The loss of revenue from live events is only the start of this particular disaster.

By William Deresiewicz: “Artistic careers are also such that you cannot just put them on hold—for three, six, 12, 24 months—and expect to pick up where you left off. Artistic work is project-to-project. Your album or your play can make a splash, but then it is back to square one. Attention and momentum quickly fade and must be constantly regenerated. Many of us are hoping to go back, eventually, to some kind of normal, but for artists, with few exceptions, there is nothing there, no job or position, to “go back” to. You are the job. You are the small business.

… With the rise of free content, spending on the arts has also largely come to be voluntary. The most hopeful financial development for independent artists over the past decade has undoubtedly been the emergence of crowdfunding platforms, especially Kickstarter and Patreon. Crowdfunding is the patronage model updated for the digital age, and it has become a lifeline for creators, a crucial part of many a financial picture. But like all patronage, crowdfunding depends on the existence of benefactors who feel they have the economic breathing room to give.”

Source: The Nation