The art world is changing. When I started college in 1993, at 20 years old, the goal after graduating with a BFA was to find representation with a gallery. There weren't many other options. Galleries and media outlets were gatekeepers that controlled what art was seen by the public. If an artist didn't find representation it was assumed their work had no audience. In recent years I have discovered all art has some kind of audience. They just may not be an audience that can or wants to pay for art. Some people will respond to my last statement with disregard for art audience that doesn't buy art. I think that is capitalism overtaking their appreciation of an audience. I am not anti-capitalism. (Some people will get mad at me for that statement.) I think there should be room in the art world for both types of audience. We have an opportunity to have both. The art that requires extreme wealth to obtain is still going strong and social media has an abundance of art options.
The issue is, how do artists pay to live in a capitalist society if they don't sell work. There are many reasons an artist may not sell work. That isn't the issue I want to address. Crowdfunding and subscriptions are the best options.