MY COMMENTS TO AMANDA FUCKING PALMER...

With all the talk happening around Amanda Palmer’s call to crowd source volunteer musicians from various cities on her current tour, I have seen a lot of great comments, a lot of hostility flying, and a charged conversation that VERY MUCH needs to be taking place. It is thrilling to see people writing about how necessary it is to value musicians and the important job they do. Finally, we are getting deeper into the conversation….and I have a lot of thoughts, ideas and opinions about that conversation too.

First, you should know that as Director of innovative arts management firm The Frank Agency, I am a vicious advocate of the necessity of investing in our artists. I think we live in a culture that has difficulty valuing the importance of experience, and our artists are not adequately compensated for their contribution to society. My personal mantra is that an emphasis on creativity in a culture gives rise to creative solutions to social problems, and I’ve been working diligently to create a process-based fundraising platform called Invest in Culture, in an effort to contribute another road of solution to this ongoing and growing issue.

You should also know I actively work with Jherek Bischoff – a member of Amanda Palmer’s band and an opener on this current tour. Through Jherek I also recorded on the new AFP record, and I’ll be joining him/them for their Seattle show at the end of September.

Now, I don’t know AFP – I’ve never met her, never talked to her, and had never heard any of her music until I was hired to record a song on the new album. I do a lot of shows and recordings with Jherek – some of them I make good money for, some I get paid something meager as a gesture, and some I volunteer to do. I believe in his artistic vision and he has become a friend. This business is a tricky & sticky one – a billion grey factors fluctuating at any given moment, and you do your best to lay a solid groundwork and have consistency in the quality of your work, the sustainability of your business, and your physical/emotional health.

So, as an arts advocate and musician I started getting more interested in AFP’s work after digging the song I played on, and have grown to immensely respect her relationship to her audience and vision for her work.

As soon as I saw the posting for horn players – literally within seconds – I emailed to volunteer for the Seattle show and possibly others. (I am traveling the same time they are and thought perhaps other dates might line up). A nice fellow emailed to say he didn’t need a clarinetist (an ongoing issue in my chosen profession) and that was that.

A few days later Jherek emailed to hire me for the Seattle show saying we’d open and probably sit in on a few AFP tunes – I was told the money was slim but there was a guarantee and we can sell our own merch at the table.

Just to be 100% clear:
- I was paid to play the AFP record
- I have been hired (with money) to play with Jherek & AFP for Seattle show
- I jumped at the chance to volunteer for other shows and the entire set with AFP

Why? Because to me, what I saw in that initial AFP posting for horns & strings (playing for hugs, high fives & beer – which btw, I don’t drink) was actually this:

Hi awesome people I adore…you are all my friends and I want to invite my friends who are also musicians to sit in at my shows. Since there are a ton of you I have to have some sort of sorting process and not have thousands of pretend musicians rush the stage, so you have to email, and come to a rehearsal, so the show can be as spontaneous and as quality as possible.

I assumed that she pays her band – like all the full time people in her operation – and I know for a fact she pays people for work on her projects. I saw this as a call for friends to sit in and join the orchestra, and it sounded fun.

….BUT, she made over a million dollars on kickstarter, and that was a million more than she expected or needed for this project so she’s not paying musicians and is instead rolling around naked in millions of monies….ok – stop right there…..

Again, I don’t know AFP or anything about her operation, but after raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for artists and arts organizations and utilizing the kickstarter/crowd-sourcing platform for some project fundraising I know this –

Artists always ask for less than is actually needed to make a project its fullest version when pitching on kickstarter. Even knowing her fan base would rock the platform, everyone puts a lower figure down to ensure success. Going over means things can actually be realized in their fullest form, or in some cases open up another level entirely to their dream form.

The first thing everyone sees here is a MILLION dollars. I know that can seem like an infinite number, spend spend spend and you’ll never run out, but that is a misinformed illusion. It’s still a finite number and the first thing off the top (aside from a huge chunk of taxes) is the now much larger cut to kickstarter (60k), then fees for the incentives & postage to 24,000 supporters internationally, and of course whatever project debt had already been accumulated before launching the fundraising campaign in the first place. Then funding the full operations, the release, the tour, the team, and hopefully AFP is making a decent salary and has a solid plan for the life of her work/business (which investors just threw down on) over the next 5-10 years…not just this one tour….in there, I’m sure there is a line item for paying her band for this tour. From personal experience, I know there is also a line item for hiring some musicians in some cities. (all before this controversy)

So, do I think AFP is a giant hypocrite who is trying to devalue musicians and get rich on the back of other people’s efforts/work? NOT TODAY.

Today I think she’s a visionary artist who is trying to create a new system that’s as inclusive and expansive as possible. I also applaud her ability to consistently invite and facilitate an open conversation with anyone interested in joining in. This is how change happens, and because of this situation, a more in-depth, and much needed discussion is taking place.

Cheers AFP – see you in Seattle. Post 1 Post 2 Post 3