Image by Cody Homan

Artists Struggle to Compete as AI and Commercialization Reshape the Market

BY: ALEX QUIGLEY

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This audio storytelling piece was created for a Writing for Media course, using a blend of ambient sound, interviews, and narrative to fully immerse the listener. The project explores the challenges independent artists face in a digital landscape shaped by the internet and the growing influence of AI. Through layered audio elements and personal perspectives, the piece aims to highlight the pressures, uncertainties, and resilience within creative communities, drawing attention to an increasingly relevant and complex issue.

TRANSCRIPT

Alex Quigley: In the window of a small Salem boutique, three striking designs catch your eye, a showcase celebrating a local independent fashion designer. But behind the shimmer of fabric lies a different reality, one that reveals the challenges, sacrifices, and unseen struggles of life as an independent artist. Sabrina Jacqui Levin is a local fashion designer who understands the struggles independent artists face in a country that is over-commercialized.

Designer Sabrina Jacqui Levin Photographed By Cody Homan

Sabrina Jacqui Levin: Right now I have pretty serious work in, in a window display that is definitely being ignored more on the grander scale than my more commercialized baby doll dresses. The work that I have that I dedicated so much of myself into is not being as understood or cared about as much.

Alex: Independent creatives and artists such as Levin experience the struggles of gaining notoriety and keeping their creativity. With the increase of social media and fast fashion options, The creative process of designing is lost. The emotion behind designs are ignored, and the fight against artificial intelligence and social media is very much present.

Sabrina: It's turned fashion into a spectacle. It used to be an art. You're losing the skill. We're losing the ability to think about something for a little while and how it can actually come to life rather than just tinkering on a computer.

Alex: In a world where independent artists and designers are left standing in the shadows of mass production, their craft and their stories become a rebellion. The soul of creativity depends on those who still dare to slow down, to create not for the market, but for meaning, choosing authenticity and reminding us that art was never meant to be disposable. For Salem State University, I'm Alex Quigley.