Monica Topping
Tri-City Weekly

A few weeks back, I used Scene Noir to tell you about the fundraiser that Absynth Quintet was working on. They were hoping to raise $2,000 through a program called Kickstarter, which resembles the Internet version of a public radio or TV pledge drive.

Interestingly, after cross-posting my column on my blog, Radio Radio Radio, I got a comment from an anonymous being (I don’t assume “person,” when they won’t leave their name) basically suggesting that raising funds for a recording in any way other than taking it out of the band members’ pockets was cheating.

“That would be nice to have other people pay for your recording,” asserts the commenter. “This fundraiser they're doing is lame and makes them look like spongers.”

While it kills me a little bit on the inside to even give this anony-commenter a response, I start by congratulating the Absynth Quintet on hitting its $2,000 mark a week before the February 1 deadline. 49 backers disagree with the assertion that the band looks like “spongers” and their third album is on its way.

The ability to wisely use one’s resources is a quality I’ve always admired in people. As a friend of mine told me, “back when I was in a band, if we wanted to put out an album, we had to borrow money from our parents.” Prior to about 15 years ago, short of somehow finding a way to get grand funding, a band’s best resource probably was its members’ parents. Now, a band’s best resource is the Internet!

Where I think the commenter is off the mark is the idea that bands or artists using the Kickstarter program are taking donations from people without a return — that I (or you) are being expected to feel bad and give $10, $50 or $2,000 to the band, no strings attached. To the contrary, each of these pledges (which are now technically donations, since the band hit its goal) come with rewards, just like a donation to KHSU might, but instead of receiving a Car Talk tote bag, the donator is getting a signed copy of the band’s new CD, a dinner for four or a custom-made banjo.

At the risk of sounding condescending, the Internet is a wonderful and magical thing. It allows a person to self-diagnose aches and pains, quickly send a message to someone on the other side of the world, watch a video of a penguin escaping certain death by hopping on a tourist boat, comment on a blog without revealing one’s identity… and raise money for good causes without shorting the landlords on rent.

The neat thing about a program like Kickstarter is that the project that hopes to be funded needs to be deemed worthy by the folks who have money. Local a cappella group AkaBella is using the Web site to fund its upcoming tour, which I’m sure they’ll be able to pull off. There are folks on there who are trying to find backers for book publishing — one of which was a book of blog comments, which at last glance wasn’t doing very well — independent films, and other artistic endeavors. In a way, the success of a project is demand-based. I like the idea of your book, so I’d like to see it printed; I don’t like your band, so I’m not giving you my money.

It’s not about begging money out of people — it’s about using your resources and giving fans a sense of pride, knowing they helped put out your new CD, which they are then more likely to buy more of to give as gifts. And the best part for a band going this route? Not having to pay back their parents, later on.

Monica Topping is the host of the Slug Festivities Guide and weekend mid-day DJ on 94.1 KSLG-FM. She fully supports the arts and envisions a world where it’s easier for artists to do what they love and stay out of debt doing it. She can be reached at Monica@kslg.com, or by commenting on this blog.