amanda "$1.2m" palmer wants you to play with her for free

[lemur68]

Sadly, Steve will lose this argument because tits. Everyone quotes him, then posts tits. Where's Betch when you need her?

transmission of booty juice via the dizz-hole

[Adam Sr]

Sadly, Steve will lose this argument because tits. Everyone quotes him, then posts tits. Where's Betch when you need her?

Tits with Flaming Lips soundtrack means own goal, though. Draw.

[jayryan]

yeah, i was going to point out that this thread is a news source:

http://stereogum.com/1151562/steve-albi ... ereogum%29

[steve]

Well, since the new journalism is just re-posting what other people have lifted from message boards and twitter, there are probably going to be a hundred or so stories on the web with headlines like "Steve Albini calls Amanda Palmer an Idiot," so I'd better make my position on that clear. I don't think Amanda Palmer is an idiot, and it was rude and sloppy of me to make that impression. I'm sorry Amanda Palmer, the internet is going to tell you that I think you're an idiot, and while that's not true, it's my fault.

I Don't know Amanda Palmer, and don't recall ever hearing her music, though I hear a lot of music. Full disclosure, my wife Heather once tried to contact her through her agents to see if she would play at a charity event, but I don't know what happened with that other than nothing happened.

I have no problem with bands using participant financing schemes like Kickstarter and such. I've said many times that I think they're part of the new way bands and their audience interact and they can be a fantastic resource, enabling bands to do things essentially in cooperation with their audience. It's pretty amazing actually.

It should be obvious also that having gotten over a million dollars from such an effort that it is just plain rude to ask for further indulgences from your audience, like playing in your backing band for free.

Fuck's sake a million dollars is a shitload of money. How can you possibly not have a bunch laying around after people just gave you a million dollars? I saw a breakdown about where the money went a while ago, and most everything in it was absurdly inefficient, including paying people to take care of spending the money itself, which seems like a crazy moebius strip of waste.

[Colonel Panic]

[...]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…(edited after speaking with kyle) let’s say about $300/copy for about 100 copies…that’s 30k.

I also noticed she forgot to itemize $2.99 for a pack of Lady Bic razors.

Has anybody mentioned how disgustingly patronizing it is to call this project "Grand Theft Orchestra"? Like somehow, framing it as some kind of an inside joke makes it less tacky.

Not bad for a base publicity stunt, though.

[Adam Sr]

Out of interest, Steve, since you use your own example to denounce the kickstarting of artists' endeavours as a compromising of their independence, how do you square that with Tim's efforts to similarly raise money to pay off your studio's mortgage?

[Larry_Crane]

I do want to see someone fan-source a tour bus driver, sound person and catering.

[Boombats]

I do want to see someone fan-source a tour bus driver, sound person and catering.

I would be happy to do all three for a really sick band like Neurosis or something, as long as I do not have to provide gas, ass or grass.

[steve]

Out of interest, Steve, since you use your own example to denounce the kickstarting of artists' endeavours as a compromising of their independence, how do you square that with Tim's efforts to similarly raise money to pay off your studio's mortgage?

I like kickstarting of band endeavors for people who want to use it. I don't use it myself, that's all. I think Tim's gesture and the support it got were both humbling and extraordinarily generous, and evidence of great good will among peers.

[Maurice]

I do want to see someone fan-source a tour bus driver, sound person and catering.

"Oh, fan-sourced waiter? How long has this fan-sourced fois gras been sitting? I see. Please sear me a fan-sourced flank steak instead--rare. And please, another bottle of fan-sourced chablis."

[numberthirty]

[...]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…(edited after speaking with kyle) let’s say about $300/copy for about 100 copies…that’s 30k.

I also noticed she forgot to itemize $2.99 for a pack of Lady Bic razors.

Has anybody mentioned how disgustingly patronizing it is to call this project "Grand Theft Orchestra"? Like somehow, framing it as some kind of an inside joke makes it less tacky.

Not bad for a base publicity stunt, though.

This is where I have to disagree. I love David Mack's work. If other people who see he's involved want to pay so he can get paid, I don't see the big deal.

I've got the album. She didn't skimp on the packaging.

