What is Artist Empowerment?

This term is 🥵.

EMPOWERMENT

"authority or power given to someone to do something." - google

or

"act or fact of being given power or authority." - etymonline

"To empower" is of French descent, 'em' was 'en' used as 'in'. 'Power' has been around for as long as we've been breathing. What then is the modern application of the term 'Artist Empowerment?' My take consists of four contributing factors: Business Competence, Creative Fluency/Access, Self-Realised Progress and, most importantly, a Feeling State.

Business Competence

The music industry is notoriously complex. Stories of artists being screwed are heard far more often than the alternative, yet the narrative all the major labels are transmitting is one of "artist development." Who can argue with such an assertion? Artist development is the process that leads to Artist Empowerment. But this message tastes….salty.

A label offers an artist the ability to decrease their business concerns and direct their focus to their creative endeavours. However, an artist would be historically naive to hand over all business affairs to just anyone. Whether you like it or not, an Artist is a business, and as the Artist (capital A) YOU are the CEO. A CEO does not relinquish operational power, but rather, oversees such. 

To effectively oversee the cogs that turn your business, you need to know a thing or two about the mechanics!

Hence, a level of business understanding is of the utmost importance for an Artist, and you better be sure to acquire such before you find yourself being chased by labels. Don't get me wrong, I think labels are a great tool in empowering your Artist Journey. But tools need an operator, and you need to know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver; a mechanical and a performance royalty; a 360 deal and a non-exclusive recording contract (see here for types of deals, and a bit of an inside scoop from Triple J on the Label Landscape in Australia).

Find an engaging music business podcast ('Your Morning Coffee' is a good fix), a YouTube Maestro (Rick Beato knows a thing or two), a doco or two (couldn't name them all if I wanted), an insightful blog/newsletter (The Music Network here in Aus does the job), or the age-old favourite, a book! (All You Need To Know About the Music Industry). Whatever it is, start exercising your business perspective! When you can talk the talk, you are in a better position to bargain for yourself, or to find people you can trust to do so on your behalf. That is empowering your Artist - to be ready for business when the time comes.

Creative Fluency/Access

Fluency and Access coexist in the world of creative freedom. Can you fluently tap into your creative source? Can speak the language with competence, with trust? Can you unconsciously navigate the waters of creative produce, and access a voice bigger than your own?

I am also a believer in the assimilation of your creativity as a muscle. It needs to be exercised. As with the body, there are a great many ways to work your creative muscle and strengthen them fibres. Improvisation keeps the muscle prepared, like the snap transition into a sprint. Technical practice is the day-to-day grind that keeps the shape, the tone, the peak condition. Playing live is game day, where practice becomes a display. Production is a bit like the personal training session, where you look at the mechanics of the exercise. And so on. 

The reality is, to develop a Creative Fluency/Access you need to actively tend to your creative muscle - exposure therapy in action!

When you are operating with a high level of Creative Fluency/Access, you radiate artistic prowess. It is read by those around you, a confidence and comfort in moments of creative pressure (the diamond-making process). You understand that creativity is something beyond your power, yet as accessible as a light switch. You are always ready to inject your perspective into a project, but do not need to push, or even dig, for such. This freedom of approach to creativity is infectious, and those in the presence of a true creative are also empowered to tap into that same creative source. This is empowerment - when your mere presence is empowering to those around you, when you can offer a creative take on any given project, when you can freely access the spirit of creativity. So make a workout routine and get that creative muscle strong and flexi!

Self-Realised Progress

Progress is hard to observe. Often we feel we are just treading water - and often we are! That is why you need a system, or process, that can help you realise your progress. To even consider movement forward, you need to know where you are. An awareness of how you are operating - what makes up your week - and the unconscious strings guiding your decision-making, is essential. All systems are built on the foundation of your Being, so make that foundation known. This awareness of self in the present moment - your motivational forces, values, strengths and weaknesses - is a major force of empowerment.

The next step is to envision your process moving forward. Progress is inherently future-focused, while Self-Realised Progress reflects on the journey that got you there. To avoid that feeling of treading water, we need well-defined ideas of what progress consists of. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals create pit stops that let us know we are on the right track. Once we have a plan and an understanding of why the plan is of value, how it is working with our foundation and the better version of ourselves we are trying to manifest, then we have a point of reflection. Have I made movement towards the bigger goals? Am I achieving the smaller goals that I have decided lead to said bigger goals? Do these stepping stones still lead to where I want to be, or do I need to update the route in which I travel? These are powerful questions, and powerful questions are tools of self-awareness, and so too, Artist Empowerment.

Without Self-Realised Progress, the artist has no means of justifying their work to their more critical and productive self. The beauty lies in the fact that it is self-defined, and therefore, self-realised. It need not be grandiose streaming numbers, or selling out stadiums (in fact you should avoid goals that are outside of your control!) but simply performing live at an open mic this month with that new song I wrote last month that I think is cool. When you perform that open mic, you will relish in Self-Realised Progress, and that energy empowers your artistry, it propels you forward - perhaps to those grandiose streaming numbers and sold-out stadiums!

STOP!

Write one well-informed goal for your week that you know is of value.

The Feeling State

What is empowerment if not felt to be that? Many times I have been creating moments or actions that should be a force of empowerment, yet they just float by without acknowledgment. The Feeling State of empowerment is the unconscious measurement tool. All forms of competence are a feeling state; to feel you can trust yourself and be trusted when engaging in the music business is part of The Empowered Feeling State. You feel your way through the creative process, as there is no right path, in every moment it changes - to fluently access the process, with a felt sense of ease, is The Empowered Feeling State. 

The feeling of progress occurs when the conscious and unconscious mind are in alignment, where purposeful action leads to The Empowered Feeling State.

If you do not feel happy, you will struggle to put on the mask of happiness. If you are in a rushed mind, you will fail to break the hustle of your day. If you do not feel empowered, you will not act in a manner that projects the best parts of you and your artistry forward - you will not act empowered. There is a cyclical nature to Empowerment, in that core proficiencies such as Business Competence, Creative Fluency/Access and Self-Realised Progress lead to The Feeling State, and vice-versa. That is why it is important to execute tasks that you think will give you Artistic Empowerment, but measure that empowerment based on feel. That feeling can then inform your next set of actions, and so the wheel of empowerment turns!

So what are you waiting for? Empowerment will not just appear. What can you do to develop Business Competence over the next year? How can you exercise your Creative Fluency/Access? When will you give yourself time to reflect and discover Self-Realised Progress? Start today, and tap into that Empowered Feeling State - you owe that to your inner artist.