Making money (on twitter, without a record label, with fans)
These days, I am a total fanboy of Amanda Fucking Palmer. (Please check her and her music out if you do not know her and The Dresden Dolls) As with more and more artists, AFP is dissatisfied with her relationship with her music label, Roadrunner Records. While the restrictions on her expression may be the root of her disagreement with them, the problems run much wider – including lack of support, general idiocy, and more. Simultaneously with this realization, AFP has made steps to support herself – on her terms – without the involvement of her label. This is something that has, inarguably, been made possible by the Internet and will likely gain more and more steam in the future.
AFP has a moderately sized, but rabidly loyal fan base. This is not an accident, she is not simply “lucky” – she reaches out to her fans, cultivates the fields and, above all, remains honest and approachable. Such an interested and loyal group of fans seems to be a far more valuable asset to AFP than any record company ever will. And recently, she has really begun to figure out how to tap these fans for what they will gladly, emphatically give to see their favorite artist continue to create.
Unlike many other smaller-scale artists, AFP know how to do merchandising at her shows, on her website, and, more recently, on Twitter. It’s more than just being able to pick up a “Who Killed Amanda Palmer” t-shirt or album at a show or even snagging a “WKAP World Tour” poster. She makes merchandise that is tied to the specific event, the actual performance, and other items that while less specific, are nonetheless honest reflections of AFP, her music, and her fans. (You will find military-punk style shoulder bags and screen printed “Property of AFP” thongs. You won’t find cheap, gaudy crap or silly “tour date” posters.) At a recent concert at Wellesley College she had the entire audience feign a 2-minute nap and then produced a couple hundred t-shirts emblazoned with “I slept with Amanda Palmer at Wellesley College.” (Not the first time she has done this.) It was very popular and it seemed many, many more people were buying a shirt than would have otherwise. It was unique, tied to the experience, and meant something to the buyer that a generic WKAP shirt would not.
Recently, Amanda Palmer took this idea even further, though an inspiring, organic “meeting” of hundreds of people on Twitter. Being alone at home on Friday night, with her computer (AFP is a very tech-savvy artist) and, of course, a bottle of wine, she began tweeting, quite simply, about how she was alone at home on a Friday night with her computer. Thus was born the #lofnotc hashtag – losers of friday night on their computers. It spread, hit the top spots on Twitter’s trending topics, pulled in hundreds of people to the “party” and went on for a couple of hours of AFP asking and answering questions, making observations, and avoiding cleaning her apartment. There’s that honesty again.
What came of this – again, quite organically – were a couple of simple drawings AFP made as a “logo” for #lofnotc and posted webcam pics of. This quickly became the idea for a printed t-shirt, which even more quickly became available to purchase via her web site though a simple paypal cart. Keep in mind that this took less than a day from conception to ready-for-purchase. She began giving away prizes (like the original artwork) for the 100th shirt sold, then the 200th, and it continued through the 400th(!) shirt sold. At $25/each, as AFP put it, “you’re all paying my fucking rent!!! i love life.”
I cannot imagine how many copies of WKAP would have to sell for Amanda Palmer to net the same amount that she has off a couple of hours on Twitter. And this was all without her record label, and made possible though her amazing fan base who can see where their money is going and are happy to support their favorite artists.