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Abstract

w.verywellmind.com/what-is-art-therapy-2795755">improve our health</a>, including the mental one.</p><p id="a915" type="7">Expecting free labour is absurd. Everyone should get paid, regardless of their chosen field.</p><h1 id="f9d4">Imagine Being Shamed for Expecting a Salary</h1><p id="5fbd">I’m a banker. Imagine someone telling a banker they should be ashamed for expecting their hard work to be compensated. Imagine a potential employer telling a banker they can work for exposure. Imagine me, a mortgage specialist, working 40 hours a week — a reasonable amount of time for an artist to finish a painting — and not getting paid for it. Why would anyone pay me? I can totally feed myself with exposure!</p><p id="3eae">Electrician, superintendent, teacher, police officer, miner, cashier, veterinarian — let’s expect all these individuals to work for free. We should offer all of them exposure instead of a paycheck, and harshly criticize if they dare to ask for money!</p><p id="619b">In a society, we trade our skills and time for money. Then, we use that cash to pay our bills. When was the last time you paid your phone bill with the endless gratitude from people enjoying your art? Have you ever bought food worth a promise of becoming famous and changing the art world? Or did you pay for your car with exposure?</p><p id="07da">This behaviour is ridiculous and should not take place.</p><h1 id="69ba">Everyone Deserves to Get Paid for Their Work</h1><figure id="d9ff"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*b9dzjFagqfogl5sl3mMWiA.jpeg"><figcaption>Licensed via <a href="https://www.freepik.com/home">Freepik</a></figcaption></figure><p id="580d">Expecting free labour is absurd. Everyone should get paid, regardless of their chosen field.</p><p id="a055">Now, if someone decides to volunteer their time and complete a project without pay — that’s a different story. The key factor here is that person’s decision to work for free. Pushing the demand to work without money onto someone is unreasonable and unethical. Suppose you choose to volunteer for a good cause — amazing. Otherwise, tell them you accept both credit cards and e-transfers.</p><p id="76f4" type="7">We should stand up for anyone who becomes at risk of getting exploited by the system. This isn’t right, and it shouldn’t be this way.</p><h1 id="6f66">You’re Not a Sell-Out for Accepting Sponsors</h1><p id="e87b">If you see an artist on social media posting a sponsored message, it doesn’t make them a sell-out. It ma

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kes them an entrepreneur. It means they are a professional deserving of compensation for collaborating with brands. Or is every production company that accepts brand deals a sell-out? Is every channel that runs commercials a sell-out too?</p><p id="2a63">Every work is a part of a business. Some of us happened to be salaried employees, while others are independent contractors. You don’t hire a painter to paint your home and then accuse them of <i>selling out</i> when you receive an invoice. So, why someone drawing your portrait or designing a digital product is selling their soul and disrespecting the mastery of art?</p><h1 id="bfb3">Instead of Attacking Artists, Be Happy for Them</h1><p id="43d2">I’m genuinely happy every time I hear a sponsored message on YouTube. It means that my favourite Youtuber — and I have quite a lot of them — became successful to the point of getting brand deals. It also means that all the work they put in — often for low compensation, possibly even for free — finally paid off. I also don’t mind seeing ads when I visit websites, despite how annoying they are. It means that the bloggers I read started earning income from their content as well!</p><p id="126f">In our society, where young professionals are used for their labour, artists experience exploitation twice as hard. Many of us may get offered unpaid internships quite rarely, while artistic people experience free-labour offers all the time.</p><p id="418d">Every time an artist gets paid for their craft, it’s a small win.</p><p id="8f96" type="7">Your work is important. Your time is important. Don’t ever work for free, unless you choose to.</p><h1 id="e181">Stand Up for Artists</h1><p id="5b74">I’m not encouraging anyone to start a protest or spring into activism. Having that said, we should stand up for artists more often. Similarly, we should stand up for anyone who becomes at risk of getting exploited by the system. This isn’t right, and it shouldn’t be this way.</p><p id="081c">Artists getting no pay shouldn’t be welcomed or perpetuated by society. Just like every one of us wishes to receive a paycheck, they are not different. The idea of free labour should have died a long time ago. But in since it hasn’t, we need to help eliminate this trend.</p><p id="6c27">Your work is important. Your time is important. Your expertise is essential. Don’t ever work for free, unless you choose to. If someone shames an artist for earning money, the shamer should be the one to get criticized.</p></article></body>

Stop Shaming Artists for “Selling Out” — They Deserve to Get Paid

Expecting someone to work for free is preposterous

Artists are all around us. Everyone knows many people who identify as artists — it’s quite a popular career path. Every Medium writer is an artist: we practice the artistry of writing, poetry and linguistics. Each of us knows a photographer, a makeup artist, a dancer, and possibly an actor. Even if you’ve never encountered a calligraphist or caricaturist, those people exist as well.

