Digital originals and digital copies. Well-presented physicals, and copies of those. Compressed, NFT’d, and Streamed. If marketed the right way these can help build some relevancy and buzz around your name (insert eye-roll emoji). The trends that everyone swarms towards don’t always bear the fruit promised. Unless you’re lucky, and still, the risk remains.
Here’s the catch. Even though everyone understands the risk, no one wants to be in a bad position. I mean that’s the goal, right? To put in all the work, finesse the algorithms, and get all the chips. I get it, we all want to be the winner.
Who’s in the middle though? Who’s laying the foundation for the “winners”? The ones who are content with thriving. Those whose idea of winning looks a little different than the ones winning. They make it seem like everyone wants to be on top. Rarely is the light shone on those who set the bar for what the top looks like by playing the middle.
I hear the reason everyone wants to be on top is the fear of being lost in obscurity. For your name not to be remembered among the greats. We have this obsession with living forever in the west. Like it’s even really possible. The fact is even the “greats” were influenced by someone you’ve never heard of. Someone who stood out in the middle. Made their impact in the shadows unbeknownst to you. Succeeding in a space most feared, and in that space becoming an inspiration to the greats. Keeping some semblance of a soul. Yet still having an impact on your favorite, whoever that may be.
There are those of us who would rather be great amongst the obscure, instead of obscure among the greats. Lost among the ones who won the popularity contest but fell short in integrity.
I love my old sayings, and there’s one that is just as relevant today as the day it was created. “Everything that glitters ain’t always gold.” The things that seem the brightest, the most sought after are sometimes just shiny rocks.
¡Fresh Aesthetic!™ 