DACS’ Annual Review: 79,000 artists and estates receive £17.2 million in royalties
DACS has published its latest Annual Review which reveals that 79,000 artists and estates received £17.2 million in royalties through our services in 2021. In a year where we also launched our Manifesto for Artists and the Smart Fund campaign,we are committed to supporting the essential business of being an artist.
2021: Key highlights
In 2021, DACS celebrated the landmark distribution of over £100m in Artist's Resale Right royalties to artists and artist’s estates, since the right passed into law in the UK in 2006. Last year alone we paid £9.9 million in resale royalties to artists and estates.
Our much loved Payback scheme established over 20 years ago, saw thousands of artists and their representatives receive a share of over £5.6 million in Payback royalties.
We also licensed our members' work for a range of a diverse and exciting projects including Dulwich Picture Gallery, Tate, Scottish Ballet, ICA, Arnolfini and Penguin Press. In 2021, we paid £1.4 million in licensing royalties to artists and estates.
To support artists long term, last year DACS led a coalition of arts organisations, to launch a campaign for the Smart Fund which could generate between £250-300 million a year to better support visual artists and the wider cultural industries.
Download our 2021 Annual Review
In addition to the latest figures, our Annual Review also outlines other important developments last year. Highlights include our campaign for The Smart Fund and our extensive public programme which brought people together to hear from important artistic voices and leading cultural practitioners.
Gilane Tawadros who is stepping down as DACS Chief Executive and moving to the Whitechapel Gallery in the autumn said:
Since I became Chief Executive in 2009, I’m immensely proud of all that DACS has achieved to support the financial sustainability of artists and artists’ estates who are so critical to the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the nation. I have no doubt the organisation will flourish and grow under new leadership, and I look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength in supporting the essential business of being an artist.
DACS Chief Executive
Download the DACS Annual Review 2021
