Modern-day artists frequently talk about suffering for their art, with tales of a hand-to-mouth existence, indifferent audiences and exploitative entrepreneurs.
But such grievances pale alongside the pains of Tuvan singer Sainkho Namtchylak, who once spent two weeks in hospital after being attacked for practising an art that many of her compatriots believe belongs exclusively to men.
The attack - which took place in 1997 in Moscow, where Namtchylak first lived after leaving her home country - shocked international music circles. Namtchylak's skills are in the ancient Tuvan art of khoomei, a form of throat singing that allows the vocalist to produce melodic notes and a low drone at the same time. She's been warmly received around the world, but condemned by conservatives in her home country. Detractors complain that she's breaking a traditional taboo that says khoomei makes women sterile.
Conservative nationalists have also criticised Namtchylak's decision to base her career abroad, which some say has forced an age-old cultural tradition to kowtow to a largely western musical imperialism.
But although some of the so-called world music produced in recent years leaves ethno-musicologists aghast - from sitar-infused, pseudo-Bollywood dance music to the bland erhu-pop of the mainland's 12 Girls Band - Namtchylak's music stands up to serious critique.
Her choice of collaborators has also ensured that her work is challenging. Rather than fusing her khoomei with the skills of the average pop producer or techno boffin, Namtchylak has worked extensively with avant-garde musicians worldwide, such as saxophonist Evan Parker and turntablist Otomo Yoshihide.
She has also worked with fellow non-western musical travellers such as Djivan Gasparian, a maestro of the Armenian duduk oboe, and Japanese stage veterans Hakutobo and the Butoh Dance Theatre.