You might picture a potter differently than I do, but what comes to mind is: Dirty hands, pale faces, impoverished living circumstances, faded clothes, a look of hopelessness.  I see Van Gogh’s famous self-portrait for some reason.  I picture a person feeling cursed that their passion has so few rewards aside from the work itself. 

The image of a musician is quite different: I see tour buses, fashionable clothes, gigs at smoky venues, girls, booze, drugs, flashing cameras.  The life of a musician seems like late mornings and even later nights, a constant smirk at a life so enjoyable…the look of someone committing the perfect crime.

But we all know how untrue that image is in 2007.  Sure, some are still living the “Rockstar” life…but they amount to a single hair on your head.  The rest are, well, more like the potter. 

And in the future, even more will be like the potter. 

I listen to more bands and musicians today than ever before.  Not a day goes by that I don’t discover at least five bands I hadn’t heard of the previous day.  The internet allows me to discover international music, and I’m constantly getting links to radio stations and sites that provide even better ways of listening.

I pay a subscription to a digital music service, but have yet to buy an album.  I’m content streaming one album after the next, heeding the recommendation links to discover more new music.  I don’t feel the need to subscribe to XM or Sirius because the free local stations are sufficient for my drives to and from work.  My iPod is loaded with…well…someone else’s songs.

In essence, each unit of music has dropped astronomically in value.  That’s not to say music is any worse.  Quite the contrary.  Artists benefit from the grand exposure as much as I do.  They develop and shape their sound with far more tools and inspiration than ever before.  But there’s little sense in paying more money for a single album than it costs for a month’s subscription to a service that lets me listen to unlimited songs. 

Some would argue that I should pay for albums I really enjoy, but I don’t understand why.  For charity?

Look at other forms of art like novels, paintings, or pottery.  You pay for books because they take too long to read in the store.  But if you want, you’re welcome to plop down in Barnes & Noble and read away the day.  You can go to museums to see paintings, but if it’s important to decorate your home with art work, you’ll buy a piece at a gallery.  Same with pottery.

Music is an unfortunate art form for musicians in the modern age, because there’s very little to keep me from listening to any album I want, whenever I want, and quite legally as well.  The capabilities are only increasing, too.  When you can get internet access in your car, and use your Rhapsody or Napster account on your phone, you’ll never need to buy an album again, except as an act of charity.

Dave Goldberg, formerly with Yahoo Music, told me at the Digital Music Forum West that the problem Yahoo faces in getting people to pay for music subscriptions is akin to companies like Evian convincing people to buy bottled water.  His point was that people can get free music so easily that convincing them to pay for it, even a mere $10 per month, was the real task at hand.

Yes, we’ve arrived at the point where music is as abundant as water from a shower.  The image of the musician as potter is nearly here.