NFR – further…
to yesterday’s post about funding records for interesting artists, here’s a good article in Salon about exactly this.
2 Comments on “NFR – further…”
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This is an interesting development, no doubt, and one that has its place. But I’m also skeptical. Much of what I’ve seen strikes me as people taking advantage. I have a friend right now who is asking people to help fund his graphic novel that he’s working on (far from completed). Well maybe you should just write the thing? If I were making an album I wouldn’t think of asking people to donate money, I’d just make it–it’s certainly become cheaper and easier these days with the ability to make decent music in your home, whether recording on your computer or one of the million recorders you can buy. Basically graphic novel friend is asking people to give him money to live on while he makes art. I suppose if he can get away with it, no harm done. Still a morally dubious move, if ya ask me. It also gets a bit tiring being asked to give even more and more to this and that, almost like tipping on steroids.
I’m inclined to agree. Yesterday I saw a book where a group of authors were demanding $3000 to write it, “or it won’t happen”. Now I accept that with a large group of (in some cases ‘proper’) writers some money may need to be paid, but equally, the barriers to writing are generally time and knowledge. You don’t need to hire a word processor for the duration of the writing, do you?
With musicians I think it’s increasingly the way to go. White and Hatfield (who says “My fans realise it’s not 1992″) simply aren’t goign to have a wide enough fan-base to attract funding from a record label, so are left with little choice. True, you can do these things at home to a degree, but you still have to publish, press and distribute the CDs, and this takes money. And they won’t be as good if they’re not done in a proper studio.
Your graphic novel man must be well connected to pull this off, though.
PS this is something I’ve considered for Fulham Reviews, but it would only be in the form of pre-orders. I don’t think it’ll come to it, but I am going to do a much reduced print run. The years:
First one – box left
Great Escape – sold out twice and could sell more if I had them
qualifying for europe but dull season – box left
Hamburg, etc – sold out twice
hughes season – box left, sold slowly despite being (I thought) perhaps the strongest offering yet (after the Hamburg one, which was about double the size of the others)
So clearly unless Martin Jol takes us on a blinding run not much will happen this year, so I’d be wise not to print too many.