Arts and Culture Barometer 2024

The purpose of the Arts and Culture Barometer is to annually monitor and highlight the views of artists regarding current issues and phenomena. The theme of the Arts and Culture Barometer 2024 is funding and support for artistic work. The results of the barometer are based on two separate surveys: one targeted for artists and another for peer reviewers at Taike and foundations. A total of 1,417 artists and 81 peer reviewers responded to the barometer surveys.

The Arts and Culture Barometer is conducted by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) together with the Center for Cultural Policy Research (Cupore).

OVERVIEW

The theme of the Arts and Culture Barometer 2024 is funding and support for artistic work. This material for the barometer was compiled from two separate surveys: one for artists and another for peer reviewers at Taike and foundations. The Arts and Culture Barometer is conducted by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) together with the Center for Cultural Policy Research (Cupore).

The livelihood of artists is formed from many different sources. A large proportion of artists live on a small income, earning on average approximately half of their total annual income through their artistic work. The most common types of income are salary or wages, work compensation and fees. Grants are an important source of income for many and a key prerequisite for developing as an artist, but they are associated with a lot of uncertainty.

Artists consider the most important task of the state grant system to be to safeguard free art and the work of artists in different parts of Finland. Peer reviewers who evaluate grant applications find their work meaningful and socially valuable. The biggest challenges for peer reviewers are related to the large number of applications in relation to the funding allocated.

Entrepreneurship and self-employment are increasingly common among artists, but the problems and fears associated with them make artistic work harder and prevent them from becoming entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities divide artists’ opinions: some see it as a good way of working as an artist, others as harmful to art. A significant proportion of respondents identify themselves as free artists, which speaks to the importance of artistic freedom, self-determination and independence among artists.

Copyrights entitle artists to receive compensation for the use of their creative works, but artists encounter problems related to copyright agreements and the level of remuneration. Many artists are concerned about the impact of technological developments on benefitting from their copyrights; in particular, the compensation practices of digital platforms and the development of artificial intelligence are increasing their uncertainty about the future.

Almost half of artists have considered changing careers outside the arts in the past year. This share has increased since 2022, when the issue was last examined in the barometer. The most common reasons are economic uncertainty and the low appreciation of artists’ work in society. Based on the results, the status of artists could be improved with more flexible support systems, clearer social security and the possibility of better combining different earning models.

SUMMARY

The annual Arts and Culture Barometer monitors and highlights the views of artists regarding current issues and phenomena. The theme of the 2024 barometer is funding and support for artistic work. The results of the barometer are based on two separate surveys: one for artists and another for peer reviewers at Taike and foundations. The barometer being published now is the tenth in a row.

Work and income situation of artists is diverse and uncertain, many combine different earning models to secure their livelihood

More artists than average have low incomes. Few artists earn their living entirely or even largely through their artistic work. To secure their livelihood and finance their art, many perform other jobs alongside their artistic work.

Income typically comes from several different sources. The majority (85%) of artists had three or more types of income during the year, with a maximum of nine different types of income. The most common types of income are salary or wages, work compensation and fees, which two out of three respondents had received in 2023. Grants are another important source of income, especially as a means of financing artistic work. Around a third of artists had received unemployment benefits in 2023, and just over a fifth of respondents received financial support from family or other close friends. Sales of their own artistic works and income from commissions are of at least some importance to a clear majority of artists, but for only just over a third, they are of great importance in terms of livelihood. Only a few have used crowdfunding, and artists have had both positive and negative experiences with applying for it. Campaigning is seen as laborious, and crowdfunding is considered to be particularly suitable for organisations and, for example, covering publication costs.

Based on the responses to the barometer, many artists consider themselves to be free artists and/or self-employed, but understandings of these concepts vary greatly. Being a free artist is both a question of identity and a way of working. It means existing outside normal labour market roles and permanent commitments, and it is associated in particular with artistic freedom, self-determination and independence. Self-employed is more of an external definition for a group that can be described as working alone as entrepreneurs or in an entrepreneurial manner without paid employees. Self-employment also generally involves earning a living from several different sources of income. Self-employment and working as a free artist overlap with each other, and the unifying factor for them can be found in self-determination and freedom. However, they are different forms of work that are done from different starting points and goals.

