With each passing day, a new statistic emerges that would make any aspiring artist, producer or songwriter feel like a fool for trying to finance their dreams.
Over 100,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day, but the vast majority fail to make it past the 1,000-play mark. Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group reported record profits in 2023, but those numbers are largely driven by a small number of star artists. A 2017 study found that of the 7,000 bands tracked, only 21 managed to headline a venue with a capacity of over 3,000. Limited opportunities and big odds face artists who lack significant industry support.
Content saturation makes it harder to stand out, inspiring strategic conservatism from big companies who, data-driven, fear financial risk and tend to invest in artists who demonstrate significant market appeal.
What do musicians—and, frankly, writers, visual artists, filmmakers, or any creator—need resources to do when corporations seem more reluctant than ever?
Why do we need a grant system for individual artists?
While art is often considered a luxury rather than a public good, it has been shown to provide both cultural enrichment and economic stimulus.
In 2023, Americans for the Arts found that the nonprofit arts and culture industry provided 2.6 million jobs, generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue and $101 billion in personal income for U.S. residents. These numbers include people who take advantage of public arts funding to become working artists, who tour, show their work in museums and fill movie theaters.
America's nonprofit and for-profit arts sectors work together to promote cultural development as well as stimulate economic activity at the local and national levels.
Public funding for the arts has remained relatively stable in absolute terms. However, inflation-adjusted spending on the arts by local governments fell steadily throughout the 2000s. Local arts agencies now receive 27% less funding than in 2001.
Other countries have shown that there can be a better system.
For 37 years, Canada's FACTOR grant program has supported Canadian recording artists in meaningful ways.
FACTOR covers expenses that traditionally require a record company's debt financing: recording, music videos and tour financing head among them.
Notable FACTOR recipients launching successful careers include Jessie Reyez, Grimes, Charlotte Cardin, BADBADNOTGOOD and TOBi. Drake's label, October's Very Own, has also received various grants from Canadian government sources — including funding for the 2014 OVO Fest.
In Sweden, strong arts education in public schools combined with an international grant system contribute to the small nation's enormous influence on popular music abroad, particularly in the United States where Max Martin's Swedish pop sensibilities dominate Advertising sign charts since Bill Clinton was in office.
While in America, artists can access grants through foundations such as the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation or the Henry Luce Foundation, or through state foundations, there is no single federal mechanism for funding the arts similar to FACTOR or the Swedish Arts Grants Commission . The National Endowment for the Arts has an impressive grantmaking function, but does not make direct grants to individual artists.
Presentation of the CREATE Law Art.
We need a better system.
In 2024, we are working to bring the CREATE Art Act to the American public. Created by Congressman Maxwell Frostdrummer and musician himself and the first Gen-Z person ever elected to the United States Congress, the CREATE Art Act proposes a new grant system for individual artists of all disciplines.
CREATE grants go beyond international models in the way they target emerging artists, those creators who may not yet be fortunate enough to make a living from their art or wish to avoid potentially damaging record and publishing deals. Recipients must show net earnings of less than $50,000 in the previous five years and no more than $400,000 in the previous 20 years from their art. The art produced must be relevant to the community and accessible to the public. Grants include:
- Progress Grant – Up to $2,000 to support one year of artist activities.
- Project Grant – Up to $100,000 per project that can be used over two years.
- Live Performance Grant – Up to $35,000 for live performances.
- Development Fund – Up to $10,000 to pay artists' living and working expenses
- while researching, writing or cultivating stories or projects.
The purpose of the program is twofold.
First, and simply, more artists with funding means more art. The greater our nation's creative output, the greater the diversity of voices with the potential to gain audiences, change perspectives, inspire future generations, and tell new American stories.
Second, more artists creating means more economic activity in a sector experiencing an algal bloom of creators and consumers.
Today's media landscape cuts a more jagged picture than ever before. No monoliths. No stars. There are no obvious paths to success.
In an age of such noise and fragmentation, artists find it harder than ever to fund their dreams and harder than ever to cut through the clutter.
The CREATE Art Act would set the foot on the right path forward, opening up possibilities for the next generations of American artists.
The first Generation Z member elected to Congress, Maxwell Alejandro Frost is proud to represent the people of Central Florida (FL-10) in the United States House of Representatives. As a young member of Congress and an Afro-Latino, Rep. Frost brings a fresh, progressive perspective to an institution previously inaccessible to young, working black and Latino Americans.
Jon Tanners is a director, writer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. He manages Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum producers Dahi, Michael Uzowuru and Take A Daytrip and is also the co-founder of CreateSafe.
