Following the release of their fourth studio album on Friday Nov. 9, American rock band Imagine Dragons went viral, but not because of their album’s success. Instead, the group was the focus of a joke, being branded as the new Nickelback, a band with a long history of being mercilessly mocked.
Imagine Dragons front man Dan Reynolds came to Nickelback’s defense in a series of tweets on Sunday Nov. 11, but more importantly pointed out the effect that senseless trolling and bullying takes on musicians. It is critical that music consumers consider the mental health of artists and think twice before harassing them online.
“[P]eople are people. celebrities are people. artists have super high depression and anxiety rates. they already are insecure. the industry needs critics, absolutely,” Reynolds tweeted. “[I]t’s helped me re-examine my craft and grow. [W]e don’t need bullies and personal cutting insults thrown at anyone.”
In the most straightforward way possible, Reynolds pin-points one of the biggest issues in the industry: there is a difference between constructive criticism and prejudiced offenses. While artists are obviously eager to receive strong reactions when they release new work, it is not an invitation for listeners to attack the musicians as people.
A recent survey conducted by Help Musicians UK found that “of 2,000 musicians interviewed, 71 percent experience anxiety and 68.5 percent deal with depression,” according to Variety. “Musicians are sensitive and emotionally cognizant, and these issues are so often exacerbated for those who live in the public eye and whose struggles are amplified by fame and social media scrutiny.”
Between pressure from record labels, managers and society in general, musicians often find themselves with nowhere to turn to other than their songs. With the stigmatization of mental health and seeking of services, many diagnoses go untreated.
Thankfully, organizations like the Arts Wellbeing Collective are working to counteract the negative effects of fame on musicians’ mental health.
“The program seeks to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for performing arts workers, arts organizations of all shapes and sizes, and the industry as a whole,” according to the Arts Wellbeing Collective.
Despite all of the ways organizations such as this one can improve the situation, they cannot stop the destructive actions of music consumers who fail to consider musicians as human beings. When burdened with crippling depression or anxiety, artists feel that there’s no escape. The last thing artists need is to be personally attacked by faceless trolls on the internet.
“To be [an artist] we have to be vulnerable, we have to give of ourselves, hugely, we have to allow ourselves to feel an array of emotions—some of them good, some of them really difficult,” operatic soprano and psychologist Greta Bradman told The Guardian.
What many non-musicians fail to recognize is that musicians are not required to open up to us. They are not in debt to music consumers; they owe us nothing. We often take them for granted and assume that we deserve to be privy to every aspect of our heroes’ lives. It’s the reason tabloids fight for exclusive interviews and we hang on every word they say.
Reynolds was really onto something. “[P]eople are people.” We are not entitled to the private lives of musicians any more than we deserve to know about what goes on in our neighbor’s house. We do not get to lash out and attack them when we don’t get the information we want.
Making jokes about people in the public eye anonymously on the internet may seem harmless and something musicians should prepare themselves for, however, we need to consider the possible impact they will have on someone’s well-being.