2018 — Best time to be a creative artist
On Saturday night at a restaurant that me and few other friends sat for dinner, there was live music. The place we had earlier checked out from had a live DJ night. The restaurant on the floor above ours had a stand up act going on.
The interesting thing about these performers were that these were not professionals. These were amateurs. Some doing this part time as they have their daily jobs in the morning. Unlike Sportspersons, for musicians, singers, standup comedians etc until recently there was no real pathway to being a professional in Hyderabad. Cricketers could play for the age groups followed by club cricket and then hope to see themselves on a domestic level followed by international. For artists, while there were a few chances here and there for upcoming people ,it was too little and too unpredictable.
This has massively changed in the past couple of years. Singers, instrument players, DJs, standup comedians are sprawling everywhere. The rise has coincided with the rise in number of modern restaurants that are opening up in the city. These places are often open to giving a chance to an amateur or semi professional to perform for the night. This has allowed not just those who aspired to rise to higher levels but also to those hobbyists to perform at these places.
The timings and the flexibility allowed in these places allows working professionals to pursue their dreams at night. While this is not a guaranteed pathway to their end goals, it allows them a chance to pursue their talent on a platform with an audience and even get a critical review of their act. It gives them the chance to realize if what they are trying to pursue is worth it or even whether they have the requierd talent to go for it fulltime. Rather than be in a limbo state, they now have the avenues in a practical manner to pursue their dreams without becoming homeless.
It isn’t just performing arts that are thriving at an amateur level. Even writers, both fiction and non fiction have better chances of being published in 2018 than ever before. Modern websites now are more open to giving chances to writers that do not have degrees in arts/literature. There are a lot more websites that now take in freelance work on a per article basis. One can build up a portfolio of such articles that can then be usedwhile applying for a full time job in this field. Working remotely and writing without any constraints allows aspiring writers the flexibility to work and send them to various websites for publishing. This is apart from blogs like wordpress and medium that have been around for a long time to write and share your work.
How can we not talk about social media? Peope from their home are now making videos and are finding a target audience that enjoys them. Be it dance videos, make up tutorials, fitness videos or just dubsmash videos. If you are creative, then all you need is a camera with a phone and upload that first video and see the magic happen. Yes, it will not be as easy to get 50k followers like some of them have or that many views but if marketed well then anything is possible. But more importantly, the entire process is in your hands completely.
A friend of mine and his wife have started making handmade soaps and selling them through instagram. Another school friend does handmade greetings. I bought a wall painting from a friend through facebook. The list of things that can be achieved from the comfort of your home is endless. Whatever your creative talent is or whatever you are passionate about, 2018 is not the time to lament about the lack of chances or a place to shine. Make time. Make merry. If not to be successful, at least to not let your talent drift away without a chance.
