I remember when I first discovered Kickstarter.
Now anybody can be a patron of the arts? How cool is that!
I remember growing up, considering a career in the arts, and being told that without a record label, I could never put out an album. Without waiting in cattle call audition lines, I could never perform on Broadway. Without writing a multi-million dollar check, I could never be considered a “patron” of anything.
Then, along came Kickstarter, and everything changed. It democratized the arts and enabled anybody to post a creative project and find funders. What an amazing idea! Why shouldn’t a movie have a thousand “producers” listed in the credits? Why shouldn’t a band be able to fund an album directly via fans? Through Kickstarter, we saw the Pebble watch raise a record $10.2 million. We saw the Veronica Mars movie raise $2 million in less than 10 hours! I supported my good friend, Jimmy, in producing “It Gets Better: The Musical” — a theater production that likely would not have happened in a pre crowd-funding world. A Kickstarter-funded film won an Academy Award this year. Heck, Philadelphia got a pizza museum and Chattanooga even got their very own font!
But the novelty and appeal have long since worn off.
Read more at The Huffington Post
