Untying from The System as an Independent Artist

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I grew up in a traditional household. We were a middle-class family in America. Both of my parents had traditional 9-5 jobs and they both encouraged me to go to college, get a degree, and to “make it in this world.” That was the only way they thought I’d succeed. They instilled in me that I needed to do exactly what they were doing, if not better. 

In America, there’s this idea that if you work hard enough you can achieve wealth. However, in my observations, I don’t think it works out like that. There are other factors at play that create barriers to achieving the wealth that we don’t necessarily talk about or discuss. It’s like the elephant in the room.  For example, you can work really hard at an hourly job and still not have enough money to save up. Better yet, there are a lot of people who hold down two jobs just to make ends meet and they still don’t have the necessary funds for savings or entrepreneurial endeavors. The fact that our educational system doesn’t teach things like financial literacy, entrepreneurship, or critical thinking makes it clear to me that the overall system goal is not to produce self-sufficient persons who can generate their own wealth, but instead to produce workers to continue feeding into the establishment that’s already been set-up. Those are just some of the drawbacks to the “American Dream” not many people are willing to talk about, out loud at least. 

There are also socio-economic factors present that play a tremendous role in creating even more boundaries for certain segments of the population. This idea that everyone has equal opportunity sounds great on paper. However, in reality, not everyone has equal opportunities. A lot of people are born into poor families, grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, born with different skin tones, and are faced with more obstacles than their more privileged peers.  For example, if you are a person of color, you have to navigate microaggressions in the educational system, the healthcare system, the workplace, the judicial system, the banking sector, and even among your own people. You have to work your way around racist systems, racially motivated beliefs, and racial insensitivity. If you don’t believe me, read through these sobering facts about systemic racism in America. 

In addition, there is a phenomenon going on that I call the Financial Riddle. For example, in order to have good credit, you must go into debt. If you’ve never opened a credit card and you made it a point to pay cash on all of your purchases, you may think you’re doing great. But the way our system is set up, that’s bad. That’s considered a negative because you have no credit. In order to get a college degree, most students have to sign on to outrageous debt because who has $20,000+ per year laying around? In order to buy a home, which is touted as the number one way to build wealth in America, you have to sign a death pledge. I kid you not, look up the etymology behind the word ‘mortgage’ and you’ll see what I mean.

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You literally have to commit two-thirds of your life to pay off a loan that ultimately doubles the initial cost of the house. If you want a new car, you also have to sign on to a hefty loan and commit to paying off double the price of the car. So to live a conventional lifestyle within the American Dream ideology, you have to go into debt to be seen as creditworthy, sign on to multiple large debts, which forces you to enter the conventional job force to pay everything off. These are the traditions and values placed upon every one of us from childhood. But, is that the life we should all aspire to lead? If not, how does one go about achieving financial freedom outside of this preset? It ends up being a riddle that not too many people can solve. 

I believe that being independent of these societal expectations is how you solve the riddle and as an independent artist you can design a lifestyle for yourself and your family that allows you to untether from these binding systems. 

How can you untie yourself from The System?

I no longer buy into the American Dream or the traditional beliefs on how to achieve it. I’m convinced that it doesn’t exist in a realistic sense. I’m also convinced that somewhere along the way, people have been either misguided or misinformed about how exactly everyone can achieve it. If you want to create anything for yourself, you have to carve your own path and figure it out for yourself. You have to decide what you want for yourself instead of allowing other people and their beliefs to guide the way. Draw your own path. This is something that so many independent artists who are earning a living from their creative pursuits are doing. They are carving their own path to being free. If you’re looking to do that too, there are a few cornerstones you’ll need to make that happen.

A Financial Plan

Number 1, you need a financial plan. While you don’t have to earn a fortune in order to lead a financially independent lifestyle you do have to devise some kind of a plan to get there. The first thing you should do is determine what your financial needs are. Calculate how much you need per month to fund your lifestyle. Maybe you can find ways to reduce your expenses so that you can afford your desired lifestyle more easily. That’s why it’s so important to map out what you want ahead of time. 

When my husband and I decided to take the plunge and untie ourselves from working corporate/conventional jobs, we needed to dump a lot of our monthly expenses. For example, we sold our two-story, four-bedroom house in Charlotte and moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Nashville. We also took on jobs as event coordinators for our apartment community to get a discount on rent. This allowed us to pursue a music career together while keeping overhead costs down. For most people, the biggest monthly expense is housing and that’s the first place you should look if you’re trying to reduce costs. We eventually built a tiny house in order to cut down on costs. Read all about that here. Don’t be afraid to make radical moves in this area. Your financial independence hinges on it. 

