Why is now considered the best time ever to be an artist?

This is genuinely the greatest time in history to be an artist because the distribution barriers have been completely removed. Twenty to thirty years ago, being an artist was an extremely tough business—you needed galleries, publishers, agents, and had very limited distribution options. You couldn’t sell globally or launch your own online presence easily. There was no print-on-demand. Fast forward to today: you can build a significant six or seven-figure business from your home, on your own terms, without galleries or agents, selling globally to collectors you find directly. The creator economy has exploded, with major financial firms tracking massive growth in this sector. Social media gives you free distribution to find your audience. The tailwinds and tools are all on the side of individual creators now. Each year it gets better. Artists are making hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars independently, traveling, living the life they want by their own design. This fundamental shift in power to the individual creator is unprecedented.

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Asked by a general teaching point · Answered by Nick Friend and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-06-21