I got an e-mail today from a very good artist that I recently contacted telling me he wasn't interested in taking part of Hire an Artist. The reason was mainly because he believed the platform gave too much power to clients after reading what I have said in my blog. I found this pretty unusual because:
1) Because it's the first someone has told me this.
2) I couldn't find in blog what would give the idea that artists have little power
2) I've spent countless hours into developing a platform that gives artists more power
So I may have just lost an incredible artist for what may not have even been right, which I think is like a kick to my guts. So this blog post will be dedicated to discussing the balance of power between artists and clients, to bring clarity on the whole topic when it comes to Hire an Artist.
So the main question for this post; Will clients have too much power over artists?
Let's outline the factors that are representative of power:
Price; The price the project is valued at, how much the artist is paid.
Workload; The amount of work an artist can get. Who decides what work an artist will get
Fees; What an artist will get charged, regardless of getting work.
Extras; Do artists have to pay extra to benefit more or to 'get an edge'.
Competition; How exactly do artists compete and what is in the environment.
Price
No doubt the biggest power factor. What is the balance of power and it is scaled towards clients? As I've said in my emails, my promises, my posts, it is the artist that decides the price they work for, not the client. Granted the client sets the budget and is inevitably paying with their own money, and yes this is in itself power to the client. But this is power they will always have, always should have. But as budget setting does help an artist judge what price they will charge (As in normal practice in individual freelance environments), it is our responsibility to raise and influence their budget if it isn't suitable.
Hire an Artist will do this through a variety of educational techniques as to the value of art commissions, the main technique is the main showcase of completed art. It is designed to help clients easily find the kind of art they are looking for themselves and when they do, will see the price a previous client has paid and through that knowledge will get almost a crash course form of education. Clients will look at this artwork and see that it isn't cheap and that they should in fact raise their budget much higher if they want artwork like what they've just seen. Below is a screenshot showing this with the example artwork 'Heavy Rain' at £120, which appears when the mouse moves over the artwork.
This is power we give to artists, the power to raise and influence a client's budget, combined with the power to decide their own working price without influence from competition (Which we'll discuss in another point) makes for what I would believe is a balance power, perhaps even leaning towards artists, as this slightly encourages collective monopolization to a very far extent.
Now, I was going to make a full and complete discussion on the balance of power in one post. Unfortunately I've been working all day and haven't made enough time for this post. The second part to this discussion will come tomorrow, where we'll talk about the power balance in workload, fees, extras and competition.
I wake up every day to create something that can support artists and turn people’s ideas into art, so that the true value of a piece of bespoke art is realised – And that value is what it means to the person who gets it. When we can make our loved ones cry with happiness, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world.
I’ve got a big passion for creativity and ideas and Hire an Artist is the perfect company to encompass this; the ideas of clients, transformed into works of art by artists. In a divided market of artists struggling for work and clients not being welcomed and supported, I aim to bring these two groups together – Let them create the incredible things they’re capable of.
I believe that success isn’t given, it’s earned. I earn my success is by working to achieve my dreams, and to help others achieve their own dreams and successes. Life is short, so why not enjoy it?
It’s with that mentality that my company became recognised as one of the UK’s greatest start-ups 2 years in a row. It’s why I’m such a competitive force, why I win competitions such as Business Masterclass 2016, its why people write about me and why people such as Raj Dhonota support me.
