Art, Inc.
Lately, I've been seeing a conversation on a lot of online forums regarding the current state of big name products and how those products are somehow getting worse instead of better (despite having access to more resources). A lot of personalities have already addressed the reasons behind this, but I also have some information to add and some advice to give to those who are involved creative media.
First, let's start off by highlighting the key difference in priorities between a corporation and an artist. A corporation is a publicly traded company. That is, people can buy shares of the company's profits by purchasing stocks. People do not like wasting their money, so they want the corporation to boost its value so that the stockholders can make a return on their investment. So, the primary incentive for corporations is to maximize profits, because prioritizing anything else would be unappealing to investors.
How about the priorities for an artist? This is more nebulous, but most artists make something because they actually care about their artwork and want something that others can relate to or enjoy on some level. In other words, the priority for most artists is creativity. A profit would be nice, but the top priority is the work itself.
So, what happens when a corporation purchases the rights to an artist's work? Most of the time, there is a clash of priorities. The corporation's priority is to make money, so they're going to make decisions to that effect. The artist's priority is to be creative with their work, so (s)he is going to make decisions to that effect. In a perfect world, those priorities would be synonymous since a good product will earn a lot of money. However, past a certain point, companies realize that they can release bad products and still turn a profit because of name recognition and social pressure. On top of that, large companies possess a lot of reserve cash that can go towards advertising instead of the product itself, something that most smaller companies and individuals simply cannot do without bankrupting themselves.
This is the main reason why some of the biggest companies are publishing the biggest disappointments. Even though a big corporation has the resources to make something truly groundbreaking and exceptional, they choose not to. Once they've found a business model that makes money, they won't deviate from that model, because taking a risk on something new might involve upsetting the investors if the outcome is a loss.
In the realm of software, this explains why the big name corporations don't release any truly "new" games or products. For the most part, they're just the same games or products with expansion packs, updates, or added features. And, some of these releases are plagued with bugs that a caring software developer would be ashamed of, because the corporations want their software to be released as soon as possible. They don't care if the software works; they just want it out there so that it can start making the money.
Side note, this is the reason why I don't support software corporations and why I prefer to buy software from smaller outfits. Sure, the games may not have the upper echelon graphics that the big name games have, but the gameplay and experience will usually be better. Sure, the application may not be the "industry standard", but most consumers don't need something fancy and extravagant to do what they have in mind.
Ironically enough, the adage "you get what you pay for" is becoming more of a backwards statement nowadays. Normally, something that is free is a cheap knockoff that will fall apart on you in a matter of moments. However, the way things have been trending, the expensive stuff is becoming unreliable and the cheap stuff is becoming more useful. After all, if a software developer truly cares about making a good product, they'll make their product free to use (or charge a small price if they need some money to pay their bills), because they care more about the product than the money. The vast majority of corporations can't say the same thing.
Even worse, once the rights to an intellectual property have been purchased by a corporation, the decision-making process moves to the board of directors. In other words, if you sell your art to a corporation, they own the art now. You no longer control it. The only way to maintain control is to negotiate a contract that allows you to retain all rights, but few corporations will find such a contract attractive. So, if you're an artist and you're approached by a corporation, either refuse the offer or only take an offer that allows you to maintain full control of your work. I understand that sometimes financial trouble can make refusing an offer impossible in practice, but you have to realize that the offer is a one-way choice; there's no turning back once you accept the bag of cash.
The other unfortunate truth about today's world is that most corporations and publishers hold the keys to fame. If you want to be famous and you want your art to be viewed by everyone, you might have no choice but to negotiate with a corporation or publisher. The alternative would be to grow a following entirely on your own, which is nearly impossible to do in practice, but it has gotten somewhat easier with the advent of social media platforms. It might take several years (or even decades), but it is realistically the only option that allows you to keep full control of your art.
I mentioned software earlier, but the big TV show and movie producers have also been falling into this cycle. After all, take a step back and look at what most shows and movies are: spin-offs, derivatives, sequels, and prequels to other well-established intellectual properties.
Anyway, here's a distillation of everything I've said down to a few words of advice:
- Don't support corporations that release recycled and buggy software.
- Don't support movies and TV shows that publish spin-offs for the sake of moneymaking and not storytelling.
- Support smaller outfits that (still) actually care about their products.
- If you find a genuinely good product that is not well-known, tell your friends and family about it.
- If you become interested in publicizing creative works, keep your expectations realistic. Don't expect to become rich and famous; be prepared to oversee something obscure. Care more for the art than the rewards so that even a small reward is a welcome surprise (instead of a disappointment).