In 2025, South Africa’s creative industry is on the rise, and independent artists are coming up from the ground to claim their place and money. They can now do this without having to go through traditional gatekeepers such as record companies or galleries as a result of the development of do-it-yourself revenue models. The shift is real; people are now buying from Bandcamp if they are musicians, selling prints on Instagram if they are visual artists and so on. Even other related industries are also starting to feel the impact – for instance, forex trading South African currency market has been on the rise recently, and this is because more people are trying to gain financial freedom as these artists. This increase is not just a trend, it is a movement of how talent is encouraged to grow in a digital world.
This is backed up by the numbers. In 2024, the global art market was $552 billion, and South Africa was part of it as its creators sold their art online. Aspire Art, a key player in the contemporary African art market, observed that sales of works by emerging artists at auctions last year rose by 30% compared to 2023. Musicians also earn a lot of money—according to the latest data from Spotify, at the end of 2024, South African indie artists such as Nasty C and Shekhinah had millions of streams and had gone beyond the conventional distribution. The internet has now created equality, and this has enabled artists to sell their art to their fans directly without the help of a middleman.
This technology is the key to this revolution. Some of the websites include Patreon and Gumroad, which enable the creators to provide exclusive content like songs that are not yet out, or behind-the-scenes sketches every month. At the moment, South African musicians, including Jeremy Loops, are getting patronage from Patreon, and fans pay $5 to $20 every month for extra services. Other artists, particularly visual artists, are using print-on-demand services like Redbubble where a single design can be sold globally, and the artist does not have to do much as just uploading the design. Some social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, are the promotion platforms that generate sales through activities like dance challenges or art time-lapses.
Crowdfunding is also gaining popularity. In the latter part of 2024, Thandiwe Mlauli, a Cape Town-based filmmaker raised more than R500 000 through BackaBuddy to shoot her first feature film, and the local audiences are willing to support new voices. Musicians such as Tyla have used Kickstarter to put out their EPs and were offering signed vinyl or virtual concerts. This form of financing is better than bank loans and corporate presentations, and artists can maintain ownership and build a strong fan base. It is quite different from the past when a label deal was the only way to success and often came with the price of ownership.
Another area that is emerging is NFTs, although they are still developing. After the 2021 crypto boom, NFTs declined in the entire world, but South African artists are using them effectively in 2025. Jozi painter Kabelo Malatsi sold a digital series for $10,000 via OpenSea in January and also provided physical prints with each token to make the package more attractive. Musicians are also trying it out; Joburg rapper Cassper Nyovest tried to sell NFTs linked to the single sales last month and buyers could claim a part of the royalties. It is still small, but it shows how artists are combining tech with real-world value to diversify their income.
Live gigs haven’t died out either; they’ve just got smarter. Today, in 2025, indie acts are booking smaller venues or pop-up events keeping the ticket prices low and selling the tickets directly to the fans through Quicket. In February this year, Sun El Musician guaranteed a 300-person show and kept most of the R150,000 profit because he did not involve promoters. Today, merch tables are equipped with QR codes that link to digital downloads or subscriptions, which convert a R200 shirt sale into a fan relationship. It is a raw form of hustle that is combined with modern approaches.
There are however some issues that still exist. Internet access is limited – according to Stats SA, 26% of the population was online in 2024, which means that rural artists have no connection. Payment platforms such as PayPal are still not fully integrated with local banks and high data costs are a threat to the revenue. Piracy is also a problem; a 2025 report identified South Africa as one of the countries with the highest rate of illegal downloads, which affects digital sales. However, artists do this, and some of them, including Pretoria’s Gina Nxumalo, stream their music for free to get listeners and then try to convert them to pay for premium content or workshops.
This is where the culture comes in. South Africans have recently started to think and act for themselves due to the post-Covid spirit of self-reliance. The Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa launched a R50 million digital creatives fund in 2024, however, indie artists do not even attempt to apply for it, they rather prefer to create their own path. This is in line with the overall situation: the youth unemployment rate was 46% last year, which forced Gen Z to work for themselves. For every painter selling his or her paintings on Etsy, or a producer who oversees mixing beats and posting them on SoundCloud, there is a story of how resourcefulness brings opportunity from scarcity.
This is not just about money; it is about control. Thus, in 2025, the country’s indie population becomes a testing ground for what is possible when talent technology and determination are combined. The revenue models – the subscriptions, crowdfunding, NFTs, the direct sales – are not fixed; they are updated depending on the viral hit or the gallery drop. As connectivity increases and platforms become more sophisticated, these creators are not just surviving, they are defining what it means to succeed in a market of 62 million and making some noise as a solo act.