Last week, Thom Yorke, lead singer of the band Radiohead, pulled his new album from Spotify in protest of the low return artists receive from the music-sharing site. Pandora and other such sites have similar practices, offering music free or for a minimum monthly fee to users while paying the artists a very small percentage of royalties. In return, artists receive exposure to wider and more diverse audiences.
While in theory this strategy should result in increasing CD sales and attracting larger audiences, it hasn’t worked and musicians are struggling to find a way to survive.
Lisa Cole Smith
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So this leaves me wondering — what will happen to disciplined, high-quality artists in this sea of accessible, free music? Will the cream rise to the top or will it be lost in the waves of flavors of the month? Will true artists give up the pursuit of creative activity in favor of surviving in a “real job” or will the field eventually narrow?
The consequences aren’t limited to artists. What about us as a culture? If we don’t support artists who excel in craft, talent and vision, what will we listen to, read and watch? What will shape our imaginations and inspire our own creativity? Will we continue to be satisfied with the fluff of reality TV being numbed into believing that a smart, funny commercial is the most we can expect from any creative impulse?
I think there is an opportunity here. If soon the voices shaping our culture are the ones who can find a way to survive, why not get in on the ground floor? Could Christians become the culture makers of the next decade simply by being willing to pay for it?
It’s happened before. The Church was responsible for keeping the arts and culture alive in the Middle Ages. But this time we could avoid the mistake of being too narrow in our support. Instead of trying to control, we could set them free. What if churches created opportunities for artists to have residencies supporting talented young Christians with gifting and passion to pursue their callings with the full support and backing of the church? Smaller churches could sponsor album recordings or expenses for a tour or practice space using resources that in many cases sit idle much of the week.
While “Christian music” is meaningful for personal and corporate devotion, what if we also supported Christians whose work crosses boundaries? What about instrumental, classical, jazz, etc?
My point is this: if we were able to nurture creative people who are Christians by providing them opportunities for discipleship and Christian maturity while at the same time giving them a support and platform for their work, what kind of impact might we have on our culture? If Christians had an advantage as artists because they were deeply grounded, supported, trained, discipled and funded, what kind of voice would we hear, role models would we see, creative expression would we enjoy? What if we equipped our artists to be prophets and set them loose in the world? Not just to proselytize but to call the world to account by breaking our hearts and moving us to desire the Kingdom by lifting our eyes from ourselves and towards something greater.
I know these ideas are fraught with problems to be solved (who decides what art gets supported, how are artists held accountable for their work, how would a system like this work?) but it’s worth thinking about.
Bemoaning the state of our culture is unproductive. In my opinion so is trying to “win the entertainment world for Christ” by creating subcultures and sub industries.
I heard a story from a pastor in Sweden about television arriving in that country. The Church had the opportunity to be solely responsible for programming but declined because it couldn’t see how Christians could use the medium appropriately. That was a missed opportunity in a country that is now almost completely secular.
We must understand that the arts, creativity and imagination are not luxuries. Artists are not fringe people who are lucky to do fun stuff. They are hard working, disciplined people who help us navigate our world. This current moment is a crisis for musicians, but it will not stay that way. Someone will find a way to support the music of our lives and they will have a major role in determining the song that is sung.
If God has called us to be a part of building his kingdom and we neglect to use the tools that inspire and call to our hearts we will be remiss and we will have no one to blame for the state of our culture but ourselves.
Lisa Cole Smith (lsmith@convergenceccf.net) is pastor of Convergence: A Creative Community of Faith, in Alexandria, Va.