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Artists’ incomes continue to stagnate: what will shift the needle?
This month, Creative Australia released the latest iteration of David Throsby’s ongoing research into artists’ incomes. This issue, Artists as Workers, the first in six years, was co-authored with Katya Petetskaya. It shows that the average annual income for artists is $55K, and that hasn’t really shifted since the research started back in 1987.
That’s fairly dispiriting given that, as the report says, a lot of time and resources have gone into helping creatives with their business skills. The report presents some mixed data on how artists measure their own skills in business – 51% say their career management skills are good or excellent, 45% say they’re good or excellent at managing cash flow and 40% rate their business set-up skills the same. But, as I argued on a Creative Australia panel last week, these are all skills focused on maintaining business, not increasing income. And if we look at the skills needed to do that – say, sales for example, the report shows that 72% of artists don’t feel they’re strong enough in that area.
If we want artist incomes to grow, we should try showing them how. And I reckon that means instilling some of the entrepreneurial skills focused on growing revenue: opportunity spotting, resource gathering, and making a profit. How about a pilot program where we start introducing these skills to artists and seeing how they respond? Let’s face it – after 37-odd years of next to no movement on artists’ incomes, it’s worth a shot.
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Arts training organisations get a funding boost.
It was a pretty sparse Federal budget for the creative industries this year, except for one sizable exception: the announcement of an additional $115M over 4 years for Australia’s arts training institutions. Having struggled from COVID’s impact on the higher education sector, this group that includes NIDA, AFTRS and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, were facing some tough financial choices so this is a good result.
I was particularly pleased to hear that our client NAISDA – the national school for Indigenous dancers – got an extra $13M over the next four years. They got in touch during the budget bid process and Sharpe Advisory helped whip their numbers and their arguments into shape, but it was their vision and commitment to Indigenous culture which really shined through. Well done to Kim, Debra and the all the team there!
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Independent dancers speak out
While we’re talking dance, this report on the Independent Dance Sector in Australia contains some insights that are also relevant to other performance sectors. The report is based on interviews with 114 independent dancers and choreographers, and predictably many of their concerns are around inconsistent rates of pay, lack of career pathways, limited access to professional development, and a lack of understanding of and access to business/administrative support and resources.
The report recommends creating a peak body to represent independent dancers and a resource bank of practical samples and templates that are relevant to their work, such as sample grant applications, agreements, invoicing templates, marketing guides, pitch documents, etc. Their longer-term recommendations include the establishment of a centralised information-sharing platform, collaboration across sectors, and establishing a charity to seek philanthropic donations. I know from working with independent dancers that it’s one of the hardest creative sectors to make it in, and they often don’t get the business skills training Throsby refers to in his report. This survey is a good start for the advocacy needed.
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Virtuous VR
Virtual reality (VR) is one of those tech innovations that, beyond game consoles, has struggled to make an impact in the mainstream. VR businesses often have to have a well-developed corporate/government arm to support their games/content-making ambitions. Often, that work has interesting social applications.
For instance, I was interested to read this article about how VR is being used to train police officers in North Wales to have empathy for victim-survivors of emotional abuse and coercive control. The VR training sessions transport officers directly into the shoes of those experiencing coercive control with actors playing out scenarios based on real-life accounts. The trainees experience the signs of coercive control, including love bombing, gaslighting, and stonewalling. The producers say this immersive training is more effective than just video as it works on the brain’s limbic system and has a visceral impact.
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Instagram changes the algorithm again
The latest algorithm changes to Instagram are getting mixed responses according to this article in Creative Boom. In recent years Instagram has prioritised video over images, which has disadvantaged creators of photography, prints, and digital art.
With this latest change, Instagram will prioritise original content over reposted material, which it claims will give smaller creators more opportunities to reach new audiences. Some argue that it will then disadvantage accounts that put a lot of effort and skill into curation, which in turn gives smaller creators access to much wider audiences. The article quotes a wide range of artists, and the overall theme is that they have lost faith in the platform. Digital burnout is real and chasing clicks on so many different platforms doesn’t seem to be giving tangible results for many content creators.
The author neatly links to one of her previous articles, “How to promote and build your creative business without using social media,” in which she recommends old-fashioned IRL (in real life) networking, sending emails, building up your blog or website, and using SEO. How is social media working for you at the moment? Are you getting the bang for buck you’re looking for?
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2023 was a good year for our documentary makers
Mullet-lovers rejoice: did you know that the documentary Farnham: Finding the Voice is the highest-grossing Australian Documentary feature ever? Four of the top 10 Australian films in 2023 were documentaries so cinema-goers are showing there’s an appetite for homegrown docos despite the cost of living crisis and the plethora of viewing options available at home.
Screen Australia’s summary of the key takeaways of the 2024 Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is broadly optimistic about the future of documentary-making in Australia. Opportunities are arising from the emerging subscription-based revenue models especially FAST channels (Free Ad-Supported TV) and the global market is opening up to Australian doco content, as long as it’s not too “inward-looking” One of the business risks facing producers is that it’s the norm now that agents and distributors to want to see a rough cut before committing to a film and this puts pressure on producers to cash flow much of the production cycle. That’s a really challenging change to the business model, so I’ll be interested to hear how doco makers are managing that one.
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Resources
- The National Association of Visual Arts (NAVA) presents a free online session where industry experts will tackle legal and ethical tensions at the intersection of AI and arts practice. Register here – one left on May 29.
- Screen Australia has compiled a comprehensive glossary of terms used in the screen industry, many of them relating to business and finance.
- The much-debated Stage 3 tax cuts are coming, and with them, a little more in everyone’s take-home pay. The official ATO blurb on it is here.
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Things to do this month
- Do you have an end-of-financial-year offer for your customers that will boost cash flow? How about a discount code for ticket sales for those who attended your last event or an exclusive event for supporters?
- Nearly tax time, so have a planning meeting with your accountant (always fun!) Lean into these, and see what you can save money on in FY25.
- Cost of living is biting everyone. What non-cash benefits could you offer staff that support wellbeing and loyalty? Think about extra leave and any work place perks you can use to sweeten your deal.
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