On Artists and Money

A few days ago I read this wonderful blog post by Amanda Palmer about “money, shamelessness, & how an artist today relates to her fans” (as summarized by Neil Gaiman on Twitter).  Then Cory at The Abundant Artist posted about it and asked for thoughts. I started commenting on his blog and discovered I had too much to say on the subject for just a comment!

So, first, go read her post. Really – this won’t mean half as much if you haven’t. I’ll wait.

Okay, so now that’s done, here are my thoughts:

I love what Amanda is doing, and what she had to say about it. While her route is absolutely not for everyone (as she acknowledges), it’s not supposed to be. It’s all about widening the avenues for artists to receive support from their fans.

I think that in a way, we’re seeing the world of art come full circle.

Once upon a time most artists received support directly from the people who appreciated their art – whether that meant finding wealthy patrons or passing the hat at a performance. As time passed technology allowed art to be recorded and/or reproduced and spread to greater audiences, but the artists could only do so much… so businesses were created to distribute those art works, and to promote them, and so forth.

But now, technology has reached the point where it can be relatively easy for an artist to take care of many or all of those steps directly – and in return, not have to give up either the control or the money that they had been giving to everyone in between them and their fans.

And one thing that some people seem to forget is that fans want to support the artists they love!

Nobody is forcing anyone to follow Amanda’s tweets, attend her concerts, or buy her art… in fact, she’s really doing far less forcing of support than the ‘traditional’ model. She provides a wide stream of content (and connection), and as one of her fans you get to choose how much of it you want to take in, and what you want to give her in return. You may buy something, you may spread the word to your friends, or you may just give her your attention – but it’s completely your choice.

When I find an artist whose work really speaks to me it’s exciting, energizing. I want to share my appreciation. I want to help make sure they get to keep making this art that I love. And guess what? The easiest route to both of those goals is to give them money!

And personally, when the artist is asking for that money directly, when I get to hand it to them or buy directly from their site, I find that even more exciting. It feels like more of a real connection, and I also take comfort in knowing they’ll actually get most of it. (When was the last time you were excited about spending money for a concert ticket? How about the last time you were excited about the Ticketmaster surcharge? Do you see my point?)

I think it’s pretty funny that our culture has developed into something where people don’t bat an eye at being marketed to by big corporations practically 24-7, and frequently in really intrusive ways, but will be deeply offended if an individual who is really putting herself out there and sharing her work has the audacity to ask to be paid for it. In fact, a lot of the people who think that what Amanda is doing is so outlandish would be totally fine with the same basic actions if they were put in the framework of a slick marketing blitz run by her record company. And that’s just backwards!

But the only way that anything ever changes is for someone to do something different. And of course, when things change a lot of people get freaked the heck out. So it’s not surprising that she’s seeing  a backlash. But I, for one, am grateful for Amanda and all of the other artists who are feeling their way though this transition and bringing the personal connections back to art.

And when the hat is passed to me, I will put my money where my eyes and ears and heart are.