patron21

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The Last Days of Patron21

Dear artists and art-supporters,

I have some very big news to announce to you guys as well as a special Christmas gift (please read the bold sections so you don’t miss it). Over the past few months, it has become increasingly apparent that Patron21 as a tool for art funding has reached a period of stasis. Our amazing developers have full time jobs and families (both have new children on the way!) and I have recently started graduate school. At this point, future development and evolution of our service is extremely slow going. 

Patron21 began as an idea and was brought to life through determination and long unpaid hours. We did not start up with funding, instead we relied heavily on resourcefulness, inspiration, and the support of our communities. We accomplished exactly what we set out to do and birthed a helpful and timely service. At this point, though, we cannot ignore the fact that similar services have cropped up, created by companies that have millions of dollars in investments and full-time teams of people dedicated to furthering the goal of creating a practical tool for sustainable funding. As our goal from the outset has been to help artists, it is with that intention that we are phasing out Patron21 and recommending our users to Patreon. 

I have had several conversations with Patreon CEO Jack Conte as well as VP of Operations Tyler Palmer and I am absolutely convinced that they are bringing forth and evolving a service that can fulfill what Patron21 has offered as well as taking it to the next level. They have assured me that they will do what they can to help you guys make the switch and answer any questions you may have. Additionally, we’ve talked of ways we can work together in the future and the door has been left open for collaboration.

The details of our move are this - we will no longer be accepting new subscriptions, however, we will continue to honor and support all subscriptions until they expire (expiration is set as one year from subscription date). At that point, patrons will still be able to cancel current subscriptions, but will not be able to start new ones.

And now for the gift! Starting Jan 1st, we will eliminate our service fee in all transactions. This means that the 7.5% we have been taking will drop to 0% until the expiration of the subscription. To summarize, we will not be accepting new subscriptions in 2015, but any already existing subscriptions or new ones created this month will not have any service charge for the remainder of their duration. Make sense?  

Acknowledgements: And now, I just want to give a quick shout out to the people who have made this project so rewarding and successful. Adam Anderson was the first one to hear of the idea and the first one to encourage me to follow through. He has been a support throughout the entire process and I can’t thank him enough. Tim Arthur was the first developer on board and he has been in the trenches with Patron21 the whole time. He’s an amazing programmer and one of the coolest guys I know. Jon Cox was the second developer to join up and among his many contributions was the complicated program for all of our financial processing. He’s also my brother and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. These guys are true collaborators and terrific people to work with. 

I also want to thank Matt Aurand and Jamison Sevits for the huge roles they played early on with the development of the site and in my slow process of figuring out how to manage a project of this scope. They put up with a lot of my growing pains and continue to be two of my best friends. Two advisors who have been helpful above and beyond what I could have hoped for are Jonathan Sexton and Nathan Loyer. Genuine, generous, intelligent, and so encouraging. I owe a LOT to them both. Two advocates that I have tremendous gratitude for are Adam Gottlieb and Sarah Sexton. They are both amazing forces within their communities and I look forward to continuing to see their lights shine. 

Lastly but not leastly, I want to thank all of you for participating in this experiment. I have been validated both in the efficacy of this funding model and floored by the enthusiasm of this community. When it comes right down to it, we got this ball rolling - a new industry born out of a small little indie company and it’s indie artist community. Thank you, thank you thank you and may you continue to find support wherever your creative paths take you.

[patron21]

I recently got the rare treat of sitting down to interview Rory in his home studio in Evanston. In it he shares what the phrase "ambiguous allegorical realism" is all about, how awesome it is to be married to a supportive fellow painter (Lauren Levato), and what it means to put a horse head on a human body. You can see more of Rory's work and become his patron at patron21.com/users/coyneart.

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Madeline Tasquin, aka Mana Maddy, checks in with us all the way from France (for the inquisitive listener, that's approx. 9656 km away from where I interviewed her in southern California). In what ended up being a very fun interview, we discuss her current European tour, top secret upcoming projects, and the challenges of making honest, personal music when surrounded by family and friends. As a special feature, we've tacked on a sneak peek at a new song she's working on that she played for us live. You can hear more from Maddy on her Patron21 profile at patron21.com/users/madeline. Songs from the interview: - Another Trip Around the Sun: manamaddy.bandcamp.com/track/another-trip-around-the-sun-incl-voyage-intro - Flying a Kite in My Underwear manamaddy.bandcamp.com/track/flying-a-kite-in-my-underwear - Feed Me January soundcloud.com/manamaddy/day-17-feed-me-january - Full Belly manamaddy.bandcamp.com/track/full-belly-simple-is-all-i-need

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I recently did an interview with the very talented and motivated Kyle Terrizzi of Shut Up Songwriters (follow the links below to find out more about his work).

