Watching this YouTube video from Amanda Palmers TED Talk: The Art of Asking.
It’s very much in line with what I’ve read in the book “The Cycle – Managing Arts Organizations”. Asking for help (monetary contributions) doesn’t need to be begging, it can be a fair exchange.
A fair exchange of music, goods, but also experiences and emotions. Human connection. When Amanda Palmer raised a ton of money for her album, after giving away her music for free and encouraging free music, reporters asked her how she makes people pay for all of her music, in the midst of free downloads and torrenting.
To this Amanda replied “I didn’t make them. I asked them. And through the very act of asking people, I connected with them. And when you connect with them, people want to help you.“
Ever since living in a college dormitory I saw the importance and benefits of community. To be honest those days living in the dorms at UC Irvine were some of the best days of my life, from all the human connection, having friends close, and the constant sharing of ideas. I’ve always asked myself (and others) over the years why can’t life always be like this… the answer that “it’s just the way it is” to me seemed grossly unfitting. I could never get myself to accept it, and probably never will.
I think it all goes back to how we lived for hundreds of thousands of years as a society: in close-knit groups, ranging from extended family to no more than 100 people (1). We’re hard wired for having close ones around, and them being our sound-board to bounce jokes (good and bad), ideas, and thoughts off of.
That has been replaced with instagram and tik-tok, social media, texting… basically this electronic box you walk around with in your pocket. And I think it’s safe to say that many people miss that connection.
I think it’s paramount to bring back that closeness with others – to share ideas and experiences in person. Providing that provides and exchange of energy, of connection. Providing something some might say we are in dire need of these days.
Some other great lessons I got from this video are:
- “For most of human history, musicians [and] artists have been part of the community. Connectors and openers. Not untouchable stars. Celebrity is about a lot of people loving you from a distance. But the internet, and the content that we’re freely able to share on it, are taking us back. It’s about a few people loving you up close, and about those people being enough.”
- It’s important to be able to ask without shame.
- “Connecting through fans through blogging and tweeting, not just to share tour dates and such, but also to share art, ideas, work, fears, hangover, mistakes, etc… and we see each other… and I think when we really see each other, we want to help each other”
- “I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question, which has been “how do we make people pay for music?”. What if we started asking “how do we let people pay for music”?
Watch “The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer here.
References:
1. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hunter-gatherer-culture
2. “The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer