Ask artists privately what they think about the commission rates charged by major online art platforms and most will tell you the same thing. It is too much. The terms are unfair. The promotional discount clauses are predatory. The competition is brutal and the algorithm is opaque. They are doing all the marketing work and the platform is taking nearly half the money.
Then ask them if they have said any of this publicly. Most have not. And when you ask why, the answer is usually the same. They are afraid.
The fear of being punished by the platform
Artists who speak critically about the platforms they sell on risk being deprioritised by the algorithm, removed from featured placements, or having their account suspended entirely. Whether or not platforms do this systematically, the fear that they might is enough to keep most artists silent.
This is a rational fear in the context of a relationship where the platform holds all the power. If your income depends on your visibility on a platform, and the platform controls your visibility, then criticising the platform is financially dangerous. The calculus is simple and it works in the platform's favour.
The audience dependency trap
The deeper reason artists stay is not the fear of punishment. It is the fear of losing access to an audience they believe they cannot rebuild elsewhere.
After years of listing work on a platform, promoting their profile, and building a small following there, many artists have come to believe that the audience they have is dependent on the platform that hosts it. If they leave, they think, they lose everything. They start again from zero.
This is partly true and mostly manufactured. It is true that leaving a platform means losing visibility on that platform. What it is not true is that the audience was ever really theirs to begin with. The followers, the collectors, the contact details - all of that belongs to the platform. An artist cannot export their Saatchi Art collector list. They cannot take their follower data with them. They leave with their work and nothing else.
The tragedy is that artists who have spent years building a presence on a platform have spent years building something they do not own. The platform has always held the audience. The artist was building on rented land.
The conditioning of the industry
The art industry has always operated on a power imbalance. Galleries, dealers, fair organisers, and platforms have historically positioned themselves as the gatekeepers - the entities that grant artists access to collectors, to prestige, to commercial viability. Artists have been conditioned, over decades, to believe that access to these gatekeepers is something to be earned and carefully protected.
That conditioning is not accidental. It serves the gatekeepers. An artist who believes they need the gallery's approval will accept the gallery's terms. An artist who believes they need the platform to survive will not speak out about the platform's practices. The power imbalance is maintained by keeping artists uncertain about their own value.
The reality is that artists are the product. Without artists, Saatchi Art has nothing to sell. Without exhibitors, The Other Art Fair has no event. The platform is infrastructure. The artist is the content, the creative labour, the marketing engine, and the risk-taker. The platform provides a shop window and takes 40% for it.
What speaking out actually risks
Most artists who have spoken publicly about their experiences with art platforms have not been destroyed by doing so. Some have found that their honesty built more connection and community than their years of careful compliance had. Collectors who understand the economics of the art industry often respect artists who advocate for fair treatment. Fellow artists share the stories and find community in them.
The risk of speaking out is real but smaller than it feels. The risk of staying silent is larger than most artists acknowledge. Silence maintains a system that extracts from artists. It signals to platforms that the current terms are acceptable. It leaves the next generation of artists walking into the same traps.
The codependency in plain language
Artists are in a codependent relationship with the platforms that sell their work. They provide everything - the creative output, the marketing effort, the financial risk - and they stay because they are afraid of what happens without the platform's approval. They suppress legitimate grievances to protect access to an audience they do not own.
That is not a business relationship. That is a power structure that benefits one party and costs the other.
The way out of it is not to burn bridges with every platform you have ever used. It is to stop building exclusively on land you do not own. Build your own website. Build your own mailing list. Build direct relationships with collectors that belong to you. Use platforms as additional channels, not as your entire infrastructure. And when those platforms treat you unfairly, say so.
Why Solene Haus was built
Solene Haus was built by an artist who stayed quiet for too long. Who invested in The Other Art Fair and lost money. Who marketed platforms that took 40% commission. Who watched the Australian art fair scene disappear and was left with nothing to show for the investment made in it.
The platform exists because the alternative model is possible. zero commission. Artist-owned collector relationships. No promotional discounts applied without consent. No ongoing commission claimed on relationships the artist built independently.
And a series called Burnt by the Art Industry - collecting stories from artists who have their own version of this experience - because silence protects the system, and the system needs to change.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't artists speak out about unfair platform practices?
Most artists fear that speaking critically about a platform will result in being deprioritised by the algorithm, removed from featured placements, or losing access to the audience they have built there. This fear is rational given that platforms control artist visibility, but it maintains a system that benefits platforms at artists' expense.
What do artists lose when they leave Saatchi Art?
Artists who leave Saatchi Art cannot take their follower data, collector contact details, or sales history with them. The audience built on the platform belongs to the platform. Artists leave with their work and nothing else.
Is it worth leaving Saatchi Art to build your own platform?
Building your own platform takes longer and requires more initial effort. But every collector relationship, every mailing list subscriber, and every sale made through your own website belongs entirely to you. There is no algorithm controlling your visibility, no commission taken on your promotional efforts, and no platform that can close its Australian operations and leave you with nothing.
What is the Burnt by the Art Industry series?
Burnt by the Art Industry is a content series on Solene Haus collecting real stories from artists about exploitation, unfair terms, and financial loss within the art industry. Submissions can be made with or without attribution. The goal is to create an honest, public record of industry practices so that artists can make more informed decisions.
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