#futureofarts

The art world is changing rapidly, and one of the biggest transformations is happening online. Collectors, artists, and enthusiasts are shifting from traditional galleries to online art marketplaces. These platforms are making art more accessible, transparent, and global than ever before.

Earlier, collecting art meant visiting galleries or auctions, often limited to a specific location. Today, with digital platforms like Zigguratss, collectors can explore a wide range of unique artworks from anywhere in the world. This convenience has opened doors for emerging artists and new collectors alike.

One of the key reasons online marketplaces are the future of art collecting is accessibility. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned collector, you can browse, compare, and purchase with just a few clicks. This ease of access creates a more inclusive art community.

Another major advantage is transparency. Buyers can view detailed information about the artwork, artist, and pricing without pressure. This builds trust and confidence, especially for people new to collecting.

Finally, online platforms offer a global reach. An artist in one country can sell directly to a collector in another, breaking geographical barriers. This global exposure not only benefits artists but also enriches collectors with diverse cultural expressions.

As technology continues to shape the future, online marketplaces are set to play an even bigger role in how we experience, share, and invest in art. For anyone passionate about creativity, platforms like Zigguratss provide the perfect space to connect with the world of art.

Being an artist is a very cool job! You’re your own boss. You decide what you do. You work creative, and you’re free.

But being  an artist has annoying sides too. Sometimes it is really hard work. It costs a lot of time, so many artists are having problems with their relationships to partners and friends. Especially music and films are expensive, so as a musician or a filmmaker you need investors. And to publish a book or produce another creative product you need money and help, too. Most artists have a second job at the beginning of their creative career, to survive. And it’s absolutely annoying, if you say “I am an artist!” and the other person says “Oh cool! And what is your real job?”.

The social status of an artist is a difficult matter. Everyone wants to hear music, read books, watch films and photography and consume other creative products. An artist can be famous. An artist can move thousands of people. Many people need art to overcome crisis, do their work, fill their free time and show others their attitude. Arts accompany most of us our whole day. So, our society needs artists. Without them, nobody is happy.

Financing the arts is important for our all happiness. In the times I worked in retail, I met other artists doing the same work, too. A few musicians, a disk jockey, a dancer and a filmmaker. In Germany, in this job you earn 1.100€ to 1.400€ a month. You have to pay taxes and health insurance, so in the end you have 600€ to 900€ to pay other bills. The rent for your apartment, energy, mobility and food. You work five days a week at a job you don’t like, and you earn just enough to live. And you have only two days a week to do creative work.

But if an artist would earn a higher percentage of his or her earnings of their creative work than in the present creative industry,and the consumers of arts would regain a sense for the arts’ worth, it wouldn’t be difficult to earn those 1.100€ to 1.400€, even at the beginning. The artist can live off his or her creative work, can work the whole week on art, and can grow bigger and bigger and earn more. Having a family or financing other dreams can be real for artists.

Today, I want to give you an insight into my personal view on art in retail.

I remember a couple of years ago, I was at a little bookshop in Freiburg, Germany. The stock was focusing on darker novels and thrillers. The interior was made of wood and stone in dark colors. It had the right atmosphere and ambience for this store. In my opinion, it was almost perfect.

Those little shops, no matter what kind of art they sell, underline the arts during the buying process. An entirely different experience buying arts would be electronics discounters or supermarkets, where you can buy music, movies or books like cables or shampoo. Neon lights without atmosphere.

As a musician, I wish that my art is sold in a respectable manner. Every song I wrote is like a child. Writing a song up to the final version with all instruments can be really hard work! It costs time and much energy. And then in retail, the CDs stand alongside cheap printers, HDMI cables, computers and coffee machines? In my mind, that isn’t the right place for creative products.

For a while I worked in retail for different brands of consumer electronics in electronics markets in Berlin. And it doesn’t matter if you are selling phones, dishwashers, computers or CDs. In these markets every product is sold the same way. The products are placed on pallets, without love and without charm and with statements like “Now 50% cheaper than Market xyz!”. That distribution strategy is OK for toasters and fridges. But a book or a CD is different to these goods.

I think in the future most creative products are bought on the internet. Downloads, and physical products too. And I find that OK, because on the internet you find every song from every musician or every book from every writer, you can buy photos or copies of paintings. That is amazing because every artist can sell his or her creative work to clients in the whole world. But outside of the internet, we need shops where a consumer who is searching for the artistic feeling when buying art gets that feeling, with the right atmosphere.

5 Einträge!

Yesterday, Björn was debating why the old school music industry, as evil and as people-eating as it often may be, was important.

He basically concluded that artists need four things: Promoters who actually listen to them and hand their things to the right people, managers who organize their success, distributors who ensure that when fans want to buy a CD they actually can, and publishers who protect the artist’s rights and royalties.

Even though written specifically for the music business, I think he clearly hit the point of what every artist who wants to be able to live off doing art needs. Whether you’re a fine artist looking to be shown in big galleries and sell posters with your work on, a film maker dreaming of hitting the cinemas or an author who just wants his book printed – you will need these four things. You don’t necessarily have to hire people to do them. But you will need yourself or friends to do it then. You got a friend who manages your booking for free? Well, say hello to your manager!

So, you may be thinking, fine, some things about the past were good, but didn’t you want to change things in the future? Why the heck are you still talking about the past?!

Before we head into the future, let’s have a look into the present. What has changed, how do things work these days?

Didn’t the digital revolution…well…revolutionize things, make them easier and better and quicker, and now everyone can become famous overnight as long as he or she knows how to use a computer?

Right. Things shifted a little bit. In the past (there it is again!!) the general mantra was that if you managed to get to the right people, you would get a small chance to become famous overnight and a big one to at least make a decent living. These days, it’s hitting the right keys on your keyboard, uploading your stuff to the internet, have it go as viral as possible in social media and then you will be maybe famous or at least making a decent living. At least, in theory.

In practice, this may be as untrue as it was when managers used to promise pie in the sky to artists back in the day. But some things are undeniably great about the 21st Century.

First of, there is the fact that while the world is still as big as it used to be, the gaps between you and me and all of us have become smaller. The next person who will help me out with something important is just one click away, and everyone has cheap if not free possibilities to push his dream and infuse it into others’ heads. This is by far the biggest achievement of our time when it comes to the arts, at least for me. All of a sudden you can build a fanbase even if traditional media is not fond of you, and you can interact with your fans like you never could before. And they will interact with their friends, helping you out on your dream, and you get the finest word-of-mouth marketing you can wish for.

A close second is the way how the internet has changed trade. You can now buy every small artist’s CD, book or poster even if you live in the middle of nowhere, again, with one click. An artist can reach buyers where it would have been impossible in the past. Some artistic goods can be offered as download, for instant use and enjoyment. How great is that?