What's the silver lining of COVID for artists?

Despite all the hardship, this disruption is the single best thing that’s ever happened to artists and photographers trying to make a living from their craft. The old exploitative models are being obliterated—the gallery 50-50 splits, the dependence on show circuits, the lack of customer data. What’s emerging is a model where artists hold all the cards: you own your website, you own the customer relationships, you sell directly, and you keep the profits. No pandemic can deprive you of your ability to make a living when you own your entire business infrastructure. Yes, it still requires hard work and consistency, but the potential rewards are dramatically higher than they were under the old system. This is a massive shift of power back to the artist.

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Asked by teaching-context · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-11-18