Unfortunately, a very toxic trend of artist-shaming has had a place in society for many years. Apparently, if you expect compensation for your work, people consider you to be a sell-out. According to them, art should be free. Why? There is no response to it because the answer is no. Art should NOT be free.

As a writer, you may have encountered such behaviour. Has anyone ever stated you should not be getting paid for your writing? Was there someone who offered you an unsolicited opportunity to write for free to gain exposure? If you answer “yes” to either one of these questions, you know how demeaning and damaging this trend is. I would like to discuss why this is wrong.

The World is Full of Artists

There are many artistically gifted and talented people around the globe. The society enjoys countless fruits from the artistic tree, whether it’s an animated Pixar movie, a historical building on the street or a new Instagram layout. Regardless of people being aware or not, art is crucial in our lives.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, there are 2.1 million artists in the United States. They may only make up 1.4% off the workforce, but that is still a significant number of people. Every single one of them chose their craft for a reason: they love what they do, they are good at it, and they want to use their skills to gift something beautiful to others.

Artists are essential in our lives. They change it for the best, being able to make us happier and even improve our health, including the mental one.

Expecting free labour is absurd. Everyone should get paid, regardless of their chosen field.

Imagine Being Shamed for Expecting a Salary

I’m a banker. Imagine someone telling a banker they should be ashamed for expecting their hard work to be compensated. Imagine a potential employer telling a banker they can work for exposure. Imagine me, a mortgage specialist, working 40 hours a week — a reasonable amount of time for an artist to finish a painting — and not getting paid for it. Why would anyone pay me? I can totally feed myself with exposure!

Electrician, superintendent, teacher, police officer, miner, cashier, veterinarian — let’s expect all these individuals to work for free. We should offer all of them exposure instead of a paycheck, and harshly criticize if they dare to ask for money!

In a society, we trade our skills and time for money. Then, we use that cash to pay our bills. When was the last time you paid your phone bill with the endless gratitude from people enjoying your art? Have you ever bought food worth a promise of becoming famous and changing the art world? Or did you pay for your car with exposure?

This behaviour is ridiculous and should not take place.

Everyone Deserves to Get Paid for Their Work

Expecting free labour is absurd. Everyone should get paid, regardless of their chosen field.

Now, if someone decides to volunteer their time and complete a project without pay — that’s a different story. The key factor here is that person’s decision to work for free. Pushing the demand to work without money onto someone is unreasonable and unethical. Suppose you choose to volunteer for a good cause — amazing. Otherwise, tell them you accept both credit cards and e-transfers.

We should stand up for anyone who becomes at risk of getting exploited by the system. This isn’t right, and it shouldn’t be this way.

You’re Not a Sell-Out for Accepting Sponsors

If you see an artist on social media posting a sponsored message, it doesn’t make them a sell-out. It makes them an entrepreneur. It means they are a professional deserving of compensation for collaborating with brands. Or is every production company that accepts brand deals a sell-out? Is every channel that runs commercials a sell-out too?

Every work is a part of a business. Some of us happened to be salaried employees, while others are independent contractors. You don’t hire a painter to paint your home and then accuse them of selling out when you receive an invoice. So, why someone drawing your portrait or designing a digital product is selling their soul and disrespecting the mastery of art?

Instead of Attacking Artists, Be Happy for Them

I’m genuinely happy every time I hear a sponsored message on YouTube. It means that my favourite Youtuber — and I have quite a lot of them — became successful to the point of getting brand deals. It also means that all the work they put in — often for low compensation, possibly even for free — finally paid off. I also don’t mind seeing ads when I visit websites, despite how annoying they are. It means that the bloggers I read started earning income from their content as well!

In our society, where young professionals are used for their labour, artists experience exploitation twice as hard. Many of us may get offered unpaid internships quite rarely, while artistic people experience free-labour offers all the time.

Every time an artist gets paid for their craft, it’s a small win.

Your work is important. Your time is important. Don’t ever work for free, unless you choose to.

Stand Up for Artists

I’m not encouraging anyone to start a protest or spring into activism. Having that said, we should stand up for artists more often. Similarly, we should stand up for anyone who becomes at risk of getting exploited by the system. This isn’t right, and it shouldn’t be this way.

Artists getting no pay shouldn’t be welcomed or perpetuated by society. Just like every one of us wishes to receive a paycheck, they are not different. The idea of free labour should have died a long time ago. But in since it hasn’t, we need to help eliminate this trend.

Your work is important. Your time is important. Your expertise is essential. Don’t ever work for free, unless you choose to. If someone shames an artist for earning money, the shamer should be the one to get criticized.