Depends on who you ask, doesn't it? ("I am the man in the house.
Aren't I, Maris?") One problem an artist runs into, and strangely more and more the
more successful he gets, is that others will start trying to make
his decisions for him. His mother, his friends, his manager, his
fans, his enemies, his critics, everyone will try to make him
do what they believe is the right thing. Perhaps the hardest is with the people you maybe think love you,
and that you owe something. Like your mother. Or your fans. Especially
when THEY believe that you owe them something. Believe me, you
don't owe them anything. At least you certainly don't owe them
your art, or your life. You are the only one who owns your life,
and the moment your art is being directed by someone else, it
becomes ownerless, and valueless to that degree. The fans is a problem. Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned,
but a disappointed fan is a close second. Many fans will think
that they supporting the artist makes the artist owe them. Think
again. That he has used X amount of money and half his life on
your art was HIS decision, and you owe him absolutely nothing
for it. The fear of losing the fans is of course very real to
a popular artist. But consider: slavery is slavery, even when
it is to something generally considered a good thing. And no good
work is done in slavery. In all of life's aspects one's control of one self is invaluable,
but doubly so when the talk is about art. For art, by its very
nature, only comes about by the creation of the artists, and no
one else in the universe can do it for him.
Who's the boss?