An international report draws a dismal picture of the creative sector worldwide, citing massive job losses last year, as well as falling incomes for artists, despite increases in digital access to culture.
"Although it has never been easier to share art and creativity with the world, paradoxically it has never been harder to get paid for doing so," says the UNESCO report, ReShaping Policies for Creativity.
It says current monetization models in the digital environment – dominated by streaming giants like Netflix, Spotify and YouTube – are not sustainable for most artists.
The report put the 2020 global job loss tally in the creative sector at 10 million jobs, noting that the pandemic has sped up a transition toward digital content that had already been underway.
The music industry has been hit particularly hard, with many musicians reporting that they receive little remuneration for digital access to their work. A so-called streaming value gap is the disparity between the value that music-streaming platforms extract from musical content and the revenue generated by those who create and invest in creation.
The report called on governments to respond with more sophisticated and dynamic policies to address the sector's problems, saying "greater pace and focus on the gaps are now required" to support artists in the digital environment.
It also calls for research on the environmental footprint of digital technologies in cultural industries.
The report, released this week in Paris, is the third edition of a series designed to monitor the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Source: UNESCO