Patron21 website founder, Jeremy Cox, joins the podcast to discuss crowd-funding, the importance of accountability in the creative process, the struggles of time management, and how each of his many passion projects get compartmentalized into his creative life. www.shutupsongwriters.com www.facebook.com/shutupsongwriters www.youtube.com/shutupsongwriters

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Independent Artist Tools: Food Stamps

First off, the term "independent artist" is a bit misleading as you lose independence as soon as you start engaging and exchanging with your community. That's a topic for another post, though. 

Secondly, I'm not trying to start a debate on government funded social programs. Either you're into or you're not and that is alright by me. For those underpaid, indie artists who don't take issue with social programs, I simply want to give you a little blast - food stamps (SNAP, EBT) are your friend.

I know countless artists who use food stamps and everyone of them at one point had this revelation where they realized they didn't have to stress out about how to find food to eat, because there was a system that helps take care of it. If you are one of those who aren't hip to it yet, check it out and see if it's right for you. Here's a good place to start, but it varies from state to state.

For most, if you earn less than $1,200/mo you qualify for up to $200/mo in benefits. More progressive communities allow food stamps to be used at local farmer's markets and in the Chicago area (and I'm sure in other places as well), many farmers markets will match you dollar for dollar up to a certain amount. The benefits also work in all 50 states and work in most grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. It is entirely possible to eat healthfully, organically, and catering to your dietary needs. 

It seems like a taboo thing to talk about in certain circles, but I think it's important to discuss. You don't have to be a starving artist to be an artist.

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In an inspiring and pragmatic conversation with Anna Todaro, she breaks down the mechanics of how she has built a solid career as an indie artist as well as sharing her process of finding her own unique style. Anna shows us that artists can be quirky and idiosyncratic while still having their feet on the ground. Visit her profile at http://patron21.com/users/anna-todaro.

[patron21]

Stop and Smell the... Anything.

Portland, OR

I went to a movie the other day. It doesn't matter which one, but it is important to note that it was awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. However, when the credits came on, the rest of the audience waited no more than a beat before getting up, asking each other how much they liked it, and walking out the door and on to their next activity. 

As I was left to sit and soak it in by myself, it got me thinking. I was thinking about a friend of mine who will stop mid-sentence to groan in ecstasy when she puts something yummy in her mouth. I was thinking about all the times I've been left behind on walks because I wished to touch and smell all the plants that caught my eye. I was thinking of another friend who will tune out all conversation in a car if the radio is on. I was thinking that this depth of feeling is much less common than it needs to be -  sometimes I am already scooping my next bite before swallowing the one in my mouth. Sometimes I take a picture of something and move on instead of really being there with it. Sometimes (gasp!) I put on background music.

I'm not interested in complaining about society's attention span problems. I will complain about ours, though. As artists, if we're not willing to wait and patiently let the deepest part of an experience sink into us, how will we be prepared to create more than a trivial, shallow experience for our audiences? How can we ask for something from the world that we aren't willing to give first?

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Get more inspired/inspiring work from Adam here

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I picture novelists of the future as the literary equivalent of home brewers, coming up with small batches of craft brews geared toward a specific taste. The challenge for a novelist lies in connecting our work with those readers who have an appetite for it. I’m starting to catch on to the importance of building that base through an online presence. It’s an enormous joke on us writers: Collectively, we’re an almost comically introverted bunch; yet in order to find readers, we’re compelled to morph into crack marketers and self-promoters.” (Bettina Lanyi, “the aspiring novelist”) “When I was looking for an agent, all I really wanted was someone to save me from all the marketing and logistical hassles of producing and selling a book. I just wanted to be the shy writer and let everyone else take care of me. Today, I am actually grateful I didn’t find one.” (Cerece Rennie Murphy, “the self-published author”) “I never anticipated that, when I became a professional writer, I’d also become a marketing strategist, publicist and entrepreneur. But in order to keep being a professional writer, I need to show my publisher how hard I’m willing to work. And I need to connect with my readers in as many creative, absurd and unexpected ways as possible.” (Jennifer Miller, “the novelist-entrepreneur”)

Over at The Washington Post, various members of the book publishing ecosystem weigh in on its evolution, with a common thread of the tension between writers’ inherent introversion and the extroversion a social media presence demands.

