read this from anohni, then take your own hand, put it on your back, now pat pat.
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(public post)
hallo loves.
i first discovered antony & the johnsons in my mid-early twenties when she (then he) was playing tiny little venues. i got to see the whole original band play for about 100 people in boston and it was transcendant. antony is anohni now, and has risen like the shooting star we could all see coming miles ago. (if you’re new to her music, oh my GOOD LORD you’re in for a treat. start here and go forever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qkfAc_6dv0. i heavily recommend the albums “the crying light” and “i am a bird now”. both endlessly stunning and emotional. you’re welcome. on that note: i once covered “hope there’s someone” and a cursory search of the internet led me to the discovery of a mystery mp3 download of it… http://mp3pn.biz/song/53082942/Amanda_Palmer_-_Hope_There_s_Someone/ from where or when i have no idea.)
so.
reading this interview is fucking depressing, but then again, also inspiring and really, highly recommended.
if you’re a patron here, please read it.
and if you you skipped it…to summarize, anohni took the road to work with apple (where else, she asks in the article, are you going to get huge budgets to make huge arty videos?) and really regretted it. nobody got paid, the stranglehold and the trade just wasn’t worth it. and now apple owns everything.
here’s a quote from anohni if you skipped the link:
“Musicians have been stripped of the ability to effectively sell our music as an object. Now we are being herded into all these shady situations. So, now, say the focus of your music is social justice—social justice becomes a big part of your ‘brand.’ You do some TV shows and get lots of followers on Twitter. As soon as you have enough followers, the corporations come knocking to rent out your brand, which they then turn around and use as a pheromone to sell their products. You use that money to make a music video and pay your recording costs.”
this is why i left my label.
and this is why i have this patreon.
this is why, for just a moment, we should pull away a few hundred miles or so from the planet and look at the bigger picture of the music industry right now: the fact that i’ve managed to amass almost 9,000 of you crazy fuckers and NEVER HAVE TO MAKE THAT DIFFICULT DECISION AGAIN is really, truly a miraculous thing. so pat yourselves lovingly on the back and hug me, and each other, and breathe a sigh of relief.
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY, and for now, we’ve found it.
that being said…it is still so tempting when apple, or whoever (insert giant corporation X) comes by and says: but we will help you find people! we will help you find your tribe! sign here on the dotted line and give us your content and we will throw it to the universal wind like a million dandelion seeds!
i used to be so much more tempted by that, and i still find myself navigating the difficult tightrope walk between feeling like i’m working in a fan-cave to a group of converts and continuing to chip away at the life-long work of growing an audience, of finding the people out there who might love this strange music and art i make but just haven’t come across it yet.
it’s a good time to remind you that even though it seems like i have a large media presence, not a lot of people hear my music unless it’s passed from hand to hand. it’s one thing i find astounding about being in vienna and berlin – i’m actually played on the radio in these parts all the time. it means that people know the music, the songs. they don’t just know me as That TED Talk Internet Girl. and they come in greater numbers when i play live. i sold out a 1,400-seat venue in berlin with ease. by contrast, in toronto, i’m still struggling to get past the 600-ticket mark for my upcoming show (friday 11/11). radio airplay and mass media support do, indeed, make a difference. i wish they didn’t, so much. i wish content just floated to the top.
that being said: you guys are my 9,000 bullhorns. you might not think it makes a difference when you share my content, but it really does. 9,000 people sending an email to a friend, or making a facebook post, or tweeting out a link to a video i’ve made winds up stacking up as tall as the radio transmission towers of old.
there are times when i come to you PLEADING to share things (tour dates, huge project releases) but if you really want to know what you can do to help…just make it habit to share the content you think is good. if a song comes out, or a video, or whatever, and it delights you, SHARE IT. share with with WHOEVER, HOWEVER.
that sort of mentality is what will work and is also how we can lay the ground for other artists like Anohni to pluck up the courage to dismiss the apples of the world and reach out to the true art patrons of the world and go it alone.
i think i’ve finally convinced jherek bischoff to start a patreon, by the way, stay tuned.
and re: anohni….i’m going to write her an email, since we know each other (just barely) from back in the boston art days. if i can convince her, come rushing in and waving support. i’ve given up on morrissey. forget it.
OH and while we’re on the subject of patreon-forward news…bryony kimmings just started up a patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bryonykimmings
especially if you’re in the UK/london or part of fringe-y theater world, you know that bryony kimmings is one of the most balls-out and brave theater-makers of our time. she makes profound theater pieces about really relevant themes: violence, childhood, cancer, she’s a real truth-digger.
when i saw her show “credible likeable superstar role model” at the soho theater i was floored and in tears and wanted to applaud for an hour. she’s on patreon to help make ends meet (theater DOESN’T PAY THAT WELL, who knew).
i just signed up to support her, THEATER GEEKS UNITE and support her, too. she’s just a beautiful human and art-maker. (and maaaaybe, we will make a THING together??). link again: https://www.patreon.com/bryonykimmings. the people in the best position to support other patreon-users is YOU, since you already have accounts. i know she’d be thrilled if even 5 or 10 people went over to support her, so go.
that’s it for now….off to play in KÖLN. (and ALL THE PATRON GUESTLIST TICKETS GOT SNATCHED UP!!! go see that thread, hooray, see all you lucky grabbers tonight).
x
afp
———–THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS———–
1. if you’re a patron and reading this in EMAIL, click through to see/post comments! i’m always reading.
2. see All the Things i’ve made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things/
3. join the official AFP-patron facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/afpland/
4. AFP-patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer:
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