Project Update #5: all you ever wanted to know about all this kickstarter money & where it’s going.
Posted by Amanda Palmer
my dear comrades,
GREETINGS FROM my desk in boston, where it’s raining and the birds are going crazy and i’m tied to my computer crank crank cranking on the artwork and the tour prep.
lots more to come. we’ve almost hit 17k backers and i’m oozing with joy.
so you know: i’m cross-posting this backer update to my blog as well. i think it’s important shit. i’m going to be reading the comments in both places, but the majority of discussion will probably be going backy-forthy over on the blog site, if you want to join the conversation over there. HERE is the link. the text is exactly the same.
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this is a long update, but i have something important i’d love for you to read first.
save it for later if you have to, but READ IT. (a lot of you, especially the music-biz types, probably already have.)
it’s a now-famous piece of writing from the early 90’s by producer steve albini, entitled “The Problem With Music.”
in it, he basically explains why a famous touring band on a label is still fundamentally FUCKED once you do the math.
click HERE to read it.
everything he says is true. i lived this reality on roadrunner records.
if you compare his numbers to my numbers (below), the similarities are striking, but that shouldn’t be surprising.
it COSTS REAL MONEY to manufacture and distribute a record, to have a staff and a publicist, to promote an artist and tour a band.
that will never truly change.
but now, because we can reach out fans directly without the machine, artists are empowered to call the shots and keep whatever’s leftover…not the labels.
…………………………….
lots of people have been asking LOTS OF QUESTIONS. why we set the goal where we did, and who the fuck do i think i am doing this anyway, blah blah blah.
and i’m working on answering A LOT of big life-altering questions for my next blog, including why my kickstarter is actually NOT a front for the church of scientology.
BUT
this question from @MaleahArvieux on twitter merits its own big-ass answer, and it’s one of things i’ve been asked CONSTANTLY.
QUESTION:
“so, are you loaded?”
ANSWER:
well, you tell me. depends on your definition of “loaded.”
let’s say this kickstarter hits a million dollars in pledges by may 31st.
TRULY? first i’ll run naked through the streets, yelling hallelujah.
because this WORKED.
but financially, realistically?
first i’ll pay off the lovely debt – stacks of bills and loans and the like – associated with readying all of the stuff that had to happen BEFORE i brought this project to kickstarter.
for the past 8 months or so, i wasn’t touring – and therefore wasn’t making much income – but every step of the way, there were expenses. so, during that time, i borrowed from various friends and family who i’d built up trust with over the years.
i had to pay my staff and crew to get this album ready as well as keep the ship afloat and headed in the right direction. i also needed to come up with the cost of the recording itself (which was pretty whopping), and any other expenses the band racked up in the meanwhile.
to put a number on all of that behind-the-scenes stuff which just got us to DAY ONE of kickstarter: $250,000.
terrifying? damn straight.
but to do this the way i knew it needed to be done, that was just a bet i had to take against myself.
i’m a truly lucky person to have been able to float myself without having to simultaneously tour and break my back.
i’ve also worked my ass off for years to build the kind of trust that built me that line of credit with people.
SO.
let’s subtract that from the $1,000,000 we theoretically make on kickstarter.
that takes us down to about $750k.
here’s some very back-of-the-napkin costs to manufacture the goods, with a rough estimate of about what we’d have sold if we got to a million.
7,000+ high-end CD-books & thank you cards cost about $15 a package to manufacture and ship. that’s $105,000.
1,500+ vinyls & cards, at about $20 to manufacture & ship…about $30,000
2,000+ art books (bearing in mind the shipping on those, every time they need to be shipped from the plant, to the distributor, to YOU, plus the signing, is killer) will cost us roughly $80,000.
PLUS we have to factor in about $15-20k to pay our design team to actually design all this stuff, and to make it super-duper amazing and worth your money. those of you who supported mine and Neil’s last Kickstarter know what i’m talking about here. this CD is gonna be a super-deluxxxxxe work of art.
the neil and kyle books are going to cost us a LOT of dough to create…let’s just throw out about $100/copy for about 100 copies…that’s 10k.
if we sell about 100 turntable packages: ordering the tables, paying the artists to paint them, shipping all that stuff around: ballpark another $15k.
arts & crafts/7-inch packages, if we sell about 300 of them, adds about another $30k (we’re planning on spending roughly $100 each on the packaging for those, including not only the vinyl but the fun arts-and-crafts activities. oh, and postage/shipping x5)
to take the band on TOUR to six cities and install the art shows is probably going to break even, but if they don’t sell out (looks like some won’t) we might eat it a little bit on that art tour. let’s say we wind up not selling out berlin and LA. we still have to pay to fly the band, gear, art (carefully!!!) and crew to each city. that difference might sink us about $10k.
i’ll be able to wrap some of the house parties into a regular tour, but a lot of them i’m going to need to fly to or otherwise get to. 35 parties. let’s assume i crash on couches and with friends and don’t even stay in hotels…and let’s assume the flights are cheap and i only have to fly to 20 of the 35, with average airfare from place to place being $500. that’s $10k.
so.
now we’re down to $440,000.