Complement with Susan Cain on the power of introverts and authors on the future of books.

(via explore-blog)

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How We Can Save Art by Not Paying For It

I spend a lot of time thinking about solutions to the age old problem of "you come to my show on Saturday and give me $5 and I'll go to yours next week and give you $5" (I would love a more succinct way to refer to this situation - suggestions welcome). There are no easy answers, but I stumbled upon an option worth considering. 

It starts with valuing the audience's time. We are no longer in a world where there is a scarcity of art and an abundance of people's attention. Quite the opposite. However, many of our models still reflect an attitude that audiences should be grateful and willing to pay for any artistic experience simply because someone made something. I would like to challenge that. I don't listen to every song or watch every video that comes my way via facebook, email or twitter and I doubt you do either. I'm sure many of them are great, but that's not always enough to give my undivided attention to it. As that is the case, sending me your song, asking me to listen to it and then pay you requires something more - I need to be moved, touched in a meaningful way. 

In support of my friends and artistic community, I have seen many performances. Not all of them were great. I have paid many a $5 to see a mediocre performance. In all honesty, many of them were not worth $5 plus train fare and the 2-3 hours it took of my night.

Art and music are never free. They require time and attention from the audience. Money is icing after that. I think we need to take the value of the audience's engagement into account. If they come to a piece of artwork open-minded and open-hearted, they deserve our gratitude and respect. If the artist can then move them, then they should be given an opportunity to exchange that value back in the form of money.

My humble suggestion is to change the cover at the door from $5 to "bring $5 and as you're leaving drop the amount in the bucket that the work was worth to you". To echo a recent facebook post, I want to see "Pay what you can" and "Pay what you want" replaced with "Pay what it's worth for you".

Audiences will require a little prompting, but as soon as someone says to me "I don't want you to give me a dime unless you actually value the work", they've got my attention. My guess is that the shift in consciousness I've been hearing so much about probably requires demanding less and asking more - putting the responsibility for fair value exchange into everyone's hands and letting them know that that's how it's going to work now.  My hope would be that as we expect better and more meaningful work in exchange for our money, we also become more willing to truly reward those artists who affect and inspire us. 

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My latest interview with April's Artist of the Month, Meg Anderson. Meg joins us from Berkeley via the power of the internet to talk about moving to the Bay Area and using a loop pedal has changed her creative process as well as how she defines her personal success.

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This is How We Do It

In honor of our inaugural Patron21 event last Friday in Chicago, I want to share some thoughts that came percolating out of the experience. 

Our mission is not to fund artists, it's to fund badasses. A lot of attention is given to arts funding and artist funding. I think this may be missing the larger point. We don't want to see "artists" thrive, we want to see those artists who move us, touch us, and inspire us to thrive. Those are the people who we will share our resources with when we could pirate their work for free.

There are more and more and more ways to be successful than ever before. As a friend recently articulated, we are no longer saddled with the dichotomy of being either a superstar or a loser. Artists are inventing new ways to succeed every day. There has never been a better time to take risks and try an innovative approach to getting what you want and what you need.

The gift of supporting an artist is not just for the artist, but for future fans. If an artist's work moves you, what better gift can you give than enabling that artist to impact others in the same way? Helping an artist continue to bring their gifts to a larger audience may be even more significant than giving that artist money as a thank you.

When everyone chips in to create something powerful, everyone gets thanked. One of the most amazing thing about the night was that at some point, I saw every person thanking someone profusely as well as being thanked by someone else. The audience, the artists, the venue, and the organizers all played absolutely critical roles and we all did each other a huge favor by showing up and doing our part. We deserve the credit.

(Of course, a special thank you to Kev Artist, Adam Gottlieb, Ariel Candide, and the Chicago Solarium!)

photo by Rossi Dimitrova

[patron21]

Changing the World One Hug at a Time

When I posted her TED talk on Tuesday, I had no idea that I would be seeing Amanda Palmer speak that night at an amazing event called Women of Letters. 

