If I make art, I would like to get compensated by it. However, under market capitalism, my art has to sell well to make money, which means that I cannot make art out of pure volition, but have to adhere to what consumers like, which may not be in line with what I like. Plus, market capitalism/SnD opens up a whole other can of worms about copyright, piracy, and morality. With an LToV-based system for compensating for art, I will get paid based on how much I worked, rather than if consumers like it or not. In other words, I can allow people to copy and redistribute/remix it without worrying about a loss of customers. To quote George Lucas “[In the USA], you have to adhere to a very narrow line of commercialism”.
I just read the novel Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang which plays with this in the world building and has the characters deal with the topic as well. It’s unfortunately a bit liberal, especially considering the author is Chinese, but I found it quite thought provoking.
I fundamentally agree.
There’s something to unpick in relation to the LtoV, though. Value is socially necessary labour time. Does this mean that other people in society would still need to want your art for it to have value according to the LtoV? Is this the theoretical basis for what you observe about needing consumers?
Value is socially necessary labour time.
Important point. I would say that every profession artist in any system would create things for people to see (or hear etc.) and take under consideration what they want to see. Unpopular artists were sidetracked and fired even in socialist states.
There was basically two ways to become a pro then - one was being scouted at amateur contests/exihibits/clubs etc and the second was graduating from an art school. Both involved making art that was popular and/or appreciated by state institutions.
