Rick Rubin was asked to give young artists some advice:
“The only advice I have would be to not listen to anyone and to do what you love and to make things that you love,” he said. “Whatever it is, make your favorite things.”
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Rubin, who’s the former co-president of Columbia Records and co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, is among the most prolific music producers we have. After helping the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Run-DMC popularize hip hop, he produced mega-artists in other genres, including heavy metal, alternative, and country. Twenty years into his career, Rubin appeared on Time’s ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ list.
“Be the audience—” he said, “you be the audience. Make the thing for you. And it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks. You can’t make art with someone else in mind. I don’t believe you can. I don’t believe it can be good.”
Copywriting is not art — the way music is art, or painting is art, or literature is art — because while you can’t make art with someone else in mind, you also can’t make an ad without someone else in mind.
Art, ultimately, is a selfish expression:
It’s a product of the creator, her needs, her worldview. Art starts with the person making it — and if others want to be part of it, good.
Copy, on the other hand, is a generous expression:
It’s a product of the audience, their needs and worldview. Copy starts with others, with the market, always.
This is why copywriting great Eugene Schwartz said: “If you want to write poetry, if you want to write prose, if you want to write novels, and if you want to write literature,” he said, “go outside of advertising.”
Because copywriters aren't artists. Copywriters, first and foremost, solve problems.
And if you treat copy like art — putting your personal tastes and desires above the needs of the campaign — you’re doing a disservice to the product and, most importantly, to the people who may need it to improve their quality of life.
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