If you have read any marketing material on social media you will find techniques on how to "connect" with your audience and every single one of them misses the point. The thing that separates Amanda Palmer and a handful of other brilliant artists, creators, and human beings from the rest of the pack is:

They actually care about other people.

This is what I and countless thousands of others have witnessed. I stood in front of 50-60 other people waiting to meet her after the event. After saying goodbye to the person in front of me, she turned on me like a 10,000 watt search light. Despite the crowd behind me, I suddenly felt that I was the only one in the room. She saw me. Really. Of course, that made me extremely nervous and in sensing my trembliness, she reached out and gave me a hug. I stammered through some things I wanted to tell her and she never once looked away, detached, or made me feel rushed. 

Afterwards, I realized that this was part of her magic. Instead of trying to garner more attention for herself, after the show is over she turns it right back around and lets everyone else know they are valuable. Her brilliance allows her to confer that brilliance on others!

This culture of care may never become mainstream, but I don't care much about where mainstream culture is. It will never be at the forefront of progress and that's where I wish to hang out. The paradigm shift I want to see isn't just about fans supporting artists - that's the effect, not the cause. It starts with artists loving their fans, their supporters, their friends who go to all their shows. Showing the love takes a little practice, but it comes and some advice on using social media can help. The problem with marketing strategies that teach you to "connect", though, is that they give you a mechanism to go through the motions while maintaining your narcissism. The motivation there is to connect in order to get more attention, more fans, more sales. That's not real evolution, it's just DIY rockstar. 

This didn't start with Amanda Palmer, she is just an amazing flag bearer. I've seen it happen again and again. My friend Kevin Schlereth has been on the road for nearly two years straight, playing, couchsurfing, and all of this with a family of four! He always hands his music out for free yet somehow manages to make it all work. In my own experience, I can tell you that I've traveled over 10,000 miles in the past three years while enjoying the generosity of family, old friends, and new friends. I'm not exactly proud of it, but I haven't paid rent anywhere this whole time. Money just isn't what I have had to offer - instead I made amazing vegetarian dinners, played with kids, talked into the dawn, played and gave out music, and listened. Despite the lack of financial offering I can say with absolute certainty that any of the people who have helped me out would gladly do it again.

This is the thing - we care about each other. Get it? This is the future of music.

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Required viewing for all independent artists. Brilliant!!

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I recently sat down to talk with March's Artist of the month, Jason Day. In this interview, we discuss his recent projects, Fiona Apple, and how failure in the music business never even crossed his mind.

[patron21]

Are You Building on Rock or Sand?

In continuing to explore what I have been thinking of as Lean Art, I would like to discuss what is often called a Minimum Viable Product. In running a lean business, entrepreneurs are now hip to the idea that you start with your minimum viable product - that is, the most stripped down, rough, and unrefined version of a product. From there you can test whether or not people are interested in what you're offering. After all, why perfect something that no-one cares about to begin with?

What this means for art makers is the essence, the inspired strain of an art work. Of a finished product, only part of it is the essence and the rest is decoration and production. If I write a song, the glint of inspiration may be just the melody and the lyrics - all of the additional instrumentation and arrangement is where the craft comes in. 

In the art world, we rarely think to create a bare bones version of our work to share prior to unleashing on the world. It isn't often that a musician publicly shares 20 of their demos to find the 10 songs that are worth developing. But why not? Why spend all your time and money going off hunches? It isn't selling out to discover which of your tunes people actually like, is it?

So let me officially welcome the idea of the Minimum Viable Artwork (MVA). 

Discovering what this is for your work is often a process of stripping away. For example, when Bjork sings "Big Time Sensuality" unplugged with just an organ and tablas, you hear the power of this song without needing all the production of the album version. I'm sure she could sing it a capella and still move most of us. That is her MVA - just her and her vocals.

Knowing the piece works before production allows us to focus on developing the song in ways that enhance its inherent power instead of simply adding a bunch of bells and whistles. At any point, if the polished piece starts losing its impact we can strip layers away with confidence that our MVA is solid and maybe all we need is a pivot.

Conversely, if the MVA is not strong, it probably isn't the time to start spending resources on production. A beautiful building built on sand is still going to fall. No amount of production is going to make a mediocre piece into something that moves people (at least not in a positive way). 

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:)