The Riches are in the Niches, Bitches

Remember when the word artist carried a certain gravitas—a suggestion of tortured genius, bohemian chic, and the distinct possibility of an affair with a poet who only eats oranges?

Respect for the arts has followed attention spans to its grave. Once upon a time, artists were revered—or at least feared. They might hex you, seduce your spouse, or convince you to bankroll their werewolf movie. Creators? No one’s worried about being seduced by a Millennial unboxing artisanal bitters.

The “creator” is what happens when art and capitalism swipe right on each other. Michelangelo had patrons; creators have Patreon. Warhol had the Factory; creators have Fiverr. But this isn’t just about platforms. It’s about what happens when the algorithm dictates the art.

In the Before Times, artists roamed free, exploring the infinite. Now, every creator has a “niche”—or no audience.

How Did We Get Here?

Once, the internet was a free and open space. Then, the tech oligarchs came. They dangled the promise of participation in the so-called “Creative Economy” and lured the creative classes into producing free “content” for their platforms. Artists became “creators.”

Let’s be real—“creators” are just digital sharecroppers, at best, Culture Serfs. And content? That’s the corporate colonist’s linguistic imperialism—a word so odious it’s the “Newspeak” of our time. A poem and a white paper are the same in this paradigm, valued only by their clicks.

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And niche-focused media is thriving. “Focused, niche media companies will continue to thrive,” said Front Office Sports’ CEO Adam White in Adweek. “Many ‘niche’ media companies are only niche in focus and not scale—there are a lot of ‘niche’ areas that have a meaningful audience and influence.”

He’s not wrong. A newsletter for HVAC contractors? Booming. A spinoff plumbing newsletter? Sure. Live events for home improvement pros? Absolutely. There’s “Morning Brew for X” potential everywhere.

Our media platforms reinforce the Balkanization of the cultural experience via algorithmic filter bubbles that customize and contain content tailor-made for its audience, which is you. You are the niche. There’s a Morning Brew for You.

As people who create, perhaps the way around it is through it.

Be The Niche

“The business unit itself is changing. The magazine used to be the unit, the show used to be the unit, the newspaper, whatever, used to be the unit, and now it’s the individual itself,” observed The Grill Room podcast’s Dylan Byers.

I have long searched for a niche, but it never occurred to me to be the niche. Or, as Byers continued, ”…It’s the person in their field who is the authority and who you can build the brand around.”

I’m hands-down the authority on me (actually, my wife is, but she doesn’t want the job). However, my defining passion, pain points, and pursuits do comprise a niche: Through my work, I seek opportunity and humor in the disruption of the culture industries for Gen X creatives. That’s it.

So, if you’re on an arts-adjacent career path trying to make a go of your personal, creative work in today’s media hellscape, as the villains say, we’re not so different, you and I. Bwahaha!

The niche isn’t a consolation prize; it’s a survival strategy. It’s where connection, influence, and authenticity that larger platforms dilute can thrive. Your niche is your stage, your audience, your armor against irrelevance—and against the soul-sucking churn of producing for an algorithm that doesn’t even say thank you.

Carve something sharp, weird, and undeniably yours. Your niche isn’t what defines you; it’s where you define yourself.