{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T01:24:53Z","timestamp":1777944293046,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739923200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Platforms have disintermediated the markets for books, film, television, and music, but the online art market has reproduced offline structures, leaving intermediaries intact. This study explores the limits of platforms by describing why disintermediation failed in the art market. Along with museums and other intermediaries, the most important function of galleries is to co-create artistic value. They not only sell art but also form a central part of the status system of art. We examine #artistsupportpledge (ASP) on Instagram. ASP uncovered a market for art that had no place in the existing system. ASP facilitated direct sales to consumers while allowing artists to maintain links to galleries for reputation, career development, exhibitions, and sales of large, expensive work. The art market experienced unique partial disintermediation under narrow conditions with continued allegiance to existing intermediaries and status structures. We conclude by discussing four implications for the theory of platforms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448251316498","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T06:39:57Z","timestamp":1739947197000},"page":"1936-1954","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The limits of platforms: Why disintermediation has failed in the art market"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Rachel","family":"Ricucci","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6821-0958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Grant","family":"Blank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9789048503650"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_1","unstructured":"Artsy (2024) Artsy sell artist representation. Available at: https:\/\/support.artsy.net\/s\/article\/Im-an-artist-Can-I-submit-my-own-work-to-sell (accessed 9 September 2024)."},{"issue":"3","key":"e_1_3_4_4_1","first-page":"349","article-title":"Veblen effects in a theory of conspicuous consumption","volume":"86","author":"Bagwell L","year":"1996","unstructured":"Bagwell L, Bernheim B (1996) Veblen effects in a theory of conspicuous consumption. American Economic Review 86(3): 349\u2013373.","journal-title":"American Economic Review"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_1","volume-title":"Art Worlds","author":"Becker H","year":"2008","unstructured":"Becker H (2008) Art Worlds. Berkeley, CA: University of California."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_1","volume-title":"Get the Picture","author":"Bosker B","year":"2024","unstructured":"Bosker B (2024) Get the Picture. New York: Viking."},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_3_4_7_1","first-page":"3","article-title":"The market of symbolic goods","volume":"14","author":"Bourdieu P","year":"1985","unstructured":"Bourdieu P (1985) The market of symbolic goods. Poetics 14(1): 3\u201344.","journal-title":"Poetics"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_1","volume-title":"The Field of Cultural Production","author":"Bourdieu P","year":"1993","unstructured":"Bourdieu P (1993) The Field of Cultural Production. New York: Columbia University."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511812507"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_1","volume-title":"Social Media Entertainment","author":"Cunningham S","year":"2019","unstructured":"Cunningham S, Craig D (2019) Social Media Entertainment. New York: New York University."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0304-422X(01)00044-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_1","unstructured":"Dubner S (2021). Hidden side of the art market (no 486): audio podcast episode. Freakonomics Radio 8 December. Retrieved from https:\/\/freakonomics.com\/podcast-tag\/the-hidden-side-of-the-art-market\/ (accessed 18 February 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/3005962"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_3_4_14_1","first-page":"14","article-title":"Elite cues and political decision making","volume":"6","author":"Gilens M","year":"2002","unstructured":"Gilens M, Murakawa N (2002) Elite cues and political decision making. Research in Micropolitics 6(1): 14\u201349.","journal-title":"Research in Micropolitics"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.101.3.222"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13662716.2018.1561357"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_1","unstructured":"Hategan V (n.d.) Dead NFTs: the evolving landscape of the NFT and market. Available at: https:\/\/dappgambl.com\/nfts\/dead-nfts\/ (accessed 4 April 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_1","volume-title":"The Cultural Industries","author":"Hesmondhalgh D","year":"2018","unstructured":"Hesmondhalgh D (2018) The Cultural Industries. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.","edition":"4"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1057\/rpm.2013.34"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_3_4_20_1","first-page":"30","article-title":"Disintermediation: cutting out the middle man","volume":"16","author":"Katz E","year":"1988","unstructured":"Katz E (1988) Disintermediation: cutting out the middle man. Intermedia 16(2): 30\u201331.","journal-title":"Intermedia"},{"issue":"3","key":"e_1_3_4_21_1","first-page":"61","article-title":"Rise of the platform economy","volume":"32","author":"Kenney M","year":"2016","unstructured":"Kenney M, Zysman J (2016) Rise of the platform economy. Issues in Science and Technology 32(3): 61\u201369.","journal-title":"Issues in Science and Technology"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/107780049500100103"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/EJM-12-2016-0788"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/eufm.12348"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_25_1","volume-title":"Art Market 2022","author":"McAndrew C","year":"2022","unstructured":"McAndrew C (2022) Art Market 2022. Basel: Art Basel and UBS."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_26_1","volume-title":"Art Market 2024","author":"McAndrew C","year":"2024","unstructured":"McAndrew C (2024) Art Market 2024. Basel: Art Basel and UBS."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/000282802762024719"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444818769694"},{"issue":"3","key":"e_1_3_4_29_1","first-page":"34","article-title":"Has art lost its aura? How reintermediation and decoupling have changed the rules of the art game: the case of Artvisor","volume":"22","author":"Piancatelli C","year":"2020","unstructured":"Piancatelli C, Massi M, Harrison P (2020) Has art lost its aura? How reintermediation and decoupling have changed the rules of the art game: the case of Artvisor. International Journal of Arts Management 22(3): 34\u201354.","journal-title":"International Journal of Arts Management"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_30_1","volume-title":"Platforms and Cultural Production","author":"Poell T","year":"2022","unstructured":"Poell T, Nieborg D, Duffy B (2022) Platforms and Cultural Production. New York: Polity Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.14763\/2019.4.1425"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_32_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Reyburn S (2020) A pledge to help artists becomes a lucrative lifeline. New York Times 12 November. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/12\/arts\/artist-support-pledge-online.html","DOI":"10.1002\/nba.30865"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_33_1","unstructured":"Statista (2022) Distribution of Instagram users worldwide by age group. [Infographic]. Statista April. Available at: https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/325587\/instagram-global-age-group\/"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_34_1","volume-title":"Theory of the Leisure Class","author":"Veblen T","year":"1994","unstructured":"Veblen T (1994 [1899]) Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Dover."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_35_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14616696.2013.767929"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_36_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.infoecopol.2015.02.001"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_37_1","volume-title":"Canvases and Careers","author":"White HC","year":"1993","unstructured":"White HC, White CA (1993) Canvases and Careers. Chicago: University of Chicago."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_38_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12525-019-00389-0"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/14614448251316498","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/14614448251316498","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/14614448251316498","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T07:51:07Z","timestamp":1777708267000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/14614448251316498"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/14614448251316498"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/14614448251316498","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]]}}}