LISTEN
By the year 2027, the Performance Art industry was in an economic spiral worldwide. The Great Pandemics had closed large venues, and repeatedly halted live performances. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music were compensating recording musicians a mere fraction of the revenues they had once received. Except for pop artists with large fan bases, to make a living as a performance artist had become impossible.
This crisis culminated with the formation of the World Performing Artist Collective in 2028. Their first worldwide strike drew the attention of the general public to the plight of these artists. As strike action, performances were cancelled as artists engaged in coordinated education campaigns to create awareness of the untenable business models under which they were suffering.
The results came swiftly. In 2030, new legislation provided guaranteed annual income for full time musicians, funded through taxes on music streaming services. Incentives were put in place for the listening public to purchase their music directly from the artists, circumventing the Big Tech middlemen.
When the strike ended, performances returned to an art-starved public, who were eager to support the arts within a more sustainable and equitable business model.
This song was an anthem during the strikes, often sung by protesters wearing “Will Write Songs for Food” T-shirts.
