the sheer number of people determined to work in the arts

There’s a strong demand for artistic talent across a number of lucrative industries. The big question is how much you want to work in advertising and marketing.

ten billion dollars to go around, it sounds like a lot, but if it’s split between a couple of million artists

Tens of billions. Cinema ticket sales in the US alone grossed $10.6B in 2023. Music revenues were another $11.7B. Meanwhile, you’re talking about a workforce on the scale of around 400k people domestically, as recently as 2024 (a big rebound after COVID knocked the number down to the low 300ks). And that’s including a bunch of part-time work, like the role of extras and part-time screenwriters.