i have to pay the VISUAL artists who joined this amazing art party. i commissioned them all to paint their art, they own it. i’m only BORROWING the art for the art gallery tour — and using the “likeness” (the digital copy) for the album/book/etc. packaging – and then returning the art to the artist to keep. still, i paid them all. add another $20-25k there. i feel very good about giving them all that money.
which puts us at $415,000.
this is a good time to talk about commissions (get ready to be bored):
me and my management team are doing this all 100% by ourselves (globally). because this IS the way it should be – putting control back into the artist’s hands – there’s a shit-ton of work involved. this is not a bad thing, i am not complaining, but it means a pretty big staff (including my lawyer) needs to be in place to DO THIS.
they’ll take about 15% of everything.
my business manager, who gets everyone paid and acts as the accountant for all my cashflow, also takes a 5% cut of everything i earn (which is very fair. hi patrick!!!).
for you business majors, since you’ll ask: some of this commission is after expense, i.e. on the net. some isn’t. good questions. let’s continue.
so do the % math: on a million dollars, give or take, that means that about $150,000 of the kickstarter money will go to the commission pile.
down to $265,000.
we had budgeted about $80k for four to five music videos, which are fun and we all love (and which also provide work for more of amazing artists). i might up that to $100k now that i know we can afford it.
that’d take us to $165k.
there’s expenses i’m not even TALKING about here…the cost of our new website designers, my full-time staff (i have two: superkate and sean), the tour equipment, band costumes, gear cases, stage backdrops, and gazillion other incidentals. the mind boggles. you should see my email inbox, as we try to sort all this stuff…it’s hilarious.
and wait, fuck….i forgot. kickstarter also takes 5%. and so does Amazon (who handle the credit card processing fees, turning pledges into actual moneys). so we have to lop off $75-100k for them.
(are you starting to get the idea here…?)
are we at under $100k yes? why, yes! how the fuck did THAT happen?
not by accident.
but:
all business choices. all art choices.
none of this is surprising to ME.
i can tell you two things for sure:
ONE…we are committed to doing amazing things for all of you who pledged. sure, it’s going to cost more to make things extra fancy (and for us to ship things for FREE all over the world), but making this stuff amazing IS THE POINT. if i skimped on making the packaging and actual products INCREDIBLE, i’d be an idiot.
and
TWO…a LOT of our income for the next year WON’T COME from this kickstarter. it’ll come gradually, over the following year: from the touring show, from the merchandise we sell on the road, from money we get in donations when i make the tracks available online, from the money i get from iTunes from the people who are sometimes lazy (like me), and so forth. it’ll be a slow burn, like it always is.
if we keep our expenses down, and keep the tour pretty practical and the video budget way down, i could probably put $100k of this in the bank personally. which would be great.
but i might just be close to zero as i head off on tour this fall.
and you know what?
seriously?
that’s FINE with me. it’s almost even THE PLAN.
if i break even on this project, i still see this as a massive win. do you see why?
first of all, this kickstarter and its success is going to open the door for a lot of other artists, especially major-label refugees like me.
i’ve never denied the value of getting a boost from the old label system. but that was then, this is now.
and we’re being shown PROOF POSITIVE that it’s just not necessary anymore. paying now for value later is what historically would’ve been a label’s primary purpose. now YOU are able to bankroll and finance and KEEP CONTROL WITH THE ARTISTS. showing that this WORKS…that’s simply great art-karma, and awesome for everybody, including me. and all my art-making friends.
and almost DEFINITELY: all the buzz around this kickstarter will mean the record itself will get more attention when it comes out for real, commercially.
and the record itself is AWESOME. it is. it is awesome. which means i have a feeling it’s going to do really well aside from this pre-order.
and that’ll make me real money when i hit the road in september.
don’t forget: i’m CHOOSING to spend all this money making the packages fancy as shit….and i’m CHOOSING to tour this way. EXPENSIVELY.
i could send you all cheap-ass jewel case CDs, fire my staff, make a cheap book on xerox paper, and tour just with a solo piano…with no crew, no band….and RAKE IN THE DOUGH.
i mean: i could potentially do that and walk with close to half a million dollars. but the products would suck and the tour would be a solo piano tour. and nobody would ever trust me again.
i’ve been running my life this way for years, bouncing up and down financially and just making sure i always had enough money to do WHAT I WANTED, and do it RIGHT.
it may be what makes me different, fundamentally, from a lot of pop artists. i’m almost never looking at the monetary bottom line, i’m always looking at the creative bottom line. the happiness index of my life and creative self, not the amount of dough i’ll have in the bank at the end of a project. (it can drive a manager crazy.)
so
to answer the question:
yes.
i’m loaded.
loaded with awesomeness.
and…no.
in no fucking case scenario do i get a check for $1,000,000 and laugh my way to the bank, then book a private jet to ibiza where a limo filled with hookers and blow will be waiting to escort me to a slamming nightclub called “la uno percento” where i then spend my time contemplating my handsome nose job in the darkened mirrored bathrooms (probably weeping).
and you know what else? if i wind up truly loaded someday, it means i’ll probably buy an abandoned church somewhere and turn it into a free 24-hour circus brunch bar for everybody. cross your fucking fingers. we’ll all win.
stay tuned.
this is just the beginning.
LOVE,
afp

