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Comment by codexb | Hacker News Reader

It's also worth pointing out that, historically, a very small percentage of artists live off the income from recordings or reproductions of their works. This is true for musicians, painters, authors, actors, or any other creative artists.

By and large, the only way to make a living as an artist is to continuously produce and perform copious amounts of work, or to have another source of income from a day job.

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The entire concept of making a living off recordings/reproductions didn't really start until the invention of the printing press which allowed for mass reproductions.

Prior to that anyone with enough time on their hands and skills could legally reproduce any text, music, painting, etc for profit. Artist where largely compensated for performances or for original artwork. There was more relative demand for live performances because of the lack of other available entertainment options.

Now the primary issue with being a successful artist is the attention economy is incredibly competitive, and the barriers to entry are incredibly low.

> and the barriers to entry are incredibly low.

Yes and no. Technical barrier to entry is low. It is also relatively easy to do something that your friends will say: wow that sounds great. It is totally another thing to make something good enough that they will play it several times a day on their own. Look at rushes and jams released by amateur musicians: the average quality is super super low. Not super low as being painful to listen, but super low as "sounds unfinished/incomplete/dull, I have no desire to play it again".

Recorded music was a viable business for maybe a single century. That’s a historical blip. If you wanted to listen to music before the 20th century, your only option was live music, so that’s how musicians made money. In the 21st century this is also how musicians make money. Also, it turns out that even in the 20th century, the real money was still made on tour.

Yeah in the 1980s the stadium concert tours were invented and people like Madonna, Springsteen and Michael Jackson made tons of money from it.

Goes back before the 80’s. The Rolling Stones played arenas and stadiums on their 1969 tour and “arena rock” was huge in the 70’s. No disrespect towards the 80’s stars though!

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