The Exposure Economy: why we can't pay rent with likes

The Price of Exposure

When I was 20, I worked as an intern for a huge corporation. Minimum pay, unpaid extra hours, and "exposure" instead of opportunity. Spoiler: it didn't open any doors. Later, as a freelancer, small startups offered the same deal: "If we grow, you grow with us." None of them exist anymore.

When I joined mimosa with Danilo, we knew we had to do things differently. Our first rule: we pay our freelancers and team first, then ourselves. We've always aimed to be as fair as possible with every budget. We refused to repeat the trauma of waiting months for payments or losing them to bankrupt clients. For a while, we worked with Erasmus interns, but once we realised they still had to take side jobs to survive in Berlin, we stopped unpaid internships altogether.

As we grow and collaborate with more talented people, we keep seeing the same pattern: the bigger the company, the bigger the "exposure" trap — as if it's an honour to work for free. Meanwhile, inflation rises, the Finanzamt keeps knocking, and the insurance office threatens Inkasso if we're late. Being a freelancer in Germany isn't easy. The path is unclear, and the safety net is thin.

So, to join forces with other creatives (and laugh a little at the absurdity), we created a minimalistic tool: part social commentary, part real-life experiment. It's free, open-source, and made for everyone trying to make a fair living in a system still running on exposure.

Words by mimosa's founder Greta Belén. The tool is exposure.money.

They Promised Exposure. Here's What I Got.

Unpaid creative labour often comes in disguise. Over several weeks we ran a small Instagram survey and collected stories from fellow creatives in Berlin and beyond. We hope that exposing the condition of working for exposure helps other creatives recognise these situations — and starts a very much needed discussion.

The real names of the participants and places have been changed for privacy reasons.

"I was asked to play several shows when I moved to Berlin as a DJ for exposure. No offer to pay cab fare, the only 'pay' was in drinking tickets and I don't even drink… After this I gave up DJing for a while. There will always be some nepo baby who can do it I guess."

— Anna, cultural worker and DJ

"It happened to me last time with this Chinese restaurant chain which is very hyped now and has a few places opened around the city. They asked me to create an illustration for their New Year's calendar for which they offered me a dinner (for just one person) in exchange, and exposure, because they have many clients. I told them this was outrageous and did not end up taking the gig, after which their manager spoke to me, stressing that she was the same nationality as me and therefore empathised with me haha (?!)… and mentioned that they could not pay the artists because their idea was to give away the calendar to the customers for free. I don't know… I just imagine they must have some money from three or four opened branches, so not paying the people working on the calendar seems pretty unfair to me."

— Jay, illustrator

"In my experience it's that stylists very often reach out to nail artists to make press-ons for photoshoots but they never want to pay us. It's always 'oh, I'll send you the pictures and you can use them and post them' and 'we'll tag you in the credits', but they often ask you super last minute, are extremely demanding with the designs and sometimes forget to ever send you the pictures (if they even remembered to get any close-ups of the hands).

It's very upsetting when you put so much creativity, time, effort and supplies into something only to never get paid or appreciated."

— Beck, nail artist

"I did some projects for exposure when I was starting with illustration. Two that I can remember were two magazines. In both cases I knew it wasn't paid; Insta mentions were promised though, and both magazines are quite known in the independent publishing world (one in Germany, one in the UK).

Both are independent and not that big. In both cases they stated they didn't have the money. Back then, I felt like it could really help my profile. I have a different opinion now. If you just started to work as an illustrator, maybe you need more time for your illustrations and project management. But you are still an expert in your field. If the art directors like your work, they should pay you. Especially if their magazine is built on illustrations. To me, now, it feels like bad financial management, and it exploits newcomers and people who don't feel confident in their work yet. I think at least a small fee should be paid, because exposure doesn't guarantee you anything.

I would make an exception if the magazine is in the absolute beginning phase, a heart project, or for a good cause. But then exposure has to be bigger, not just a tag in an Instagram post. If the client wants you, they should offer you a good package — mention on their website with a link to your portfolio, a portrait in a newsletter, a story feature. Just tagging you in an Instagram post is really no effort.

For the first magazine, the German one, it worked out well. I liked the cooperation. I was the one who sent my portfolio to them and they were upfront about their financial situation — one of the heart projects. I did get a well-paid illustration gig through that magazine and was able to try out some new things in my process and style. So in that case I also gained learning experience.

The second magazine was absolute shite. They never posted the illustration on their IG, no mention, nothing. I tagged them in my post, they didn't even see it. They had reached out to me, I think, but the conversation during the process was also pretty lacking."

— Dayna, illustrator and graphic designer

"I am not sure if my experience still counts, because I currently work and worked a lot for 'exposure' — often not necessarily completely for free but for a very, very small revenue. This is, however, not necessarily because my 'employer' or the people I work with would be evil, but because I come from a country where funding got cut to almost all cultural events and institutions lately. So I find myself now in a situation where I work for an Oscar-winning film festival for two euros an hour and I have to watch 1,600 short films, which takes me approximately four months. Or in one distribution film company in my country I was getting 400 euros a month for almost a full-time job. I also have a friend who is CEO of a prestigious literature competition, which is basically a full-time job, and does it completely for free."

— Lena, film worker and screenwriter

"A few years ago I sent my portfolio to volunteer in creating decorations for a German yoga and mindfulness festival. They accepted me, were super loving and included me as part of the crew since the team was still young. The following year, I was asked to coordinate the deco team. We put together a team of about five women to work every other Tuesday to create the concept of each stage, from January to September when the event took place.

At the time of decorating there weren't enough volunteers and it was very stressful; there was no sense of team or care. The next January they called me to work again, but this time I asked to get paid as it was getting to be too much work. They said they could not pay me. Two weeks before the festival they contacted me again, as they needed an artist collective in return for visibility on their website and meals."

— Jessica, stage designer

"Once a big global fashion magazine contacted me to create some press-ons for their cover. After they explained everything, they mentioned that they do not have the budget to pay me — which I found weird, as a brand this big must have enough money for SURE. I refused the gig and politely explained that I cannot pay my bills with the exposure they were offering. (Plus the exposure from this type of brand would not get me the clients I am looking for anyway.)

I also work for a popular nail salon in Berlin, and the magazine contacted them the next day after I refused their offer (!), asking whether they don't have a skilled nail technician available for the shoot — and this time it was paid. I did the job and they loved it. At the end, when I had to give them my name, they realised it was me who they didn't want to pay before, and tried to come up with some excuses about why they didn't have the budget back then and got it this time."

— Rocko, nail artist

"I personally find 'working for exposure' not such a black and white topic, and I try to distinguish between the type of client and what my current financial situation is. For instance, I got asked about two years ago to develop a series of illustrations for a collective that wanted to create an index of places in Berlin where you could go for various queer and feminist events. At the time I was incredibly broke and explained to them that I could not work for free, even though this project might have given me the exposure I would like.

So yeah — had I had more time and money back then, I might have taken that project, as this is definitely not the type of client you'd work for big money. But still, I think you have to come from a certain place of privilege to be able to work on fun projects and for exposure instead of handling multiple gigs at the same time. Choosing to work for free is a very delicate situation, and most of the time I end up refusing this type of project rather than accepting it after considering all the pros and cons."

— Orlando, painter and illustrator

If you are weighing up an offer like these right now, we put the practical half of this edition in its own piece: No More Free Labour: A Freelancer's Toolkit — five questions to ask before you say yes, and the unions, funds and rate guides worth knowing about.

This edition of Mood Swings was designed and curated by Sára Král.

This piece first appeared in the September 2025 edition of Mood Swings, the mimosa magazine on Readymag.