5 Kickstarter Tips From Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer may be the perfect example of how social media promotion is done in our Music 4.0 age. She's developed a big online bond with her fans that hasn't quite carried over to her music, but it has in other areas.

Amanda took advantage of that social notoriety to launch a highly acclaimed Kickstarter campaign a few years ago where she raised $1.1 million more than her original $100,000 goal.

So just how did she do it? Amanda gave away her secrets on crowdfunding to the Music Awards Blog. Here they are (with my comments afterward):

1) You have to have fans before you can ask them to help you. [This one seems pretty obvious, but is mysteriously overlooked by many artists.]

2) Show, don't tell: HAVE A GOOD VIDEO. [This is a lot harder than it seems. You have to sell your fans on your idea/music and not be obnoxious about it. People get paid a lot of money to do this every day, which suggests its difficulty, so make sure you put a lot of thought into it.]

3) Don't just reward the rich: keep every level rewarding. [If you look at some Kickstarter campaigns, it seems hardly worthwhile to even consider some of the lower pledge levels since you don't get all that much in return. As you get to the higher money pledges, the rewards always become a lot more interesting, but you want to reward those that can only afford the lower levels as well.]

4) Be honest: You'll be amazed at how helpful people really are when you talk straight with them. [Fans naturally want to help. The more honest and open you are, the more help they'll give you. If something feels funny or below board, they'll start to pull back.]

5) No tool is deus ex machina: ANY platform can work. [Don't get stuck on one platform since the name of the game is delivering your music to people, and giving them the chance to help you out by buying something occasionally. Without those last two things, the platform doesn't matter.]

Last but important, Palmer gives the best tip: Your music must be good, you must respect your fans, and pretty much without exception; YOU HAVE TO TOUR.

Another great tip from Amanda comes from a conversation she had with Techdirt in which she states just how she developed that fanbase in the first place:

"I've been tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years, ever since leaving roadrunner records in 2009. Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that i curiously follow, every strange bed I've crashed on...all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record. Asking EVERYBODY...And they help because...they KNOW me."

Every time I post something about Amanda Palmer I get a lot of negative comments and emails, as she can be a polarizing figure if you're not a fan. The thing is, she's done extremely well for someone who's music is rather niche.

Whether you like her or her music or not, at least take heed of her techniques. She's giving them away for free.

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There's More To Music Than Social Media

So much of an artist's promotion and visibility is built around social media these days that it's easy to believe that it's almost more important than the music itself. Sometimes it's possible to be a social celebrity without making any meaningful penetration with your music however, as this excerpt from the New Masters chapter of my Music 4.0: A Survival Guide for Making Music in the Internet Age guidebook illustrates.

"If you’re in the music business there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Amanda Palmer, although there’s an even better chance that you’ve not heard her music. Palmer represents a conundrum in social media where she’s become a huge presence in the music industry thanks to her extremely effective social media and crowdfunding campaigns, yet that hasn’t helped to spread her music much beyond a small, yet avid following.

Palmer rose to a low-level of prominence as half of the duo Dresden Dolls before going solo in 2008. Her cult following grew from there thanks to her extremely hands-on relationship with her fans. In an interview with Techdirt in 2012, she gave her secret:

"I've been tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years, ever since leaving Roadrunner Records in 2009. Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that I curiously follow, every strange bed I've crashed on...all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record. Asking EVERYBODY...And they help because...they KNOW me."

Palmer’s notoriety again grew thanks to reports of big merch sales through Twitter campaigns (like $19,000 worth of T-shirts in less than a day), to where it reached a peak with a massively successful Kickstarter campaign in which she raised $1.2 million (the goal was $100,000) from nearly 25 thousand fans in 31 days for the marketing of an album/art book/gallery tour. This was followed shortly thereafter by a riveting TED talk where she described her fan-first business model.

Considering the exposure that Palmer has garnered from the mainstream media thanks to these events, her music still hasn’t gained much traction and she remains very much a niche artist, though one with a fanatical following. Only three of her videos have barely cracked 1 million views, she has less than a million Twitter followers, and just over 200,000 Facebook Likes. 

