Create Authentic Art

Mike Posner shares his perspective on authentic artistic creation, emphasizing that making art that personally resonates leads to better outcomes than trying to create hits. Through his experience as a musician, he learned that chasing success often leads to creating work you hate, while following your artistic truth can lead to unexpected success.

• True Art Comes From Authenticity:

  • "Don't try to write a good song, write a true song and then it'll be good automatically"
  • Making something you personally think is beautiful is more important than making what others might like
  • When trying to create hits or please others, you often end up making something you hate

• The Writing Process:

  • Focus on writing "one true sentence" that's usually vulnerable
  • Songs often come from personal experiences and honest emotions
  • Even if the specific situation isn't relatable (like "taking a pill in Ibiza"), the underlying emotion is universal

• Success Through Authenticity:

  • "I just do what's cool to me and sometimes the whole world agrees"
  • When you make something you don't like, nobody else will like it either
  • You go from a "guaranteed audience of 1 to 0" when trying to please others

• Evolution as an Artist:

  • Being an artist is about growing and being better than you were a year ago
  • Your relationship with art deepens over your whole life
  • Art isn't like sports - you don't peak at a certain age, you can always get deeper

• Connection Over Perfection:

  • Music isn't about hitting perfect notes or doing perfect runs
  • It's about connecting your humanity to another person's humanity
  • "Does this part of my humanity speak to that part of your humanity?"

• Growth Through Vulnerability:

  • The best art often comes from examining painful or uncomfortable experiences
  • If you're scared to write about something, that's often a signal it's worth exploring
  • The deeper you are as a human, the deeper your songs become