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The other part of a financial plan involves how you will earn an income. There are so many ways to earn an income without working a conventional job. But you have to be in the right mindset. As an independent artist, you’re naturally inclined to find creative ways to overcome obstacles. Your music is a great way to earn money in multiple ways. You can play paid gigs, host your own physical or virtual shows, sell music, sell music production services, license your music, sell merchandise, earn passive income, engage in other creative endeavors for profit, support other musicians, start a blog, take on side hustles and more. The opportunities are endless. Build a business model that consistently brings in enough income to sustain you and your family.

Related: 18+ Ways Musicians Are Making Money

There also needs to be a plan in place for future finances. You’ll need to consider plans for retirement, savings, whether or not you intend to expand your family at some point, and how you’ll earn money when you can’t perform live anymore. You can invest in a Simple IRA, a retirement savings plan designed for the self-employed.  Or, you can look into Annuities or Insurance Vehicles designed for retirement savings. Whatever you decide, make sure it’s well thought out and you have multiple sources of income in place. You never want to put all of your eggs in one basket. 

A Supportive Fanbase + Network

As a creative entrepreneur, you rely on your fans to support you and your endeavors. So it’s uber important to cultivate a community of fans who will remain loyal to you for a lifetime. This involves a deep understanding of who you are as an artist so that you can build a solid artist identity that people can get behind. Having an active social media presence, a vibrant website, an engaging newsletter, a strong marketing campaign (to get those paid gigs), and a broad network of people that you know and keep in contact with locally and regionally can create a consistent flow of income to support your financial needs month after month. If you need help in this area, check out these resources:

• Artist Development Checklist
• The Artist Development Course
• How to Book Profitable Gigs eCourse
• Find Your Ideal Fans
• The Email Newsletter Writing Guide
• 3 Month Social Media Calendar for Musicians

An Internal Resolve (and tough skin)

To be an independent artist and earn a living from your music, you have to be committed to it. You can’t waver or second guess yourself. You are going to have to be your own advocate. Because this path is still considered unconventional, there are times when no one will understand what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. You will have to defend your decisions with family members and friends. You may lose relationships. People tend to become hostile or defensive when faced with something they don’t understand or ideas that contradict their belief systems. Like I mentioned earlier in this article, the set-up that we have in today’s society creates belief systems that bind you to specific pathways in life. It’s set up that way to produce persons who are willing to sell their time and lives in exchange for perceived rewards, like the elusive American Dream.  A lot of people have bought into these ideas and they feel threatened when they see you doing the opposite. It can make for some very uncomfortable conversations at the holiday dinner table. We have been literally banned from relatives’ homes because of our lifestyle choices. These were not distant relatives either. They were close relatives whom we never thought would have such a hostile reaction to our personal decisions. That’s how deeply embedded into the system people can be. They invest in societal trappings so much that they try to force it onto other people. 

But if you are a true creative entrepreneur, your art requires a higher level of thinking and demands devotion to pursuing it in such a way that prohibits you from engaging in System Cog behavior. I feel like I have no choice but to live my life in a way that allows my creativity to lead the way. I would lose myself trying to fit into the mold of The System’s expectations. I know because I experienced it before. I did the corporate thing and I hated myself for it every step of the way. There was a longing in me to be free from all that and free to pursue my artistic endeavors completely. To be able to take off for a three-week-long musical tour without having to worry about a job or a boss is freedom in every sense. You must have that internal resolve to pursue your art with a fierceness without worrying about what other people think.

It also helps to have a personal support system. Whether it’s an online community of like-minded people (cheesy plug for our Facebook Group – Join Here), or your significant other, or your BFF, you’ll need someone that loves and supports you to bounce ideas around with and to pull you off the ledge when you want to give up. I can’t tell you how many times my husband. Rob, and I have counseled each other, worked through self-confidence issues together and discussed the toll that ridiculous house ban (see above) had taken on our emotional health. That kind of support is invaluable when you’re pursuing such an ‘unconventional’ path. 

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Being an independent artist is hard work. It takes a solid financial plan, a growing fanbase, and a resolve like none other. There will be tough times and difficult days. But, it is all worth it when you set out for the open road with no ties to conventional jobs or oppressive financial burdens. It’s worth it when you get to set your own schedule and be your own boss. It’s even more worth it when you start seeing money come in from your own endeavors. You are working to support your own dreams instead of someone else’s. That’s the best feeling in the world. 

What’s your philosophy on untethering from The System? Do you believe there even is a System? How do you navigate the financial riddle? Tell us in the comments below and let’s keep this discussion going. There’s a lot to learn!

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