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The Death of the Artist
A review of

The Death of the Artist

How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech


Art Doesn’t Pay

by David Meyer

Essayist and critic William Deresiewicz offers a depressingly realistic assessment of the agonies of earning a living as an artist.

Award-winning essayist, critic and bestseller William Deresiewicz warns that big tech only wants to pirate art, so that it can make more money. As a result, artists can’t make a living. The author sees today’s artist as a paid producer. But, he insists, artists must regard themselves as workers and organize to undermine big tech’s cultural monopoly.

Deresiewicz’s analysis pre-dates the pandemic, which further decimated the arts economy, but his overview remains relevant for artists, nonprofit leaders and everyone who cares about art. His promise: Pay artists to make art they love, and they’ll make art you love.