He spent the day putting 14 double power sockets in the studio.

At the time I mixed it, I was trying some demo versions of software out. The band never asked me to archive. I did anyway… and thank the lord I exported all as audio: If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t of been able to do these mixes without trying to replace the non-purchased AU’s.

Just a simple lesson to all you bands out there: make sure whoever you mix your stuff with, always make sure you get exported WAVs of your mixed files… just in case.

In other news….well, as and when, I’ve been painting the studio: the inside’s all done except the door. I started on the outside brick work today. Slowly getting close to completion.

Creative Review – Nicolas Jaar\\\\\\\'s new music format.

So much info to take in……some nuggets:

First panel on Sync:

Sheredan Tongue said BBC drama budget for music per hour of TV is between 2000 and 10,000 quid.That’s for EVERYTHING ..for usually 40 mins of music. Often composers have 2 weeks to turn this round. He’s at the top of his game.. he’s done lots and lots of great high profile stuff…often you might get 800 quid.. no set amount

Music tends to be the last thing that directors think of.. ie there ends up being no/little budget for music.

Directors are lazy: they tend to want things that sound like their reference points/personal taste. Or ‘something like the Apprentice Music please’. Or obvious lyrical music describing what’s going on on screen.

Form a relationship with the director early on.

Write for free: work with film makers at the same level as you and help each other up on the way up: posters up at local film college’s.

He wrote the music for the first Steven Hawkins series (on Discovery Channel?): there was the Music budget to go to Budapest to record an orchestra (they can ‘buy out’ the musician’s rights over there but can’t in the UK.. but ‘British musicians are best in the world’): second series: cut the music budget in half.

More and more TV production companies want you to assign publishing rights to them for a buy out.

Vital to be a versatile composer.

Sending demo CDs still important but make it look special: also, get a Soundcloud account (of course!)

Production masterclass: bloody Neil Davidge had to finish some computer game stuff so he cancelled. Git. Luckily I Monster guys took his place.. they were excellent… as was Martin Ware and Alan Smyth : extra nice mention for him.. lovely down to earth stuff coming from his mouth. The famous Artic Monkeys demos which set the world on fire: he said that the timing was heavily fixed in Pro Tools: it took him hours… but it didn’t matter as he knew Alex Turner was a genius.. and once everything was in time it just sounded ‘magic’ : interesting thoughts: he said he wouldn’t normally do that: prefers it if the band can play!

‘Time management and social skills’ most important skills for a producer.

..lots of other good chat …..

ooh, and Martin Ware said he’d heard via Mute and EMI that Apple are trying to (ie will probably) enforce a new HD format onto all labels.. meaning they need to remaster for this new Apple HD format

I missed the session on Binaural sound… a real shame as that really interested me, plus modern trends in Sync.. but glad I went to the 2 I did this morning.

