Change is no stranger to us in the twenty-first century. We must constantly adjust to an evolving world, to transformation and innovation. But for many thousands of creative artists, a torrent of recent changes has made it all but impossible to earn a living.
A persistent economic recession, social shifts, and technological change have combined to put our artists—from graphic designers to indie-rock musicians, from architects to booksellers—out of work. Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class looks deeply and broadly into the roots of the crisis of the creative class in America and tells us why it matters. Scott Timberg considers the human cost as well as the unintended consequences of shuttered record stores, decimated newspapers, music piracy, and a general attitude of indifference.
Scott Timberg, a former arts reporter for the Los Angeles Times, writes on music and culture and contributes to Salon and the New York Times. Over the past six years he has been an award-winning freelance journalist, a blogger on West Coast culture, and an adjunct writing professor. He runs ArtsJournal’s Culture Crash blog and lives in Los Angeles.
