There was a time when rock stars roamed the earth. These were larger-than-life characters, semi-human mythical figures – legends. General laws, physical as well as legal, seemed not to apply. 

Excess was not only tolerated but encouraged, and not only in the consumption of various legal and illegal substances but also regarding every other aspect of their lifestyle. A sizeable car collection of vintage sports cars was commonplace, as was living in a castle.

Furthermore, we can mention Led Zeppelin who bought their own Boeing 720, named «the Starship» furnished with a lounge, bedroom, and an organ. Emerson, Lake & Palmer bassist Greg Lake who only performed while standing on a $5K Persian rug, which had its own caretaker on tour. And Fleetwood Mac who hired a 112-piece marching band to record their song «Tusk» at the Dodgers stadium.

When it came to, for instance, creating cover art for the album budgets were not modest. The famous design company Hipgnosis travelled to exotic locations all over the world and they even put stuntmen on fire ( «Wish You Were Here», Pink Floyd) ) for their cover shoots.

Anyway, you get the gist of it. Big Fame. Big Egos. Big Money. For better or worse, today’s reality is very different. Those kids who dream of «living like a rockstar» would be better off choosing a career in tech.

For those who still want to pursue a music career  «there are two paths you can go by, in the long run»  as it says in the song; The road of the virtual or the dusty, charming road of the old ways. We make no preference of one or the other, but the following paragraphs are for those who are considering choosing the former.

A New Reality for Musicians

Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Web3 etc.  It adds up to a virtual world, even if this is a term that does not fully cover all aspects. First off, let’s make it clear that we are not reducing the virtual world to VR (Virtual Reality). We’re not talking about being an avatar in a VR space (even though that could be part of it!). 

French theorists Deleuze and Guattari, suggest that the virtual is the mode of reality implicated in the emergence of new potentials. In other words, its reality is the reality of change: the event. (Brian Massumi, «Sensing The Virtual, Building The Insensible»). So, the virtual is, in fact change, and there is a dilemma in what we can say it is, and what it will become when it changes.

For our purpose, we can focus on only two aspects of the virtual, the fact that it is change and the fact that events also take place in digital environments (like virtual concerts and interactions with fans). We have addressed some of the strategies for musicians on how to make a living in this new reality, but the idea of this text is to talk about the role of a musician in a world in which the rockstar is «dead».

The inspiration from the title here is from «The Death of the Author» by, author, Roland Barthes. His book, published in 1967, attacked the idea that the biography or even intentions of the author mattered when interpreting a text. The parallel to the rockstar is this tendency, and even crucial dynamic, to build a mythology around «The Star». A star is not a star unless the «myths are profound». With no inflated budgets for castles, extreme excess, and stuntmen on fire, myth-making is so much harder. Social Media is not a help either, removing all mystique from the musician/fan relationship, post by post.

Future-proofing Your Music Career

To build a career in acceptance of being an artist in the virtual world, we suggest you pick who you want to be in this milieu.