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Why Amanda Palmer Left the Music 'Industry' For Crowdfunding (digitaltrends.com)
Amanda Palmer says abandoning the commercial music industry for a subscription model made it possible to take more chances, like a new album with psychedelia artist Edward Ka-Spel. An anonymous reader quotes Digital Trends:
I spent my whole life in this music industry trying to figure out how to sell what I'm making. But I don't "sell" anymore -- I just have this magical net of supporters who are supporting me whether I choose to make a record with Edward or make a record with my dad, which I did last year... [S]ometimes, you absolutely want to do ridiculous, noncommercial stuff. The Patreon patrons have been a godsend in that sense. I've had to continually re-educate myself that this isn't about selling music. It's about making music. I got so used to those two being inseparable that it took a lot of psychological work to divorce the processes.
She says her supporters "haven't just promised; they've put down their credit card." And Neil Gaiman, her husband, also strongly endorses the freedom to experiment. "If, as an artist, you ever listen to your fans' demands, and their demands are always insisting you make the last thing they liked again, you would go nowhere."
She says her supporters "haven't just promised; they've put down their credit card." And Neil Gaiman, her husband, also strongly endorses the freedom to experiment. "If, as an artist, you ever listen to your fans' demands, and their demands are always insisting you make the last thing they liked again, you would go nowhere."
Funny that they keep going back to Amanda Palmer for these stories, when the real pioneers in crowd-funded music is Marillion, who started doing it way back in 1996 for tours, and 2001 for albums. If you have a big enough fan base, you can probably can do something like this.
Regardless of who her husband is, she achieved a degree of commercial success prior to this change, which means that she has managed to build enough audience to make transitioning to crowdfunding easier. Obviously being a signed act isn't the only way to build that audience, but it certainly has its advantages.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Wait. No. Could it be that being married to a rich famous person means you don't have to worry shit about money, and can do stuff you like anyway?
Look, Neil was successful before he married Amanda. It's not her income that lets him experiment, he makes his own contribution.
You can't possibly believe that there are no successful artists that you haven't heard of.
You are welcome on my lawn.