Amanda Palmer: “Artists Have Always Needed To Fund Themselves”
"Asking for money is generally considered shameful in the art and music world… this cultural ideal about artists and how they shouldn't touch money because it strips away the integrity of their art. But that's obviously bullshit, especially if you look throughout history and see that artists have ALWAYS needed to fund themselves and their work creatively, sneakily, with gusto and with shamelessness.
The only mistake I think I've made is not making the connection sooner….I think I was still living in the delusion… that we, as major-label-artists, would get to live on the Special Cloud of Art without Commerce.
If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have been training and educating our audience form the very start to support us directly.
– Amanda Palmer interview with Mike Masnick of Techdirt
Techdirt… not TechCrunch.
Sorry Mike. I know better and it’s corrected.
I agree 100%,all artists especially the indie,have to get our fans to fund our music projects. If you love music,and the choice of selecting only the songs you like,then all we as artists ask is that you support your favorites,and buy our songs.
Hey – have you heard the new music from Bobby Darling of Gatsbys American Dream yet? It’s pretty awesome and they are even giving the debut away for free. You can pay what you want for it at http://placesandnumbers.bandcamp.com
That’s such a crucial point. Especially for up and coming artists(be it a band, a solo artist or even a band making instrumental music).
But what I find sad is when “this cultural ideal about artists and how they shouldn’t touch money because it strips away the integrity of their art” influences artists themselves in a way that they start believing it.
Dunno, because most artists in this part of the world that I’m in still operate within the paradigm that money should be the last thing to think/feel about.