• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    People will spend tens of billions of dollars a year on art, music, literature, cinematography, graphics design, architecture, textiles, you name it. But knowing how to produce these things consistently fails to function as a good source of income.

    Really makes you question where all that money is going.

    • MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network
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      1 month ago

      I’m sure other people have brought up rich people taking a huge share of it already, but there’s also the sheer number of people determined to work in the arts. If there’s, say, ten billion dollars to go around, it sounds like a lot, but if it’s split between a couple of million artists it doesn’t go very far.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        the sheer number of people determined to work in the arts

        There’s a strong demand for artistic talent across a number of lucrative industries. The big question is how much you want to work in advertising and marketing.

        ten billion dollars to go around, it sounds like a lot, but if it’s split between a couple of million artists

        Tens of billions. Cinema ticket sales in the US alone grossed $10.6B in 2023. Music revenues were another $11.7B. Meanwhile, you’re talking about a workforce on the scale of around 400k people domestically, as recently as 2024 (a big rebound after COVID knocked the number down to the low 300ks). And that’s including a bunch of part-time work, like the role of extras and part-time screenwriters.