Rob Lifford

There’s a really interesting discussion going on, sparked by Amanda Palmer’s smashing of a significant milestone on Kickstarter in May. I was drawn in by Austin Kleon’s response to a New York Times article about the whole thing. Go read that in another tab. I’ll wait.

Then Scholl responded, via Tumblr, with a clarification: he was trying to say, in part, that the ability to fund your project (or even to sell your project to a record label) might affect what music gets made and heard. So, it sounds like he’s somewhat concerned that the world will miss out on some great artists if we establish a pattern where only the ones who are good at online engagement can actually get their work released.

To which I’ve just got to respond: that is a great point, Greg, but if it matters now, it shouldn’t matter for long. Many artists are already starting to unlock the potential of Kickstarter (and similar tools) in a huge way, but the fans have barely caught on yet. Someday, and I don’t think the day will be too far off at all, an unknown artist — someone who’s an electrifying performer, but fairly inept (or even just inexperienced) with net-based self-promotion — will pull in an eyebrow-raising amount to make a debut album. And it’ll happen via a Kickstarter project initiated and run completely by fans, on the strength of fan-produced audience videos, and little else.

It’s going to be really fun to watch. It’s going to be even more fun to participate.