I’ll be honest, I struggle with the common terminology around fundraising for independent projects like this album. Business Speak has been creeping into the arts for a long time, encouraging me to “engage” with my audience by producing “content” or “products” that “capture” their interest enough to “make the sell”, etc etc.
That said, “crowdfunding” is a pretty apt word for what I’m doing here. It means exactly what it says: raising funds from a crowd of folks! Crowdfunding – seeking funds from a large crowd of individuals (as opposed to say, a few investors) – is a popular strategy for recouping the funds an independent artist puts in up front for a creative project. It is also crucial in providing funds needed to order replications of the project to sell – in this case, a music record – as well as to publicize it.
But here’s the thing. Yes, I make music for a living, which means it is my business. But music – first and foremost – is my craft. All of this work toward the creation, production, replication, and publicity of a product is ultimately in service to and in support of the work I do as a songwriter. The irony of these crowdfunding efforts is that the funds raised actually don’t account for the time spent writing, composing, editing, trying out drafts, fine-tuning, and finally rehearsing for the studio.
Art and those who make art don’t really fit into the typical systems of earning a living in our economy. Art, in its purest form, is not transactional. It’s not a commodity. It can’t be replicated on an assembly line, and one cannot calculate a price based on the cost of goods sold. And yet, artists manage to put food on the table just like everyone else. We do what we do best – we get creative trying to share our work in ways that both honor the real time and effort we’ve put into it and keep our work accessible to our audiences.
Your pre-order / donation to projects like mine may seem like a small, individual act, but it is so helpful! Every sale of a tangible product helps your local artists get back to and continue their craft. To turn Business Speak on its head, it is in this work where the true “value” of artistry lies. Thank you so much for acknowledging the value of art in your life with your support!