The Marriage of Art & Money

The Marriage of Art and Money

I had the pleasure of interviewing Yuri Cataldo for my broadcast radio show, “Life Outside the Box.” Yuri is a fascinating individual. A creative soul who early on in his college career spurned a life in engineering for one in the arts, he has a unique talent to help artists and musicians couple their creative juices with entrepreneurial or career pursuits. Yuri is currently working with Emerson College towards implementing a curriculum that helps creative individuals marry art with business.

In addition to working with students in his classes, Yuri has consulted with folks from all age groups, from 18 year olds to retirees trying to reignite their creative passions for their second act. He is particularly excited at the business and entrepreneurship elements to the program that Emerson College offers, noting that, “[this is] not taught in the majority of art programs.”

According to Yuri, several interesting factors present themselves when coupling art with business:

  • The skills that artists and musicians use to create are skills adaptable to the field of marketing. Once an individual learns how to draw upon his or her artistry, they can channel this into finding financial success from their endeavors as well.
  • The younger artists and musicians no longer seem to have the same aversion to “selling out” that previous generations did. Those who have grown up in the Internet world with the omnipresent smart phone are familiar with branding and social media, and see nothing wrong with being compensated for their efforts.
  • Even older artists who have been working at their trade for some time can adapt to the new realities of the music and art business. In my interview with Yuri, he related the story of a musician who learned how to code and created a website. Although he has toured with top-selling pop musicians, he now garners the majority of his revenue from online lessons taught through his platform.
  • Although many artists and musicians wind up as entrepreneurs, the corporate world now finds that it needs the skills that creatives possess. Even large, multinational companies understand that content marketing, telling stories, and branding through art adds to the bottom line.
  • It’s possible to live your passion and make a living at it!

The world of art and business is quite different than it was a mere 10 or 20 years ago. But as Yuri proffered, the artisan will do better to embrace this world rather than fighting it: “what stands in the way becomes the way; you can hit your head against it or find the value in it and learn to work with it.”

You can hear my interview with Yuri in its entirety on Life Outside the Box, broadcast on Thursday, July 14, at 7 PM EDT. If you’re in northeastern Illinois, tune into WRLR 98.3 FM. Or, you can hear the stream at www.wrlr.fm, or download the WRLR app for your Android or Apple device. if you miss the broadcast, it will be available in podcast form on the radio show tab of my website: https://annbabiarz.com/life-outside-the-box/.

And it you want to learn more about Yuri, please visit: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/11/15/emerson-college-creates-entrepreneurship-major-help-arts-graduates-deal-with-economy/2iMDIrExhX4zswL9JxFksL/story.html

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