According to Scott (2012, p. 238), independent DIY musicians who create and perform music, as well as self-manage the construction of a musical career, are typical cultural entrepreneurs. Musicians are encouraged more and more to think of their music as a startup business. At the early stage of their careers, musicians face many of the challenges and constraints of entrepreneurs in other settings, such as situations where they have to find ways to finance, budget, brand and sell. Hracs (2009, p. 458) also observes how the working lives of the contemporary independent musicians are moving away from “artist” or “bohemian” models of creative production to encompass a more professionalised entrepreneurial model.
Styvén (2007) investigated music intangibility in the internet age. She identified problems resulting from music dematerialisation and provided solutions from the marketing literature on how to deal with them. Many of her suggestions can be found in the concept of music as a service, such as the idea of gaining access to music for a monthly fee as one does with water.
In 2013 Jack Conte created a platform based around the same idea; Patreon is a website where content creators are paid by their followers per piece of content or on a monthly basis. It functions as a fundraising website, but instead or raising funds for a project, content creators generate a regular stream of income. Unlike Kickstarter, which is meant for on-off projects, Patreon is a tool for people who generate content regularly. Fans can pay a subscription of as little as $1 and in exchange they have access to the artist’s ‘stream’ and to different rewards, depending on their payment. Recently Patreon reached 250,000 patrons giving out a monthly total paycheque of $2 million to the content creators they support.
Jack Conte is a content creator and musician himself. Pomplamoose, the musical duo he’s part of, has a popular Youtube channel with over 500,000 subscribers and over 1 billion views. While the music is quite simple, the videos often feature intricate decors, projections and complex editing with visual effects (for example, ’Pedals’ by Conte, the first piece of content posted on Patreon, features real robots).
Conte is a multi-instrumentalist and he records and produces his music - yet another example of the modern musician being a jack-of-all-trades. And, with Patreon, he is the very example of a musician entrepreneur.
His ‘About’ section on Patreon sounds like a condensed manifesto of every modern independent musician:
Conte is a multi-instrumentalist and he records and produces his music - yet another example of the modern musician being a jack-of-all-trades. And, with Patreon, he is the very example of a musician entrepreneur.
His ‘About’ section on Patreon sounds like a condensed manifesto of every modern independent musician:
I make music in my home studio and post it on YouTube and SoundCloud for you to enjoy. No labels, no publishing companies, no intermediaries. Every dollar you pledge gives me the freedom and ability to maintain my independence and make the art that I want to make, so I really appreciate the support!
As an ‘Internet musician’, Conte’s problem was not where to find an audience, but how to get paid. Youtube videos can be monetised via ads, but artists earn only if the adverts are clicked (which means stealing focus from the video in the first place); the earnings are very small - tens of millions of views needed to make a living. On Patreon, Conte is earning $5,328 per video. Walk Off the Earth, a five-piece band with another popular Youtube Channel, make $15,832 per music video. Amanda Palmer, who joined in April 2015, is already making $30.000 per song posted, at the time of the writing.
Conte devotes Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to writing and recording. He is also the CEO of a business. ‘It’s a difficult balancing act’, he admits. But despite it, Pomplamoose still managed to release 14 videos in 2014 (Dredge, 2015).
Not only that Patreon helped boost Conte’s career as a musician, but it also allowed thousands of artists to receive steady income from patrons who, by supporting the artist, do not buy a certain product, but a service. Patreon is proof that musicians can make a living off music in the online environment and that Internet provides unlimited opportunities and alternatives to try; and if the alternative is not yet out there, as Conte showed, it can be created.
As part of my future strategies of building a career with music, I have created a Patreon account. The account is still empty at moment. I have investigated other Patreon accounts and it becomes apparent that I need to take care of a few things before inviting my followers to join me on Patreon: 1)I need to write a script and draft a presentation video in which to explain how Patreon works and convince people to support me 2) I have to decide on a reward system and write descriptions of the rewards.
I also think that I should wait a little longer before inviting my followers on Patreon and create more content in advance, so I don't run out of content and disappoint my monthly paying followers. On the other hand, I am thinking of running a Kickstarter to fund my album (which I intend to release in the summer and possibly make it my final project if this masters degree) and I'm not sure if followers would be willing to contribute on Kickstarter if they already support me on Patreon. Nevertheless, I believe Patreon is the future of independent musicians, and I will definitely use it in the near future; I might just need to wait a little bit longer and gain more fans in order to make it viable.
References:
As part of my future strategies of building a career with music, I have created a Patreon account. The account is still empty at moment. I have investigated other Patreon accounts and it becomes apparent that I need to take care of a few things before inviting my followers to join me on Patreon: 1)I need to write a script and draft a presentation video in which to explain how Patreon works and convince people to support me 2) I have to decide on a reward system and write descriptions of the rewards.
I also think that I should wait a little longer before inviting my followers on Patreon and create more content in advance, so I don't run out of content and disappoint my monthly paying followers. On the other hand, I am thinking of running a Kickstarter to fund my album (which I intend to release in the summer and possibly make it my final project if this masters degree) and I'm not sure if followers would be willing to contribute on Kickstarter if they already support me on Patreon. Nevertheless, I believe Patreon is the future of independent musicians, and I will definitely use it in the near future; I might just need to wait a little bit longer and gain more fans in order to make it viable.
References:
Dredge, S (2015) As Amanda Palmer joins Patreon, CEO Jack Conte tells us why. Available at: http://musically.com/2015/03/03/amanda-palmer-joins-patreon/ (Accessed 20.12.2015)
Jack Conte, (2013). Pedals Music Video (featuring REAL robots) - Conte. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ02alEkbLw [Accessed 20.12.2015].
Hracs, B. (2012) 'A Creative Industry In Transition: The Rise Of Digitally Driven Independent Music Production’ in Growth Change 43.3 (2012): pp.442-461. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2257.2012.00593.x/pdf (Accessed 18.12.2015)
Scott, M. (2012) 'Cultural Entrepreneurs, Cultural Entrepreneurship: Music Producers Mobilising And Converting Bourdieu's Alternative Capitals'. Poetics 40.3 pp.237-255. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2012.03.002 (Accessed: 18.12.2015)
Styvén, M. (2007) ‘The Intangibility of Music in the Internet Age’, in Popular Music and Society, 30:1, pp.53-74. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03007760500503442 (Accessed at: 18.12.2015)
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