This afternoon I went to the Trends In Fan Engagement session: Dr Nikki Bebbin who worked on Bjork’s Biophilia App album, a nice man from Mobile Roadie who make apps for bands (Madonna, Pixies.. god, loads more… stat of the day : by 2014 7 billion devices will be connected to net…), and someone from Sony Record’s marketing department. She showed a chart which divides the UK consumer up into 4 areas (along with UK numbers according to Sony’s research): Fanatics (5 million), Enthusiasts (11 million), Casuals (12 million) and Indifferents (16 million) : they further divide each category into more… funny names like ‘Xfactor Mums’, ‘Grumpy Dads’, ‘Rock N Roll Football’, ‘WAGs’ : just a rough tag to steer how they plan a campaign: eg Susan Boyle falls under the ‘Indifferent’ category (X Factor Mums sub category): people who might buy an album a year: lots of TV ads are appropriate, but a more modern App-heavy campaign….well, just isn’t.

The Bjork discussion was extremely interesting : the musicians got paid, but everyone else it was a profit share scenario. The album app idea was an attempt to bring the ‘getting the record out of the sleeve, read the liner notes’ type experience. Did it work? Hmmm. I do love the Tuning Fork box set edition. (which I found out today was made in Sheffield)

Mobile Roadie man (with the others agreeing) said you should give away your App, and use it to drive to selling your music, merch, tickets. Pretty sound advice. He’s saying Apps are moving much more towards GPS / location Apps.. so, for example, you enter a gig, scan a QR code to download free content.

Next session, Composing for Film, with feedback. I wasn’t aware that the agency who do the trailers for the big blockbusters allowed Sensoria Pro delegates to download an unseen trailer with dialogue/Foley stems (without current music, obviously)for the new Spiderman Film coming out this year… then delegates could compose new music and submit for comments/feedback from the panel.. full of super top-of-their-game people: a couple from Create Advertising Group (who do all these trailers for a living and supplied the stems for this), someone from Sony, Someone from a video games company and ,erm, someone else: the top 4 got played: all of them were great: the use of sampled orchestras was excellent.. you really couldn’t tell they weren’t real. Amazing. The shortlist made some useful contacts in the panel for sure. What a great opportunity!

Onto the Crowd Funding panel chaired by housewife’s favourite, John Robb. There was someone from The Orchard, Pledge Music and 65 Days of Static (band from Sheffield). Some interesting things cropped up. Pledge are positioning themselves as ‘A Music Company’ (unless they talk to the bank, then they’re a Technology Company!) and they work with labels and the public to devise campaigns. They won’t let anyone do this….. you need to be realistic: if you don’t have 1000 fans on Facebook and want to raise lots of money for your album, it’s a no go-er. Biggest thing that amazed me was the average spend on Pledge : £56 ! Panel concluded that people still love (and therefore will pay a premium for) limited editions and ‘experiences’ .

I had to get my train, so missed the last part … but what an amazing day: I feel thoroughly nourished!

Extra special mention for Sheffield accents which I love and miss… I spent lots of my youth in Sheffield.. going to Warp, FON, the Leadmill. Great days. Grrrr.

Inside probably off white for the most part, with one wall as a deep vintage greeny, I reckon.

Just ordered the lights and flex from these ace sites (cable and lights) and should be picking the sockets and light switch up tomorrow, all ready for Big G (my amazing father) to power on up.

All that remains to choose is the wooden floor. Had a few samples sent.. just trying to finalise which I’m going for. Although I love dark wood, with it being a smallish space, I’ll end up with a lighter wood.

Musically, been super busy: doing lots of writing for TV both on my own and with others.. as such, getting lots done, with loads more in the pipeline.

Oh, I finished mastering this, too, by One Cure For Man: seemingly workaholics.

The remix of this is coming out soon, too.

Driving Plasterer Gary to and from his house in Boston (Lincs) we listened to lots of music.. he’s an original Soul Boy and did all the Wigan Casino allnighters.. he educated me in lots of amazing obscure tracks.. and left me a list of ones to try to track down, so that’s something I’ll look forwards to doing. I love the way those records sound. Amazing.

Piccies of studio coming soon

Spot the cheap labour.

Next.. Super Gary is plastering it next tues and wed.

Other stuff: after a long time not writing anything intended for TV-dom, I started a whole batch … some on my own, others with people. I tend to get things done quicker when there’s someone at the end of kind of waiting to hear what happens. Allows me perspective and lets me look ‘outside in’. So I wrote a few ideas last week under the guise of ‘ping pong’ing to and fro some quick ideas with others. Got some corking stuff so far. Started going through my old ‘ideas’ folder, too: some good stuff. Some not so good.

All this material’s working up to my next big project. Am yet to blog about it, but need more pieces of the jigsaw to be in place first.

Other than that.. having ace time off the day job!