While these are really great numbers for an indie artist, Palmer hasn’t managed to transcend that narrow category despite generally positive and vast exposure and a supercharged fanbase. Amanda Palmer proves that no matter what your social media connections are, star and superstar success still depends on your music. In order to gain a mass audience, it must connect with the masses.

There’s More To Music Than Social Media Summary

• Social prominence won’t automatically cause people to like your music
• But it can cause people to notice you
• Caring deeply about your fans builds an avid fanbase
• An avid fanbase is essential for crowdfunding"

To read more excerpts from Music 4.0 and my other books, go to the excerpts page at bobbyowsinski.com.

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Warner Music Goes To Kickstarter

If you've never read music insider Bob Lefsetz' newsletter, then you really should. Love him or hate him (he gets equal parts of both), he comes up with both an interesting global perspective of the music world as well as some breaking news or commentary on breaking news.

One of the bigger stories that he's let us in on is the fact that Warner Music has just tied in with Kickstarter to offer a recording contract to any act that raises $100,000 or more, or if they get 1,000 people or more to contribute.

First of all, I don't know why anyone would want such a deal under those circumstances, since if you've raised that amount or have that many fans willing to support you, you probably don't need a major label, at least under their terms.

What this offer does go to show you is how well an old adage really applies. It goes something like this - "A record label doesn't sign you for your music, they sign you for your audience." This means that they generally don't give a crap about you or your songs, but if you have a line around the block waiting to see you when you gig, they're interested big time.

Another Lefsetz piece of news is that Warners has also hired Amanda Palmer to teach their acts how to self-promote. I don't know much about her music, but I do know that she's great at getting people to passionately care about her, so this is probably a good thing. Will her methods translate to other artists? I don't think we can be sure, since she has such a strong personality, which is part of her allure with her fans.

If all this is true (and there's no reason to think it's not), you have to hand it to Warners for at least trying to stay relevant and trying something new. It's long been held that they've been the major label leaders when it came to understanding our new digital world, now they're trying harder than ever to prove it.

PLEASE NOTE: This news might be a product of April Fools day. I'm still checking out the validity. It's not like Lefsetz to do this sort of thing, but you never know.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Interested in the Music 3.0 archives? Buy The Music 3.0 Guide To Social Media. The best of over 800 posts.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

The Art Of Asking

Love her or hate her, Amanda Palmer is the poster child for Music 3.0, where social media is at the heart of an artist's interaction with her fans. Regardless how you feel about her, you can't argue with her success.

Here's a video of AP's presentation at the recent TED 2013 conference entitled "The Art Of Asking," and it outlines her basic strategy. Fair warning - it's a lot more human than you might expect, and received a standing ovation from the normally jaded and tough TED audience.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Interested in the Music 3.0 archives? Buy The Music 3.0 Guide To Social Media. The best of over 800 posts.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

6 Crowdfunding Mistakes

Crowdfunding for music projects is a hot topic these days, especially with Amanda Palmer's ongoing success (a million dollars in 30 days!). Everyone wants to get in on the act, and I've certainly covered many of the strategies on how to do that here already.

But let's look at a different side of crowdfunding. Why do some campaigns fail? There was a recent article in Mashable that specifically looked at this,  and I'll quote their bullet points, but the explanations are mine.

1. Nobody Knows You. If you don't have a fanbase to begin with, you're probably not going to attract one on a crowdfunding site. Why should someone give you money if they don't know you, or even worse, don't trust you? You have to do the hard work first before you can ask anyone for their dough.

2. No One Can Tell What You're Talking About. Unless you can concisely describe who you are, what you want the money for, and what the contributor gets back in return, you're sunk. This is easy to overcome; just test it on some friends, fans or even some strangers. Their feedback will help you hone your pitch.

3. Nothing Sets You Apart From Your Competition. There are a lot of open hands out there, especially now that crowdfunding has become so popular. You have to communicate why your campaign is different and why the rewards are so valuable before they'll pledge some money though.

4. You Fail To Ignite, Engage, Or Connect. If you don't get the word out, or can't close a potential contributor when they get to the campaign site, your campaign will fail. A great video (see Amanda Palmer) can help people to understand what you're trying to do, but engagement through social media, email and your website is just as important.