[Adam Sr]

Out of interest, Steve, since you use your own example to denounce the kickstarting of artists' endeavours as a compromising of their independence, how do you square that with Tim's efforts to similarly raise money to pay off your studio's mortgage?

I like kickstarting of band endeavors for people who want to use it. I don't use it myself, that's all. I think Tim's gesture and the support it got were both humbling and extraordinarily generous, and evidence of great good will among peers.

I think so too, but then I think all supporting of artists is humbling/generous/awesome, and I don't think asking for support is 'stooping', nor is it necessarily a compromise of self-sufficiency/independence, any more than Electrical would be compromised for Tim and the community's gesture.

Whether the above is true in the particular case of Amanda Palmer, I don't know, but it's clearly not necessarily true.

[mazacultura]

I don't know if anyone has expressed what I'm about to say. If so, I apologize for the repetition.

Here's what bothers me. An artistic musician goes onto Kickstarter to ask for funding. She is essentially saying that she is an artist who believes in her art and she would like your patronage. Her fans, who love her, give her a huge amount of money to make this art. Fair enough.

So she makes this art and now wants to take this show on the road. So, she petitions her fans who are also artists. She could easily say something like, "thank you for patronizing my art, I would like to patronize the musically artistic fans of mine throughout the country by hiring them to sit in with me." Instead her actions say, thank you for valuing my art, which I think is great. I would like you to give me some of your artistic ability. Since you will pay me to be creative, but I won't pay you to be creative, i believe that my art has more value and worth than your art and abilities, and i don't see my fans as equals, but rather as a resource to exploit to make my important musical art.

Intended or not, it's a gigantic slight to her fans, and it's even more insulting considering that her fans wen above and beyond to fund her album and tour; I would expect some above and beyond behavior in return.

This is a great post Ben, and accurately sums up my feelings on this whole matter.

Same here. Thanks, Ben.

[Adam Sr]

Now on....everywhere http://www.pitchfork.com/news/47845-steve-albini-slams-amanda-palmer-for-asking-fans-to-play-in-her-band-for-free/

I want a Palmer / Albini board fight.

In related news, did not expect to find this on Pitchfork:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/14233-burning-palm/

Are PD this year's Sunn O))) or something?

[Christopher]

There are two things about AP's breakdown that I cannot understand:

1. The sympathy she expresses for the "Problem with Music" take on major label excess... immediately followed by an absolutely Def Leppardish list of expenses to do her thing.


2.

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. [...] to put a number on all of that behind-the-scenes stuff which just got us to DAY ONE of kickstarter: $250,000.

$100,000 goal

Huh? What if she had only met the goal amount, and no more?

[Colonel Panic]

That right there is a clear indication of how thoroughly fulla shit this woman is.

She's basically skimming a quarter-million dollars for herself right off the top before even starting that absurdly-padded "itemization" of expenses.

This is where I have to disagree. I love David Mack's work. If other people who see he's involved want to pay so he can get paid, I don't see the big deal.

I've got the album. She didn't skimp on the packaging.

Dude, for $1,200,000.00 the "packaging" could be embossed platinum foil with gold leaf.

[154]

I highly doubt the CD packaging is more elaborate than a Tool record, and those don't even cost $15/each to make. Hell, they sell them in stores for roughly that.

She's basically skimming a quarter-million dollars for herself right off the top before even starting that absurdly-padded "itemization" of expenses.

She was unemployed for SIX WHOLE MONTHS!

[Cooley]

These people are MILLIONAIRES with the nerve to beg for money (and now actual work) from their fans to fund their projects and tour expenses. These aren't some poor kids working day jobs hoping to hit the road someday. It's Neil "Sandman" fucking Gaiman! I thought this was all somewhat disgusting until I saw that Kickstarter fund for their little poetry reading tour. That's just abusive. The Steven Spielberg of the comics world needs $20,000 to go on a mini-tour with his wife? What a fucking insult.

I imagine Courtney Love is going to start one soon so she can pay her legal fees. And some poor schmuck who works at an Arby's will probably help give it to her.

Neil is worth $18,000,000. http://www.celebritynetworth.com/riches ... net-worth/

[Adam Sr]

[The MayorofRockNRoll]

So...it's getting a little cooler out.

Have any of you changed your mind about that $50 turtleneck?