"Pure Art"

Something I hate about any creative industry is that many people have an instinctive hate of anyone who is a creator, yet stops "doing it for the art and sells out." Many people seem to have this vision of artists as people who are uncaring about money, who just want to create, who want to shape the world and that's all. In many cases this is absolutely correct, but you see, when you want to shape the world through a particular medium and that's all, it means that you either have to find a way to make money off of it, or become immortal and learn to spontaneously bring about the various materials consumed by your chosen medium.

Now don't get me wrong, there are people out there who stop doing something for the love of doing it and start doing it for the money, as well as people who never loved it and just do it for the money right from the start. Hacks like those shouldn't be tolerated, but at the same time it is hardly fair to begin attacking any artist who stops being "indie" and starts going "commercial". Creators need compensation for what they create, and they need more than just recognition, that recognition needs to translate into hard cash at some point or the person has to devote time to doing other things besides their art.

Take me for example. I make videogames, I'm, for all intensive purposes, an indie developer currently working on the game Mystic Empyrean: Rebuild as president and lead producer of Fancy Hat Studios. I could just release the game for free (actually no, I couldn't, due to contracts and legal licensing stuff I have with Brad Talton, the maker of Mystic Empyrean, but ignore that for the moment), but then I have to ask: "How am I supposed to keep running this game? How do I pay those helping me on it?" Obviously I could not, I need to start making money somewhere, and I need to make it in a steady amount rather than depending on charity (this people, is why the government diverts taxes into various good will projects rather than allowing charity to take over 100% like many libertarians wish to happen).

"Pure Art" is all well and good, but chances are that any one who complains about someone "selling out" is simply pissed off at having to actually start PAYING the guy for his creative works, or is pissed off that he hasn't managed to do the same. Harsh, but true never the less. Most often though, I think of these people as simply too stupid to actually put thought into what they're saying, because I'm a nice guy, and I prefer to think that people are stupid rather than malevolent.