Has the time come for artist-entrepreneurs?

Internet has turned the music sector upside down. Some effects are visible – such as the fall in record sales and universal accessibility to creative tools and the means of diffusion for artists – but others are less so. Because of the Internet, record labels can reduce the risks by identifying the developing reputation of artists before making a formal contract with them. Consequently, the artists of tomorrow now have to get their careers started without any help from professionals. An example of this is Jewly, who had to become her own producer, and agree to be both the product and the product-seller, thus dividing her time between her artistic activity and the management of her business. This was only possible because of a very solid ‘life project’‚ which in her case meant acquiring a number of entrepreneurial skills. Will the evolution of the current music scene lead to a form of Darwinism whereby artists will become ‘artist-entrepreneurs’?