Published: August 7th 2024, 7:00:05 am
TLDR: I had initially taken on a sponsorship project, but upon further consideration I have called it off due to it not aligning with my values
Hey everyone, I wanted to talk some stuff that happened recently and has been on my mind
A bit over a month ago I was approached by a company about doing a sponsorship. I had seen other creators doing similar sponsorships and I have to admit I was feeling some fomo because I wasn't in the "special club" that was good enough to do a sponsorship like that
So when I received their message I was really excited about it, I felt validated as an artist so I accepted everything right away without giving it much thought
Fast forward a month and I'm working on the project, I finish the base sketch and they approve it and everything is going well. It was then that started reading some things about the company, how their terms can sound exploitative to artists and their audiences, and I started thinking about how I personally felt about it
I am in a very privileged position right now. I don't have to worry about not having enough money to put food on the table or to afford a place to live, that's why when I get a proposal like this one I can just take it for fun instead of having to think too much about it
That is not the same for the majority of artists, and even those that would need financial support like this often aren't given the chance due to companies only going for those with bigger followings
There is also the fact that outside companies being able to throw their weight around and swaing the community is concerning. How they can easily buy people's support from the outside
The more I look into the matter, and the more I think about it, the more unsure I felt about the entire thing. That's why I decided to call it off and return the payment they had given me
This is not any sort of attack on any other artists that have taken such sponsorships. Everyone has their own personal situation. I can only say that in my specific case, I have thought over and decided that such a deal does not sit right with me
I apologise for not given the matter the proper amount of consideration, I can only give my word that in the future I'll try to be more careful about the impact I have in the community and try to make it a better place with my decisions
Thank you for reading, I'll see you guys next time