Creative Business Wrap – August 2025

How many mistakes have you made this month? I was thinking about this when a friend rang me to ask for my advice on what to do after a fairly major boo-boo. I can’t give the game away for the sake of confidentiality and protecting the embarrassed, but suffice to say it involved the widespread distribution of something that was meant to be paid for. Suddenly and irreversibly.

As we talked through remedial actions to take, I let my friend know that earlier that day, I discovered I’ve been double-paying my car insurance for the last few months. And shortly after, I heard the story of an event producer who had printed paper wristbands for entry and didn’t realise until the gig had started that they were easily photocopied. Oops.

We all get things wrong occasionally, and it sounds trite to call these “learning experiences”. However, making mistakes is, literally, a learning strategy. In Benedict Carey’s book How We Learn, he gives the example of actors learning their lines by reading the script, putting it down, reciting their lines and then returning to the script to see how close they were. The more they do it, the fewer mistakes, the closer to memorising their lines.

And to prove it can happen to even the most successful of creatives, take a listen to the story of a PR stunt that went spectacularly wrong on Snap Judgement’s podcast about the #Rhiannaplane. The scale of that SNAFU will make anyone feel better.

A recent piece by Tom May for Creative Boom, “Does the creative industry have an ageism problem?”, surveyed creatives globally, revealing a pervasive yet often unacknowledged pattern of ageism. It’s rarely explicit – you won’t find “must be under 40” in a job ad – but it’s hidden in plain sight, impacting pay bands, branding, and even who gets a second interview.

Graphic designer Federico Lenzberg articulated the “Catch-22” many face: going from “not enough experience to having too much,” which is often code for being “too expensive” or “not the right cultural fit”. Marketing and design expert Keith Barker has observed this, noting a distinct lack of designers over 50 in studios, unless they are freelancers, because “agencies don’t want to pay senior wages”.

The bias isn’t always subtle; it can be “baked into the very structure” of creative industries. Squarespace website designer Dana points out that many support initiatives for new artists, such as grants, exhibitions, and residencies, have age limits of “39 or less”. Artist Jen Leo finds this ironic, having taken “15–20 years to develop a level of craft, creativity and professionalism” only to face being “too old at 40” for some opportunities.

Despite these challenges, some refuse to be deterred. Artist Angela McAuley declared she’d continue her practice regardless of ageism, saying, “They will have to prise that paintbrush out of my cold, dead mittens”. Ultimately, though, creativity isn’t limited by age, and genuine innovation requires valuing experience as “an asset you can’t teach, and a perspective you can’t fake”.

“Lego for Business”: The Rise of Low-Code

In “The Rise of the Everyday Entrepreneur”, Gary Dushnitsky and Aine Doris of London Business School outline how low-code platforms like Shopify are dramatically lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship.

Traditionally, launching a venture has required significant technical expertise, substantial capital, and elite connections. Now, with platforms like Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce, aspiring entrepreneurs can build fully functional websites and digital storefronts using simple “drag-and-drop tools,” akin to “digital Lego for business”. The benefits are compelling: no need to hire tech expertise, low costs and scalability built in.

The low-code market is projected to skyrocket from $37 billion in 2015 to $264 billion by 2032. Crucially, this shift primarily benefits historically underrepresented groups. A study by Bryan Stroube and Dushnitsky found that neighbourhoods with a 1% increase in Black residents saw a 3% increase in Shopify-powered new ventures. Dushnitsky asserts that these tools are “redefining who participates in the entrepreneurial economy,” enabling people from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to “stake their claim in the digital economy”. This isn’t just about “side hustles”; many are real, scalable businesses contributing to economic development in overlooked communities.

Protecting Creative Rights in the AI Era: The Copyright Debate

A critical conversation for Australian creatives is detailed in “Stealing from artists won’t make Australia richer. Here’s why” by Josh Bornstein and Sophie Cunningham in the AFR, which directly addresses the Productivity Commission’s controversial proposal regarding copyright laws. The Commission’s report, “Harnessing Data and Digital Technology,” proposes a legal exemption that would permit tech companies to utilise the work of authors and other creatives for training their AI models without requiring permission or payment.

The Commission argues this exemption would prevent hindering innovation and an “AI-induced productivity explosion,” which Bornstein and Cunningham contend is a naive acceptance of “industry spruikers and boosters”. Critics, such as Lucy Hayward of the Australian Society of Authors, argue that “a fair market requires a fair exchange,” particularly given the billions that tech corporations are expected to earn from AI offerings. For most writers, copyright provides economic rights, and a text and data mining (TDM) exception would undermine this, equating to “wage theft for creatives”.

