Musician and blogger Amanda Palmer explains “The Art of Asking” in her TED Talk filmed February 2013. Amanda became widely known for having the largest selling music crowdfunding project when nearly 25,000 fans pre-ordered her album Theatre is Evil for approximately $1.2 million via KickStarter. When asked how she made people pay $1.2 million for her music, she answers that she didn’t make them…..she asked them.
Amanda began her career in the public eye right out of college as a street performer known as The Eight-Foot Bride by standing on the street with a hat laid out in front of her podium to get people to give her money. Although Amanda called this performance “her job”, she spoke of the people that would yell at her often to “Get a job!” as they passed her on the street. She also spoke fondly of the many others that she connected with during her time working on the street. Some she felt were lonely and just in need of human contact and for someone to actually SEE them. Amanda fell in love with that aspect and has continued her pursuit of that level of closeness with her fans by signing autographs, giving hugs, crowd-surfing, couch-surfing, etc. as she shares her music with the world.
Amanda has received flack for advocating piracy by giving away her music and encouraging people to share it. She was even publicly and bitterly criticized for additional crowdfunding efforts when she sought to crowdsource additional local backup musicians in each tour stop, offering to pay them in hugs, merchandise and beer. This hasn’t stopped her efforts because she feels that “In order for artists to survive and create, their audiences need to step up and directly support them”. With the promise of “constant communication” thru her Patreon profile, Amanda’s fans are doing just that by donating anywhere from $1 to $100 for each new item that she posts whether song, video, or a piece of writing. The Guardian reports the various offerings that Amanda will give her fans that support her with donations of differing amounts. Some of these offerings include photos and poetry, invitations to monthly webcasts with her, guest-list entry to all of her gigs and even hand drawn cards from Palmer herself.
Via the Internet and Social Media, Amanda Palmer (along with other popular artists) is helping change the concept of “celebrity” where fans are used to reaching to connect with their favorite stars from a distance in the crowd to now being able to interact and respond in seconds to posts. I personally find this to be an important trait because not everyone can afford to go to some of the expensive concerts in their city, if it’s big enough to draw celebrity performers there. Others can’t afford to travel to the bigger cities if they don’t live there and often can’t afford the merchandise that these celebrities sell or advertise. As a consumer, I think it’s great to random acts of silliness by Trey Songz or to almost feel as though I’m at one of the random vacation spots that Beyoncé goes to with her family. Although it could be looked at as risky by not having a firm price attached to Amanda’s products, “just asking” wouldn’t even leave an artist like Beyoncé or Madonna with light pockets because their individual followings are large enough where even $1 per person would still have them grossing more than 80% of the U.S citizens in a given year.
What do you think? How has “The Art of Asking” worked for you in your life?
