

When Iggy Pop can’t live off his art, what chance do the rest have? - ilamont
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/when-iggy-pop-cant-live-off-his-art-what-chance-do-the-rest-have/article21154663/

======
atavistic

      I'm a Very Important Person!
      I park as a V.I.P.
      And when I go to the bathroom...
      I go in the V.I.P toilet.
      And when I wanna change a lightbulb...
      I don't do it myself... 
      Ohh no...
      I have a technician!
    
      'cause I'm a V.I.P.
    
      Now, as I began to become a V.I.P...
      I forgot what i've become a V.I.P for
      I began to grow accustomed to people saying:
      "Right this way sir...drinks are on the house..."
      Flight attendants on airplanes saying:
      "Please...
       Really, I don't wanna bother you sir, 
       but it's such a pleasure to have you on board.
       May I have your autograph... for my... daughter?"
    
      "Yeah baby right after I go to the toilet.
       I'll give you a couple of 'em!
       'cause I'm a V.I.P!"
    
      Now, one thing about V.I.P is,
      they never seem to be alone.
      Oh no.
      The "true" V.I.P must travel with an entourage!
      People who say "Right on boss"
      'cause it's a V.I.P!
    
      Right on boss.
    
      As i began to realise that i had gained V.I.P status,
      worries began to creep in.
      What if one day, i woke up,
      and i was no longer a V.I.P ?
      No more good tables at the restaurants...
      No more strange women smiling and approaching me on the streets...
      No more top notch booty!
      No more entourage to say "Right on boss!"
      I began to have nightmares
      And in my nightmares, I was just a fucking nobody.
      Laying at the beach, imagining myself being a VIP!
      Just like i was before...
      Hearing the applause in my head 
      Beautiful warm embraces of superior members of the female gender...
    
      Of course, when one becomes a V.I.P, one meets other V.I.Ps at social occasions...
      And one inevitably thinks:
      "How shallow and crass these people are!
       They're not down to earth and real like me...
       Ohh no! I'm a very special V.I.P"
    
      Another interesting phenomenon, associated with V.I.P celebrityhood, 
      is the "V.I.P reflection effect", during which 
      anyone associated with the V.I.P, 
      becomes a sort of V.I.P in their own right.
      Such as: 
      "son OF the V.I.P",
      "guitar player FOR the V.I.P",
      "girlfriend WITH the V.I.P",
      "accountants of the V.I.P"
      The maid, the dog, the music publisher...
      All enjoy a sort of 'reflected glory', as in:
    
      "Hi this is Nastea
       I work for Iggy
       And i'd like 6 tables tonight in the V.I.P section
       And he needs passes for everyone
       And free drinks of course in the V.I.P area"
    
      Right on boss.
    
      'cause i'm a V.I.P.
    
      It's also true that when one is a V.I.P, everybody's happy to see you... 
      All the time !
      And there's an implicit rule that a V.I.P must never...
      NEVER
      Be on a bummer.
      'cause everybody expects YOU to make THEIR day
      And they'll all be on to you if you're in a bad mood.
      They will "tisk tisk tisk!" and "mur mur mur mur mur mur...",
      And you will find yourself with the WRONG kind of attention:
      A *DIFFICULT* V.I.P.
      Psychologists tell us that a sense of self-esteem is so necessary in today's world.
      As a V.I.P, I can guarantee you...
      You'll never be alone.

------
aaron695
I find it hard to believe Iggy Pop has not made enough money to live off, plus
some.

I would believe he made large amounts in his heyday, blew it all and now is
'poor'.

But citation needed I guess. He does have a beach house in the Cayman
Islands...

[http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/21/just-so-you-know-iggy-pop-
says...](http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/21/just-so-you-know-iggy-pop-says-id-
rather-be-eaten-by-a-shark-than-die-in-an-old-peoples-home-4672451/)

~~~
terminado
...not to mention that Iggy Pop will never be a homeless dreg, or forced into
a job at Seven Eleven or anything.

...and how many of us never have any hope of living off of "art", right?

Follow your dreams, and the money will just climb right into your pockets,
because lollipops and sunshine.

------
sogen
Artists these days take a long time between records, just compare discogs of
John Lee Hooker [1] and The Beatles [2] versus U2 [3] or Iggy Pop [4]. The
amount of creative output of the first two is astounding, i.e. in his first
five years John Lee Hooker released 25 records; these days artists release
just one record every five years.

[1] [http://www.discogs.com/artist/94557-John-Lee-
Hooker?type=Rel...](http://www.discogs.com/artist/94557-John-Lee-
Hooker?type=Releases&subtype=Albums)

[2] [http://www.discogs.com/artist/82730-Beatles-
The?type=Release...](http://www.discogs.com/artist/82730-Beatles-
The?type=Releases&subtype=Albums)

[3]
[http://www.discogs.com/artist/6520-U2?type=Releases&subtype=...](http://www.discogs.com/artist/6520-U2?type=Releases&subtype=Albums)

[4] [http://www.discogs.com/artist/11073-Iggy-
Pop?type=Releases&s...](http://www.discogs.com/artist/11073-Iggy-
Pop?type=Releases&subtype=Albums)

~~~
collyw
Rhianna seems to churn out plenty of crap on a regular basis.

------
touristtam
I love how we got this eternal argument pushed that music _must_ be art when
this is a non secret most pop artist are fabricated by an _industry_.

------
xkcd-sucks
Getting rich off royalties is NOT PUNK. And if iggy's not punk he doesn't
deserve wealth.

------
Zigurd
How many great artists through history had day jobs? I'd wager it was the vast
majority. If they were lucky it was a teaching job in their artistic field.

IF you have some track record and a good agent, it's possible to make a living
writing tech books. But you would make perhaps five to ten times more by
writing less and consulting more, using the books to support your consulting
pricing.

