One of the newer debates in music seems to have been definitively answered this week by Amanda Palmer. The former Dresden Dolls singer started a Kickstarter campaign for her next musical project and this week reached $1.2 million. Nearly 24,000 backers have donated $1 or more to the project.
Palmer hoped to raise $100,000 to record an album, her first in four years, with her new band the 'Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra.’ The campaign ends tonight at midnight and Palmer and friends are celebrating with a street party in Brooklyn. It’s all being streamed right here.
Asking fans to become arts patrons rather than say consumers is pretty much the strategy behind musicians and their fund-raising campaigns through the crowd-funding websites like Kickstarter. Another way to look at it: fans have now become record labels… with fewer strings attached.
In April, Vancouver’s entertainment weekly the Georgia Straight ran a story about the ethics of bands asking fans to help fund their albums and tours. It sparked a lot of discussion with many bands arguing that changes in the music industry have created this new reality.
Calling Palmer’s success unprecedented is an understatement. The creative force of nature that is Amanda Palmer has plans for deluxe albums, crazy shows, an art book, and, according to an interview she gave at boingboing: “if i wind up truly loaded someday, it means i’ll probably buy an abandoned church somewhere and turn it into a free 24-hour circus brunch bar for everybody.”
All investments are a risk, but it seems that fans of Palmer are definitely in for some mighty returns.
Related: