brain.cpu

I say this in support of artists: a lot of artists are incredibly good at creating art, but terrible at the business of selling it. And I don't mean that as an insult. The reality is that many artists have little to no formal training in business. They're expected to figure everything out themselves, often through trial and error. Market research, identifying target audiences, positioning, pricing strategies, understanding perceived value, negotiating contracts, managing client relationships, customer acquisition, marketing, sales, licensing, intellectual property rights, payment terms, profit margins, cash flow, handling revisions, setting boundaries and knowing when to walk away from a bad deal. These are all legitimate business skills. Entire careers are built around mastering them. Yet we somehow expect artists to know all of this simply because they're good at drawing. So yes, greater transparency around industry pricing would help tremendously. But I think the bigger conversation should be about teaching artists how to actually run a business.