Bullied and Reclusive Musicians

If you’ve ever been in a professional orchestra, you know that the world of music-making can be pretty brutal. Often, musicians can become abusive toward one another for many of the same reasons that they might bully someone on a playground – and it’s not always the conductor who leads this type of behavior.

Some of this abuse is direct and obvious, such as when a conductor yells at his or her section during a rehearsal. But some of it is subtler. For example, there are some musicians who consider their proficiency as a musician to be part of their identity as a person (perhaps due to the fact that they were once bullied themselves). Thus, when a colleague makes comments or actions that are offensive and/or make that person’s musical ability look questionable, they can feel just as much like a personal attack as many of the cruel things you might hear at school.

As a result, some musicians tend to be quite reclusive when it comes to their career. Often, this is because they’ve been burned in the past and have lost faith in the industry. Others simply choose to live in obscurity because they don’t need the money that the limelight can bring and don’t want to deal with the stress and demands that come with it.

Regardless of why, it’s still a shame to see such a talented artist hide their work out of fear. For example, Taylor Swift was a victim of bullying in high school, which might explain why she’s so reticent about her career. But even though she’s one of the highest-grossing artists around, she doesn’t seem to have lost her desire to write music.

In addition, some musicians are いじめられっこでひきこもりのミュージシャン prone to self-destructive perfectionism. It’s often hand-waved as a good thing, but it can easily lead to an obsession in which the idea of perfection becomes not just an objective goal that can be achieved, but also a cornerstone of their personal identity. This is especially dangerous for musicians who are already highly sensitive to how their musical abilities are a reflection of their personhood.

Finally, some musicians are just incredibly shy. For example, the band The Residents rarely gives interviews – only occasionally via email – and has an image of being jovial guys from Louisiana. Then there’s the notorious black metal artist Varg Vickernes, aka Burzum, who never gives any interviews and lives in relative obscurity.

While some of these musicians’ decisions to remain reclusive may have been made out of a desire to protect their careers, most do so because they feel that it’s the best way to maintain control over their music. The problem is that it’s not only a waste of talent, but also an injustice to their fans and the music industry as a whole. Fortunately, more and more musicians are starting to speak up against these kinds of problems. Hopefully, we can all learn from their experience and help to create a safer environment for everyone in the music industry.