Why it's tough to be a artist and make art in the 21st Century

We saw how technology really changed the game for artists in the 20th Century and how innovation birthed so many new genres of art during that timeframe. Unfortunately, technology would soon change to act against the artist in the 21st century. Granted, we are only a quarter in this century so far, so things could turn around. But right now with the state of corporations, AI Technology, and the gig economy, being an artist today is tougher then ever and things only look bleaker from here. Let's dive in what makes this century a toughie.

Man, being an artist is hard in this century!

One of the first weird things about this century is that it feels like we are living in an strange Groundhog Day. There are countless reboots, sequels, and prequels all around you. Have a favorite animated cartoon from the 90's, well it's only a matter of time before it gets dug up and brought back such as Animaniacs or Totally Spies. Granted, remakes were a thing in the 20th century, but the explosion of the re-packaged, re-marketed franchise IP model really took off in the early part of the 21st century. Disney has really gone all in on this idea with their Live Action remakes. One reason for this is it's really easy for companies to bank on nostalgia. Why spend time coming up with an grand new story, when you already have the characters, themes, and setting that people have been to before. All of that innovation and outside the box thinking that happened last century? We can now just recycle it for financial stability.

This make's it challenging for new filmmakers and storytellers arriving to the scene, as many producers and investors want something that is called a "pre-sold property", which means the story is based on a book, comic, previous film, or something with a built-in audience. But what if your screenplay is an really amazing original idea? It might get passed over for a mediocre one that has a large tiktok following. This is what makes it tough for new original ideas to find their footing. Now this might not be a issue of studios were balancing new ideas with safe remakes and reboots, but with the rise of Corporate shareholder greed, companies are all in as making as much money as possible. Which means risky original ideas are mostly out of the window.

The Waifus from your childhood are coming back to haunt in the reboot.

In the decades leading up to this century, we had a ton of economic polices that favor Wall Street, shareholders, and corporate CEO's, which has made a insane economy that is dangerously out of balance. The arts industry is mostly now an freelance gig economy, which makes making your income steady a challenge all of its own. While CEO's like David Zaslav of Warner Bros. make $245 million in a year, they'll barely pay six writers to work on a tv show. Those writers will be lucky if they can find another job after that tv show is finished. The industry has also shifted to flavoring buyouts, where big companies and Hollywood players that require writers and composers to give up all or most rights to their work for an one time payment instead of future royalties. Netflix and other big producers will also target younger artists who aren't in demand, and can't afford to pass on the work or complain about the terms of the contract.

Another major piece of technology which came into play this century was the internet, which was both a blessing and a curse. Now, artists could get their work shared anywhere in the entire world. People from France could check out American artists. Animes made in Japan could find large western audiences and vice versa. But with the internet accessibility came a flood of content. It's even tougher for artist now to escape the flood waters of content and stand out on their own. The field of arts is more competitive than it's ever been before. Another factor is that it's a lot harder to be different this century, after all of the innovation that took place in the 20th century. Try coming with up a new metal genre or style of filmmaking today that has not been done before.

What can we do that hasn’t been done last century?

There is another major threat on the horizon that is slowly approaching to, which is the advances of AI. The Rise of Artificial intelligence will greatly impact the arts. Just stop for a moment, and think of person speaking into their tv "I want a action adventure movie where Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves save a unicorn from Jack Black." and then the TV AI renders out a movie like that. Pretty spooky right? The question of how people will use deepfake AI and protect their likeness will be key factors in how all of this plays out. Right now, Ai is pretty good at recreating voices and art, already threatening employment opportunities. Why hire an voice actor for your book reading when you can just feed it into a AI and have it do it for you. Or if your favorite TV series ends you could ask an AI to make future seasons for you?

Combine Artificial intelligence with a already greedy Hollywood industry, and you can clearly see how this could all play out. We barely pay actors, writers, and composers enough as of right now. Once AI can recreate these assets with ease, which Hollywood Producer is going to pay for real artists when they can get hundreds of generated results in minutes instead of weeks. This very well could be the last Century where a artist, could just be an artist who earns an honest living. Now maybe, AI won't advance this quickly or our government leaders will step in and place safeguards against this. So there is some hope to remain optimistic.

Hey Siri, give me an movie where an hot girl makes out with my likeness in an romantic comedy.

So with all this new technology and corporate greed working against the artist, why even brother being an artist this century when AI takes over everything? Well there are a few key reasons artists won't be going away anytime soon. Art and film making can be therapeutic. A bunch of people gathering together to tell a story won't be the same when an AI just renders something random. Filmmaking is filled with networking opportunities and meeting people you would never met otherwise. Art can also teach you important transferable skills to other aspects of your life. Artists have been around since the beginning of our species, and we won't be going away that easily.