I find myself to be a mediocre singer who can’t belt. I’m nothing special, but this is what I love doing. But what frustrates me the most is that I suck at what I love doing most. Of course, torturing myself with that thought is an excuse. The only way to get out of that mediocrity is of course to keep practicing to improve my singing voice, even though my pipes, vocal range, and style isn’t what most appreciate by conventional standards. 

8. I still have a long way to go and I won’t give up ‘til the day I die. I am in love with music and it’s always been the first love of my life. I’ll do whatever it takes to get where I want to be as a musician and inspire the world with my songs the way my random reflections and quotes are inspiring a multitude of you here on Tumblr. Even if it means to still work an 8-5 corporate job and sneak music during my free time for my sanity. 

Dang it sucks to be a small artist with no connections and building from scratch up. 

If you’ve reached this point, thanks for giving time to read my semi-rant. I hope it brought some awareness too about the struggles of some small musicians. I’m pretty sure this is not new to most of you but I find that it’s important to reiterate that the hierarchy in the music industry is no different from the exploitative one we face in our world. Bigger artists getting more revenue while those below continue to grind but get nothing much in return. The struggle is real. Anyhow, do feel free to DM me if you agree/disagree/if you have special insights about this. Would love to hear them!

xx

Lady Macabre Beth

[organicsomething]

hey!! this artist isn’t me but she’s a p small artist and i think she deserves a lot of recognition, it would mean a lot if y’all could support and check her out! 💕

[gabetheguitarbabe]

My new song is out! Thought the best way to start this blog would be to introduce my first song that’s released on spotify!  I personally didn’t have a goal to be set with this song. I just wanted to express myself. There are bumps, the tone isn’t what I was going for. But I still feel comfortabe enough to post it. I loved the feeling of being able to just let loose and have the guitar do the talking for me. I’m not the most innovative or the most amazing guitarist on the planet, but I strive to get better each and every time I pick up the guitar.  Thanks for tuning in, Gabe

[saturnznct]

The Fear of Unrequited - Jungkook x Reader (Part 4 - two vodka cokes)

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[yinxdjinx]

I love this post so much because musicians out there are dying to be in front of massive audience as sign that they “made it”.... well, if you’re caring more about the audience you’re playing or would like to play in front of than actually focusing on why you got into making music then I’m sorry but you need to rethink your choices. Music lovers(listeners) don’t care if you’re famous or not they love you for YOU and your music you bless them with. Now if that’s not enough then you are not a true musician and you’ll end being the person who has a great power but misusing it. Sabi thanks for following and you audience is #HellaLit keep on making music and your audience will be even more lit! Next time maybe 100K 🐻 💪🏾🙌🏾 #Repost @sabi_music_ with @get_repost ・・・ Lit...except for the fact that my mics chord went out ...so I can’t really use it again till Tuesday ...and I’m so sad 😭😩#musician#tragedymoment#sloth#musician#sessions#smallmusician#followforfollow#singer#songwriter#musicislife

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

Another plot-twist-titled song, Cotton Candy! This song has a lot to do with the perception of sweetness. How people who are regarded as kind are also sometimes regarded in a rather patronizing way, to the point where anger seems “out of character”.

If you like my work, I archive it all over on @athy-art , and would love a follow <3

[saturnznct]

The Fear of the Unrequited (Jungkook x Reader) Part 5 - laughs in hidden

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[saturnznct]

The Fear of Unrequited - Jungkook x reader (part 1 - stream euphoria)

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[saturnznct]

The Fear of Unrequited - (Part 3 - bold of you to assume I have braincells)

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I’m sorry I haven’t updated this in so long! I thought no one was reading so I kind of lost motivation but saw that the last part had a few notes and decided to update more regularly! Thank you to anyone who’s reading sjsjsj

[saturnznct]

The Fear of Unrequited - Jungkook x Reader (Part 2 - airport tings)

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[saturnznct]

the fear of the unrequited (Jungkook x Reader) - Part 6 ‘Bwekfast’

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sorry for the massive gaps between updates! I’m now on a two week Easter holiday from school so I’m going to attempt to post everyday!

[saturnznct]

The Fear of Unrequited - Jungkook x Reader (Prologue)

Next Part

hey guys, so this is pretty much my first fanfic sjsjjs I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing but I hope it’s not shit lmao, I don’t have a masterlist or anything yet but will probably make one as the series progresses

[myraquitsdrawing]

A bit of a day late but happy release day to Kogarashi (@xokogarashi)'s new single, 'Wait' (!!!! It's such an amazing and beautiful song that he has ever done, it's been on my repeat list ever since it has been released hehe 😅😅❤ (pls don't judge me lol). Anyways, hope you guys enjoy my drawing of him, he was hard to draw at first cause of the mouth, it looks a little bit off but there is nothing I could do about it 🤷🏻‍♀️ #myraquitsdrawing #kogarashi #drawing #digitalart #digitalfanart #samsungpenup #penup #penupsamsung #smallmusicians #wait #palettes #musicianfanart https://www.instagram.com/p/CbCabB2uwZN/?utm_medium=tumblr