I realized way too late that the internet has just turned into a massive dumpster fire where connecting with actual people is basically impossible now. Everything feels so dead and toxic, so fake and completely transactional. If you give, you get, but the second something goes wrong or you hit a rough patch, nobody is there to lend a hand. And God forbid you can't keep giving because of your own mental health struggles, you instantly stop being interesting. You just stop receiving.
It's the exact same deal with music. Nobody even tries to build real artistic partnerships anymore, and why is no one talking about this? I see so many upcoming indie artists who are totally isolated, stuck in their own little bubbles. They chase after the idols they worship but don't actually want to grow authentically, and if someone does approach you, it is just to use you.
Case in point. Back when I was really pushing my music business, I was constantly swarmed by other artists wanting to collab. Really, they just wanted to jump on my streaming bandwagon because that is all that matters now, becoming a "somebody" and getting that attention at all costs. Nobody gives a crap about creating an artistic bond, or worse, making friends and building connections through music, which is literally supposed to bring people together.
When I hit burnout and stopped throwing money at fake streams, because yeah, they are completely fake, I was left walking through a barren desert. There was no one there to help me up because the hype train was gone and I wasn't useful to anyone anymore. For the longest time, I totally doubted myself and my own artistic skills. To everyone else, I was only valid if I had a certain number of plays.
It is absolutely disgusting, atrocious, and it makes me sick. We should be fighting against this to save creativity! We should be fighting to save the music that is supposed to unite us, but instead, we are so addicted to this plastic internet culture that we just put up with it. Artists are not numbers!
And honestly, I can kind of give listeners a pass if they see us that way since they aren't behind the scenes of music production. But I have zero mercy for the artists who play this game. You don't have numbers? You're a nobody. You have numbers? Cool, let's collab. Maybe I'm being a hypocrite, but I am completely grossed out by all of it.
Now I don't collab with anyone. I've isolated myself because I literally have no other choice if I want to protect my own peace. Because best case scenario, whoever asks me to work together today is just too lazy to invest in themselves. They don't want to learn how to arrange, mix, or do any of the hard work, so they just want to piggyback off my skills to cover up their own gaps. I am done being a pawn. I just want a community of artists who actually want to build a genuine, equal musical partnership. But honestly, that kind of thing probably doesn't even exist anymore.
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