5. You Don't Maintain Contact With Supporters And Backers. It's important to keep a running dialog with contributors through email and social media. They want to know how well the campaign is doing so they can feel good about their contribution. If they do, they may tell others that might make the difference in being a success or not.

6. You're Greedy Or Clueless About Fundraising Goals. Be conservative about your fundraising goals. If you aim too high, you may scare away potential contributors. If you're unrealistic in how much you need for a project (like $500,00 to just record an album), you can be sure you won't get it. Remember, it's a good thing to blow past your goal; bad if you don't reach it.

Keep these points in mind when planning your crowdfunding campaign. It's not an easy process (nothing good ever is), but you won't help yourself much by ignoring this advice. Read the entire article at Mashable.

-----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter Tips

Amanda Palmer's always been used as a the perfect example of how social media promotion is done in our Music 3.0 age. As I posted last week, she's now a beaming example of how to mount a Kickstarter campaign as well.

As of this writing, she's had over $600 in pledges just 8 days into her month-long campaign, which is pretty amazing. So just how did she do it? She gave away her secrets on crowdfunding to the O Music Awards Blog. They are (with my comments afterward):

1) You have to have fans before you can ask them to help you. [This one seems pretty obvious, but is mysteriously overlooked by many artists.]

2) Show, don't tell: HAVE A GOOD VIDEO. [This is a lot harder than it seems. You have to sell your fans on your idea/music and not be obnoxious about it. People get paid a lot of money to do this every day, which suggests its difficulty, so make sure you put a lot of thought into it.]

3) Don't just reward the rich: keep every level rewarding. [If you look at some Kickstarter campaigns, it seems hardly worthwhile to even consider some of the lower pledge levels since you don't get all that much in return. As you get to the higher money pledges, the rewards always become a lot more interesting, but you want to reward those that can only afford the lower levels as well.]

4) Be honest: You'll be amazed at how helpful people really are when you talk straight with them. [Fans naturally want to help. The more honest and open you are, the more help they'll give you. If something feels funny or below board, they'll start to pull back.]

5) No tool is deus ex machina: ANY platform can work. [Don't get stuck on one platform since the name of the game is delivering your music to people, and giving them the chance to help you out by buying something occasionally. Without those last two things, the platform doesn't matter.]

Last but important, Palmer gives the best tip: Your music must be good, you must respect your fans, and pretty much without exception; YOU HAVE TO TOUR.

Another great tip from Amanda comes from a conversation she had with Techdirt in which she states just how she developed that fanbase in the first place:

"I've been tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years, ever since leaving roadrunner records in 2009. Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that i curiously follow, every strange bed I've crashed on...all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record. Asking EVERYBODY...And they help because...they KNOW me."

Every time I post something about Amanda Palmer I get a lot of negative comments and emails as she can be a polarizing figure if you're not a fan. The thing is, she's out there doing well in what a lot of people can't. Whether you like her or her music or not, at least take heed of her techniques. She's giving them away for free.

Check out her Kickstarter campaign, and read both the O Music Awards blog and Techdirt posts for more info.

-----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

$100k On Kickstarter In 6 Hours

In an excellent case study in the art of social media and crowdfunding, Amanda Palmer has turned a Kickstarter campaign on its head, raising $100,000 in a mere six hours, then oversubscribing to the tune of $443,000 with 27 days left. Considering that she was expecting to raise the $100k in 32 days, I'd say the result is nothing short of amazing and shows the power of having an open communication with your fans.

Amanda was trying to raise the funds for the mixing, manufacturing, promotion and distribution of her album as well as an book of art. Actually, the original budget is not all that large by major label standards, but it's way beyond what an indie artist would normally spend.

She's offering not only the CD, but lots of vinyl options as well as the book to her backers of $100 or more, including free shipping. Since most people don't have a turntable, she's also decided to include one in some of the packages as well.


Here's the simple yet effective video she created for the campaign.



Check out Amanda's campaign. It's a great example of just how to do it.

-----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.