Promisingly, solutions are being explored. The CSIRO, for instance, is developing methods to subtly alter content, making images unreadable to AI models, with the potential to be applied to text as well. Australia’s Copyright Agency has also created a license for businesses to use news and media. The authors stress that “it is possible to develop AI tools that ethically support productivity,” ensuring that “ripping off artists doesn’t have to be”.

Unpacking the Class Problem in the UK Video Games Industry

An eye-opening piece by Laura Cress for the BBC, “Does the UK video games industry have a class problem?”, sheds light on an often-overlooked barrier to entry and progression in the sector. Chris Goodyear, a producer highlighting accessibility barriers, expressed concern that the industry “could end up going the way that theatre has, and become a very privileged thing”.

This issue was on the agenda at Develop:Brighton, where the first meet-up for working-class and low-income people in the UK games industry was held, organised by the non-profit Into Games. Declan Cassidy, who founded Into Games six years ago to support “underrepresented people more broadly,” narrowed their focus to social mobility because they found “there weren’t really any other champions” in that area.

A 2024 Into Games report revealed a “really high number of people in working-class and low-income backgrounds coming through existing game educational pathways,” but “not many of them actually completed that journey and got jobs,” indicating they are “being failed at the last hurdle”. The report highlighted key barriers, including location, access to finance, reduced cultural capital, and a lack of networks.

A striking 59% of participants reported feeling “othered” in their careers. Will Luton, founder of Village Studio Games, shared his experience of “overt discrimination” due to his class, often having to “mask” or “rework” his speech to conceal his origins. A reminder that emerging creative industries aren’t immune to old prejudices.

The Precarity of Freelance Work in the Creative Industries

For many creative professionals, freelancing offers flexibility; however, it also presents significant challenges, as outlined in a recent analysis by Heidi Ashton. The labour markets for freelancers often involve “multiple layers of hidden hierarchy,” where “freelancers and sub-contractors can be employed to hire the freelancers below them”. This can make it incredibly difficult to report exploitation, particularly regarding protected characteristics like race, disability, or pregnancy, due to fear of losing work.

Unfortunately, many freelance workers perform “work for free” to “get a foot in the door, or to please those employing them by doing additional work. Late, delayed, and non-payments are also common, leaving freelancers out of pocket. The competitive nature of freelance work means many accept lower fees, hoping they will increase over time.

Freelancers also lack access to holiday pay, regular working hours, and support during periods of underemployment. Many manage multiple side-hustles, which can be exhausting. The cumulative impact on mental health is significant, with The Film and TV Charity finding that 64% of workers (64%!) in the sector, particularly freelancers and younger age groups, consider leaving due to poor mental health.

Despite these hurdles, many freelancers find the work rewarding, feeling a “collective sense that, although it’s tough, they wouldn’t want to do any other job”. I’m not sure if that’s encouraging or terrifying.

Rarify: Revolutionising Furniture Design with History and Sustainability

Finally, something which might put a dent in your credit card, particularly if you’re a fan of classic furniture design.  Adrian Madlener examines the success of Rarify in Metropolis Magazine, asking, “Can Rarify Revolutionize the Design Industry?” This e-commerce platform is finding that the vintage furniture market is lucrative online.

Cofounder David Rosenwasser began his journey early, flipping finds on eBay and amassing a robust collection of mid-century American designs, which eventually formed the genesis of “D Rose Mod” and later, the Rarify ecosystem. His partner, Jeremy Bilotti, brought a blend of creative interests, combining science and technology, having studied architecture at Cornell and developed an appreciation for research and education.

Instagram has been powerful for Rarify, organically attracting over 200,000 followers with reels that explore design, cultural significance, and technical innovation. In just a few years, Rarify has built a formidable digital archive of over 5 million interconnected data points on materials, hardware, and manufacturing techniques, which they plan to make public. From a sustainability perspective, Rarify aims to demonstrate the impact of revamping and repurposing items. Bilotti notes a “growing appetite not to see this material go to waste”.

Personally, I like the Eames Lounge and Ottoman for a cool $US55,319. Can I blame that on a purchasing error? They’ll have to prise that design classic out of my cold, dead mittens. 😊