One thing to consider is that maybe the capitalist idea that only a tiny handful of people should be paid (in most cases, little and badly, while very few are lavished with money and fame) for making art, and most people should shell out their wages for something from far away and mass-produced had its heyday, and now it's got to become something different.
For most of human history, I think what you're describing of people being on familiar terms with the people who made the music they listened to, and were known in their communities as good storytellers or appreciated for being painters or the rest - was normal. With my relatives who live in a third world country, it's expected that most people can do all of these things, and the ones who are especially distinctive have other people ask them (often as a favor or for something other than money) to decorate their furniture, or to come over to dinner and tell stories, or so on. Their talents are helping them make ends meet, in a way, but no one involved is really thinking of it like that.
And, I mean ... I think it's normal to consider that and have mixed feelings. Compared to everything we've been conditioned to expect an artistic career might offer. At the same time, I look at Hollywood and the way famous people are afraid of their fans and the way fans are often weird and demanding around celebrities, and I see a profit motive that incentivizes dehumanization and has really fucked up people's ability to just interact as people. I don't think that's doing the mental stability of artists any favors, even if they did get picked up to do their thing professionally. A world where most people assume they can't act or make music or write or paint is a poorer world. A world where the few people who are hand-picked by the wealthy and paid to do those things are kept at a remove from overwhelming masses of other people, and treated like exotic freaks that should command a very high price - that mostly still goes to their promoters as opposed to them, personally - is also a poorer world.
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One thing to consider is that maybe the capitalist idea that only a tiny handful of people should be paid (in most cases, little and badly, while very few are lavished with money and fame) for making art, and most people should shell out their wages for something from far away and mass-produced had its heyday, and now it's got to become something different.
For most of human history, I think what you're describing of people being on familiar terms with the people who made the music they listened to, and were known in their communities as good storytellers or appreciated for being painters or the rest - was normal. With my relatives who live in a third world country, it's expected that most people can do all of these things, and the ones who are especially distinctive have other people ask them (often as a favor or for something other than money) to decorate their furniture, or to come over to dinner and tell stories, or so on. Their talents are helping them make ends meet, in a way, but no one involved is really thinking of it like that.
And, I mean ... I think it's normal to consider that and have mixed feelings. Compared to everything we've been conditioned to expect an artistic career might offer. At the same time, I look at Hollywood and the way famous people are afraid of their fans and the way fans are often weird and demanding around celebrities, and I see a profit motive that incentivizes dehumanization and has really fucked up people's ability to just interact as people. I don't think that's doing the mental stability of artists any favors, even if they did get picked up to do their thing professionally. A world where most people assume they can't act or make music or write or paint is a poorer world. A world where the few people who are hand-picked by the wealthy and paid to do those things are kept at a remove from overwhelming masses of other people, and treated like exotic freaks that should command a very high price - that mostly still goes to their promoters as opposed to them, personally - is also a poorer world.
What are we going to develop, instead?