How Much for Your Eyes and Ears?

Most people have moved past the Super Bowl by now, but I’m still preoccupied with it. I’m not talking about the epic and divisive halftime show or the blowout of a game—I’m fixating on the numbers.

137.7 million people were watching the Super Bowl between 8:00pm and 8:15pm, which was the event’s peak viewership, and the average price tag on a 30-second ad was approximately $8 million. 30 seconds at $17.12 per head. Those are some expensive sets of eyes.

I’ve never been able to garner that much attention in a single moment, but I came the closest I ever have last year. I made a little video about my love for mornings and had one of those cheeky little viral moments that artists, business owners, and lonely teenagers are always chasing. 13.4 million sets of eyes thought my video was worth watching from front to finish. 133,000 people shared it with a friend. 233,000 people saved it so they could watch it again. Do you know how much those eyes are worth?

There’s no check in the mail, but I have been offered compensation in exchange to promote katana swords, Cheech & Chong weed gummies, other artists’ music, and some sort of elixir made out of mushrooms that’s supposed to replace coffee. I don’t want to replace coffee. I love coffee, and I also do not want to turn myself into a living commercial. Some people enjoy that hustle, and I’m not judging, but I wonder if those people ever think about the alternate universe where they’re just compensated for the stuff they make.

It’s weird that some nerd in Silicon Valley decided, “Hey, I don’t think we need to pay anyone. I feel like they’ll just keep making stuff, and then we can run ads, and no one’s going to say anything.” The music streaming services seemed to have the same conversation at their inception, and that seems to be working out great for them too. Not so much for the artists, songwriters, and producers.

I don’t know if that’s actually how it went down, but every time I peel back the curtain on something that feels like it’ll be dark and complex, it tends to just be some nerd being shitty in a very obvious and boring way. I just watched the Madoff documentary fully prepared to gain an education on some high-level Wall Street scamming. Nope—just an evil nerd who told people he invested their money and then just kept it. That’s it. That’s the whole story.

In all of these situations regarding the platforms we all use on the daily, there’s a constant influx of articles exploring the awful new ways in which these behemoths are exploiting creative people. And then there are the wonderful people who fight the good fights, and there are the petitions to sign and then more articles and more fights, and usually some very small wins that are overshadowed by very big losses. And many of these stories talk about how unfair it is that songwriters can no longer make a living or that artists are being taken advantage of, but the one thing I’ve fixated on recently that no article seems to mention is the audience.

Art will continue. Creatives will continue to output under the most absurd and awful circumstances because they have to. It’s an impulse. But we’re making it really, really hard for them to keep doing it. I caught up with an artist friend 10 years younger than me this weekend. He still has juice. He’s not tied down in any way. His music is and was brilliant. I was a genuine fan before I started working with him. But he’s not making music right now, because he was offered a job that afforded him the ability to take care of himself. And guess what? His skin looks clear in a way I don’t recall. His eyes look brighter. He’s taller than I remembered. And I couldn’t help but feel for the audience that is no longer able to receive the gift that this person was given, perhaps the very thing they were born here to create, because the systems that were built to support the process are completely broken and do little more than break spirits.

Some would argue that this Darwinist, cutthroat, survival of the fittest chapter that we’re now in is natural and that the cream rises to the top. My argument is that history has shown us that some of our greatest artists are reclusive weirdos who have no stomach to turn art into a sport. The tenacious warriors may survive, but we’re still losing a whole world of brilliant contributions.

So, here’s my message. If you are a nerd currently sitting in the dark, 6 Red Bulls deep, having not eaten in days, bashing away at a computer keyboard, working on the code for some website, app, device, or scheme that depends upon art and/or artists as its lifeblood…please just remember that last part. Just mainline that last bit into your veins and keep bashing away. Alternatively, if you are that nerd and some cornball is paying you to do it for them…smash your hard drive and run.