When it comes to future employment, many artists consider a combination of different employment methods to be the most preferable option. For many, it is a question of realism, as few see it possible to rely on just one method of employment. For other artists, diverse and versatile ways of doing work are also suitable and are a natural way to operate. Entrepreneurship as the only form of employment interested less than one in ten respondents. However, entrepreneurship is of growing interest to artists.

Almost half the respondents have considered changing their profession or have already changed their profession away from the arts in the past year, a clear majority (55%) being young artist below the age of 35. The most common reasons for changing professions are related to the uncertainty of earning a livelihood and the low appreciation of art in society. Funding cuts to the cultural sector have already exacerbated uncertainty and the lack of prospects.

Grants are both an opportunity and a challenge for artists

Grants are a key means of enabling artistic work, and the majority of respondents consider them an important prerequisite for their professional activities. At the same time, grants are an uncertain and uneven source of income. According to artists, the level of a taxexempt working grant that would be sufficient to live on and do artistic work in Finland should be around 30,000 euros per year – higher than the current level of state artist grants, which in 2024 was 26,269.46 euros. The wishes of artists cannot be considered exaggerated, as after statutory monthly contributions, the amount of each grant is around 1900 to 2200 euros. The current level of artist grants is often not sufficient to finance the normal cost of living in addition to the cost of making art, including space, materials and other costs.

According to experiences of artists, the grant application process is laborious and time-consuming, which reduces time for making art itself. Short-term grants in particular are seen as insufficient to enable long-term artistic work, and the time it takes to apply for them is disproportionately long compared to the size of the grants. The processing of grant applications is uncertain, and decisions are associated with experiences of favouritism, injustice, and a lack of transparency. The situation after the end of the grant period is challenging for many artists, as the systems do not recognise work performed with a grant as paid employment. This causes problems in matters concerning social and unemployment security.

Although there are many challenges associated with the system, artists essentially view grants as an opportunity to focus on artistic work and developing their skills without external or commercial pressures. Grants enable diversity and free expression in art – which artists across Finland consider to be the state grant system’s most important task to safeguard. When making funding decisions, the most important issues in the responses of both artists and peer reviewers are the quality and level of the art, the fair and equal treatment of applicants, and the role of art in offering new perspectives. In their own view, peer reviewers have sufficient expertise to take equality and nondiscrimination into account in their work.

The grant system needs to be developed to better support the work of artists. Based on the results, the transparency of decisionmaking, the smoothness and uniformity of application processes, and the adequacy of grants should be improved so that artists can focus on what is essential – making art.

Peer review work is valuable, but the value is not reflected in the compensation paid for it

The barometer also examined the views of peer reviewers on the grant system and their experiences of their work. Peer review work is seen as valuable and socially significant, although many are uncertain whether their work is sufficiently valued. According to respondents, the lack of appreciation is reflected, for example, in the compensation they receive: only a third of respondents feel that they have received adequate compensation for the work they do, and the compensation they do receive is often insufficient in relation to the amount of work.

The biggest challenges experienced in their work as peer reviewers are related to the large number of applications in relation to the funding allocated, as a result of which, good applicants may be left without support. The large number of applications poses challenges for peer reviewers in terms of both time management and understanding the whole. The uneven quality of applications also increases the difficulty of the review work, as poorly prepared applications may lead to the rejection of eligible projects. However, the evaluation criteria for applications themselves are considered clear, and the multidisciplinary nature of art and the blurring of boundaries between disciplines are not perceived to complicate the review work too much. However, a clear majority of artists and peer reviewers support tying funding decisions to specific artforms to ensure that decisions are made in an expert manner.

