Kevin Clark, a musician who has done some neat things that we've written about in the past, has been working on a cool series of events in NYC recently, called RUCKUS NYC, trying to bring together a variety of artists who are using the web to their advantage. Of course, it's not just a gathering, but a concert as well. He's also running a Kickstarter campaign, seeking support for the event, which looks quite cool. That campaign ends soon if you'd like to help out and support it.
Art matters. And it’s hard. So we’re bringing a bunch of amazing people together to talk about how they make their art, get it online, and build a career.
We’re artists ourselves. And the changing digital tools, the power (or not) of the old system, and the pressures of the economy are all big, scary issues for us. We’re building RUCKUS NYC to help each other find a way forward.
We've been seeing more and more stories of artists looking forward, rather than backwards. Of looking at opportunities, rather than looking for a place to point the blame finger in a changing market place. It's nice to see positive events like this one springing up.
As a result of posting here the project got a positive mention on Alarm Will Sound's facebook page for the Noteflight integration (I've worked with them on a commission project for Ken Ueno in the past), Mike Masnick (hi there!) wrote us up on Techdirt, which then got tweeted by Felicia Day, and blogged about by Minnesota Public Radio.
It's been fun to watch the viewcount on the video and my own site traffic over the last few days. I've been keeping the crew from the film up to date on the spike and it's been really great for them to see this day's work from last April paying off in some not insignificant internet outlets.
We can't promise that Felicia Day and Minnesota Public Radio will take notice of your project if you post about it over at Step2, but apparently it doesn't hurt your chances...
In his case study, Kevin discusses how they raised funds to produce the piece via Kickstarter. But what struck me as interesting is that Kevin notes that, in the end, he did have to pay some out-of-pocket money to get the video made, but he still considers the entire experience to be a success. Why? Because of a large number of non-monetary benefits that came out of it, which are already opening up new opportunities and which will make it much easier to succeed in the future as well:
Why is it a success story?
Because a ton of good things came out of it. New connections with talented artists, a film to highlight my work and the violinist's, new audiences for the work (the staff at Noteflight for a start) and a list of 34 people who've already given money to support my work (including a fair number of complete strangers). It's also given my closest friends and family a taste of what it's like to write checks to make these things happen - that will make it easier the next time around when I'm looking for more money. That's really valuable.
Also, because I successfully managed a kickstarter project I've become a kind of resource to other artists who are thinking about doing similar things. This hasn't led to any revenue yet, but it has led to some great conversations, helping on awesome projects, and again, more connections and potential audience and supporters for my next project.
I think this is an interesting point that often gets lost in these discussions. Not every specific project needs to be directly "profitable." Many work as a way to build the framework for future successes. Hell, that's the very basis for marketing. You spend money in the hopes that down the road it pays off. Marketing is always an expense, but in the long run, you hope that it's indirectly profitable. Those who seem to insist that every project must be directly profitable are missing out on a ton of opportunities to lay the groundwork for profitability down the road.
As we do with our posts about case studies on Step2, we're turning off the comments here, but urge you to head on over to Step2 to take part in the discussion there.
