Art used to be an event—something that happened in a specific moment, between the artist and the audience. You could miss a concert, fail to catch a premiere, or never stumble upon a painting. It was fleeting, and that made it special.
Today, art is becoming an on-demand service. Subscribe to Spotify? You have access to millions of songs 24/7. Netflix? The entire film industry in your pocket. Algorithms serve you content tailored to your mood, as if you were ordering food from an app. Art, once a mystical experience, has turned into Software as a Service—a subscription model where you pay and expect uninterrupted satisfaction.
The consequences? We demand regular "updates" from artists. A new album every year, a new book every two years, a constant flow of social media posts. Once, an artist could remain silent for years. Now, silence means failure in the attention economy. The artist is no longer a visionary in solitude—they are a content provider.
But great works are not created on demand. James Joyce spent 17 years writing Ulysses, struggling with censorship, poverty, and misunderstanding along the way. Today, he would likely have to send out weekly newsletters with progress updates—otherwise, the algorithms would mark him as an "inactive brand."
Even worse, SaaS is a customer-driven model. In traditional art, the artist created what they had to create—audiences could accept it or not. Now, the customer (meaning us) has the right to be dissatisfied. “I bought a ticket to the concert, and they didn’t play the biggest hits? Outrage!” “The new album doesn’t sound like the last one? This artist is done!” We demand personalization—but art is not a service designed to meet consumer preferences.
The problem is, artists have accepted this reality. Instead of taking risks, they create “safe” music, write “safe” books, produce “safe” films—because any deviation risks losing subscribers. Art, instead of evoking emotions, has become a predictable service.
Can this be reversed? Perhaps. Some artists still refuse to play the algorithmic game, disappear for years, and fail to meet expectations. Some audiences are still willing to pay for an experience, not a service. Maybe it’s time to remind ourselves that art is not SaaS—and it never should be.
