Arts Distribution and Its Effects

This paper examines how different regimes of distributing art can lead to different kinds of art works and different modalities for consuming art. The paper argues that there are at least three key changes in arts distribution that are salient in the sociology of art: 1) technological changes, such as the move to digital distribution of music; 2) market innovations, such as when markets adapt to freeze out or facilitate new kinds of arts or when copyright laws change that facilitate or hinder the production of different kinds of art; 3) globalization, which has partly opened up new avenues for distribution to artists from the Global South, though distribution in general retains somewhat of a local bias. Each of these kind of changes make some kinds of art more available to arts consumers while making other kinds less available. Further, each change may affect how consumers consume art (e.g., digital distribution has made access to a wide variety of music nearly constant for a sector of music consumers). The paper considers examples from different art forms, including literature, visual arts, and music.