You may often hear the cliché remark among true artists that saying, “I don’t want to be popular, I only want to express myself in my art. If someone likes it, fine, and if no one likes it, fine still!”
You might have heard this more often said by indie artists, and it seems that they are really convinced that they don’t need recognition from others. You may almost come to this conclusion too, and may have almost convinced yourself that it may be right. On the other hand, it is hard to swallow the idea that an artist should die unknown and unrecognized.
But are these indie artists just deluding themselves when they say they don’t need public adulation? Deep inside their hearts, they may also be wanting public appreciation and recognition. Yet, when you think of these artists, you should also remember Vincent Van Gogh, whose works were unappreciated because they appeared to be incongruous and anachronistic during his lifetime.
With Van Gogh in mind, you would be doubly convinced that a true artist needs no public recognition to be great. Yet, maybe Van Gogh’s work was simply a case of failed marketing strategy.
A Case of Writing a New Song or a New Book
If you are a songwriter, for example, you would naturally want to make your new songs appreciated by other people. Your first tendency, therefore, when writing a song is to ask yourself “Will this song be liked by other people?”.
But that is definitely not a good starting premise when writing a song, for it would seem as if you are simply acting like a people-pleaser, devoid of self-respect and beliefs.
Similarly, if you are a writer, your first thought when you set your hand in writing would be to figure out if your idea will be marketable. Hence, with that starting premise, you usually set forth writing a book that you want readers to appreciate. Once you submit your book to a publisher, however, you would further hear the question “Is it marketable?”.
For this reason, it would seem that many so-called “true artists” are really seldom creating pure works of art. Their works are often tinged with the question “Is it marketable?”.
Pleasing the Search Engine
This overhanging desire to please others also comes to the fore when you engage in making a website. If you are a web designer, for example, you would seldom create a website that is not patented. When I say “patented,” I mean it doesn’t deviate from the usual patterns that would please search engines like Google.
On the other hand, in your effort to please Google as a business owner, you would immediately visit BestSEOCompanies.com where you would find the list of top SEO companies to hire at present. One of these SEO companies can send you an SEO expert to help you pattern your site according to what the almighty Google really wants your website to be.
These SEO companies have an in-depth insight into Google’s algorithms and they could surely provide you with a patented website that is pleasing to Google’s ranking system.
Of course, you can be a bit artistically rebellious with your site, but you also need to stay within the patented range; otherwise, your website may end up at the bottom of the SERP even if it is artistically wrought. Moreover, artistry with regards to web design sometimes has to be subservient to the patented norms.
But when it comes to book writing or songwriting, I think you should please yourself and should not so much consider what others would say about your work. If you start with the thought of pleasing the target market, you are simply just a marketer and not just a true artist.
What do you think? Comment below!
Haseeb Uddin says
I appreciate your efforts in writing such a detailed post – Thank you keep posting!