Identifying cases of disqualification can sometimes be challenging for peer reviewers, especially in small fields of the arts where practically everyone knows each other. However, the grounds for disqualification are generally not seen as preventing high-quality review work. Acting as a peer reviewer can also have a negative impact on one’s own artistic work and livelihood, because during their terms, peer reviewers cannot apply for grants from those bodies whose decisionmaking they participate in.

Both artists and peer reviewers support increased transparency in decisionmaking. Peer reviewers consider it important not to centralise funding decisions among the same individuals and to limit the length of peer reviewer terms. They also hope for more discussion within peer review organisations to improve review practices.

Technological developments raise concerns about the implementation of copyrights

Based on the responses to the barometer survey, artists face diverse copyright issues. The most typical problems described by artists are related to copyright agreements, the amount of remuneration, and copyright knowledge. Questions related to the development of artificial intelligence and the unauthorised use of works are also highlighted in the responses.

Almost half of artists experience inequality when negotiating contracts for the use of their works. Almost half also believe that they have not always received appropriate compensation for the use of their works. Many respondents have encountered unreasonable or unclear contract terms. In particular, artists often find that copyright compensation received through digital platforms, such as streaming services and audiobook services, is often inadequate.

Technological development affects the earning potential of artists. Digital distribution channels have fundamentally changed the markets for culture, while the internet and social media have made it easy to distribute and copy works. Digitalisation is a concert among many artists: almost half of the respondents report that digitalisation raises concerns about infringement of their copyrights, while on the other hand only just one tenth of artists feel that digitalisation has increased their opportunities to benefit from their copyrights financially. The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence and its effects on the employment and earnings of artists also cause concern for many.

Many artists consider the low appreciation of their work to be a problem, which is concretely reflected in the low level of copyright compensation. For example, the scope of rights transferred from authors to subscribers or users of works may be unreasonably large in relation to the amount of compensation paid for this. The amounts of remuneration can vary greatly, and the author’s negotiating skills often play a decisive role. Slightly more than half of the artists who responded to the survey had received copyright remuneration or compensation in 2023, but they are of greater importance to only a few in terms of livelihood. Based on the responses, artists often lack the skills to exploit their copyrights commercially.

With digitalisation and the development of artificial intelligence, there is a need for a discussion on the implementation of copyrights and the fairness of compensation practices. Artists also need support in resolving new types of copyright and contractual issues.

Many perspectives on entrepreneurship as an artist

There is an ambivalent attitude among artists towards entrepreneurship: some artists see entrepreneurship as an opportunity to control their own work and finances, while others feel that it limits their artistic freedom. For many, entrepreneurship is also a necessity due to circumstances.

In 2024, about a third of artists (35%) were entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship is of particular interest to young artists. The responses of artists interested in entrepreneurship highlight practical aspects of organising their work, such as tax benefits. The attractiveness of entrepreneurship is increased by the independence it offers and the opportunity to control one’s own working methods. Entrepreneurship also meets with opposition among some artists, as it is thought to subordinate art to the conditions of a market economy and reduce the meaning of art to that of a mere product to be sold. Even if they are not opposed to entrepreneurial activity themselves, many artists feel that entrepreneurship and artistry are not easily compatible. For example, art can be in a form that is difficult to sell, and not everyone creates products that are sold regularly enough to make the business profitable.

The most significant challenges to entrepreneurship and obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur are high pension insurance contributions, weak social security and unemployment security problems. Different forms of work and labour market roles are difficult to reconcile from a social security perspective. The status of artists in the labour market is complex and requires structural changes, such as more flexible unemployment security. For example, some artists fear becoming defined as fulltime entrepreneurs and losing their unemployment security as a result.

A solution to this longstanding problem is currently being sought through a so-called combined insurance model, which is intended to facilitate the combination of entrepreneurship and employment. However, from the perspective of the diversity of the work and earnings of artists, it is essential whether the insurance would also cover work performed with a grant. Even combined insurance does not automatically guarantee the access of artists to earningsrelated unemployment insurance, as it is also affected by other decisions regarding unemployment insurance, such as the working condition for earningsrelated daily allowance. All of these have an impact on the basic security of artists and their status in the labour market.