Why Most Artists Give Up (And How You Don’t Have To)
We all begin because we love the craft.
Whether you’re a DJ, photographer, writer, or electronic music producer — the thrill of creating, improving, and expressing yourself is what pulled you in.
At first, that’s where all your energy goes. You spend months, maybe years, learning your gear, refining your style, discovering your voice. And then you hit a wall.
Because even though you’ve got the skills now, the traction just… isn’t there. You’ve made the thing, but no one’s seeing it.
That’s when most people quit. Not because they’re not good. But because they thought craft was the whole job.
The First Step: Separate the Craft From the Work
This is the unlock. If you want to survive — and thrive — you have to stop thinking of yourself as just an artist. You’re a one-person business.
Here’s the truth:
Craft might be what you love. But Work is what makes it sustainable.
You need both.
But the industry weights them unequally:
- Music industry rewards assets (good music, released properly)
- Social media rewards creativity (strategy, fresh ideas, frequency, engagement)
If you want to do this long-term, you have to build both asset and attention engines. But not at the same time. Not in a panic. That’s burnout.
The Second Step: Decide How You’ll Do the Work
Once you know what the work is, you can decide how you’ll tackle it.
- Will you dedicate one day a week to social?
- Will you release a track every month instead of just stockpiling them?
- Will you set a limit on editing and move on to shipping?
Remember:
The fact that “work” is 80% of your challenge is not a punishment — it’s a signal. That’s how much time and creative energy you’ll need to put into it.
There is one art form where this rule is switched around and that’s with producing. Where you need to spend more time on the craft to create good music, but even then once you’ve created your best work you’ll need to get it into people’s ears. That takes promoting.
Your breakthrough won’t come from waiting. It will come from treating the work as seriously as you do the craft — but with the same curiosity, play, and intentionality.
Art is work.
Every creative hits this wall. The ones who break through are the ones who stop expecting the craft to carry the whole weight — and start building the work around it.
If you’re still in love with what you do, don’t give up. Get strategic. Get structured. And give your art the engine it needs to move.
That often means putting your creative brain into other areas, such as marketing, to sustain your artist career.
Lookout for the next post to walk through how to build a work rhythm that doesn’t burn you out.
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