Integrity and bad work

An artist’s job isn’t to be perfect. It’s to make work that represents them, conveys what they want to express, and that they believe in. Many of my favorite recording artists have written, recorded, and published songs I wouldn’t want to listen to. But I respect them for doing it, because it still feels authentic to them (i.e., it’s “on-brand”), and it was an experiment. Maybe it’s a work in progress that happened to go public. Even if an artist releases a mediocre album, there are probably at least a couple of good songs. I’m glad those two songs are in the artist’s overarching body of work, and that I can listen to them. I don’t need to listen to the other dozen I don’t like. Those are two songs fans wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. It’s plausible that not all of your work will end up as classics. When you make peace with this, you won’t be so tortured by the possibility of making bad work, and let it get in the way of you making good work. When you do make good work, highlight it.…