Matthew Burrows MBE established the Artists Support Pledge using Instagram in 2020, in response to the Covid pandemic. Artists were very concerned that their income stream would dry up, so he developed ASP allowing makers to post images using the hashtag #artistsupportpledge, giving details of their works and price (no more than £200 or equivelent). If people are interested in buying, they directly message the artist. Artists don’t need permission to join. Every time an artist reaches £1,000 of sales, they pledge to buy £200 of work from another artist.
ASP has 100k followers on Instagram and have posted 1,109 times.
However, ASP has recently posted against the platform and questioning its tactics, advising artists how to try to influence Instagram in their favour, considering algorithms which are now in place.
