I recently saw a series of posts by Daniel Kibblesmith on bluesky about a kind of Luddite-ism where Napster has caused a bad shift in consumption habits that have made it harder for artists to make a living: the expectation of free, etc. I also recently ran into an article I wanted to read which was successfully paywalled (i.e. sites are getting wiser to archives). These two things made me want to work out my thoughts on free culture and artists making money.
I am a writer with zero success. I have published things but nowhere near enough, or high profile enough, to ever rest laurels on. I say that to make the point that my perspective on this is going to be different than someone who is paying their bills with art, and I get that. I also want to be in a position where I’m doing that, though, so it’s not as though I’m insensitive to the idea that free work can be bad.