Andrew Keen, who will give a keynote speech during Incubate, Hans Abbing, who will discuss with Andrew Keen (and others) that same day, and Ernesto Priego have at least one thing in common: They all wrote articles about the question ‘Why are artists poor?’

Hans Abbing published a book with this title.

Andrew Keen wrote for the Telegraph this piece

Ernesto Priego wrote this article, which Kicks for Free summarized as follows:

1. Artists cannot expect to survive in the 21st century without doing their own promotion (this means also giving work for free).
2. This does not mean that those who already make a comfortable living whilst giving away (some) of their work free made it solely online.
3. Stephen King, Chris Anderson, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and Trent Reznor were already best-sellers of “old” media before embracing digital.
4. There are thousands of talented artists out there online posting their work for free & promoting themselves and still remain impoverished and unnoticed.
5. While it is true that we are living through a paradigm shift, “old” media still determines what’s popular and appreciated.
6. Television, cinema, radio, record label deals, print books, magazines and print newspapers are still the ruling factors of success. Not blog posts.
7. We may be living “the age of sharing” and self-publishing but a book on Hyperion has more demand than a self-published or independent print-on-demand book.
8. No emerging artist without old media backup can afford to make a living from live shows or readings merely from sharing her work online.
9. Granted, there are no chances for any serious 21st century artist to make a living without working your arse off promoting and sharing online.

Read the full post here.

For Keen’s Innovation Lecture @ Incubate you can get your tickets here.