Kickstarter is one of those things that, for me, went from "What? Never heard of it!" to "It's everywhere I look now!" in the space of about a week. In case you are still in the former group, it's a tool that lets people fund their arts projects online, little by little. Imagine a street busker accepting change and bills in his violin case from passersby; this is the cyber version.
Here's how it works: A person or group wants to start a particular arts (music, film, design, whatever) project but needs some financial backing. They initiate a Kickstarter project and spread the word via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Every Kickstarter project has a goal (a certain amount of money) and a deadline. If the goal isn't met by the deadline, no money changes hands at all. If the goal is met, the money from all of the pledgers goes to the person or group so they can make their dream project a reality! You can pledge as little as or as much as you want. Each level of pledge comes with some sort of project-related incentive—for instance, a free copy of the forthcoming book, a thank-you in the liner notes of the CD, and so on.
The first project I pledged to support was a literary magazine dreamed up by Twitter pal Brian White (whom I actually met in person at a tweet-up), an editor at the Boston Globe. He had noticed that there aren't any all-fiction magazines out there anymore, and he wanted to do something about it. I can't wait for the first issue!
The second project was from Ze Frank, who, much to my delight, has decided to resurrect "The Show," which he did for a full year back in 2006. I loved-loved-loved it and have missed it ever since. So yay, it's coming back! Not surprisingly, since I am hardly the only fan, Ze is doing really well with the fund-raising; he says that if he makes it to $1 billion he will buy Greece and carpet the entire country.
And the third project I helped fund was from old friend Scott Feldstein, who is not only a major tech geek and an awesome photographer, but it turns out he also plays a mean bass. He joined up with the "trip-hop" duo Endless Blue and they are hoping to put out a CD of cover songs—and this will allow them to pay the licensing fees involved. (Watch the video to hear some of their music.)
So, now that I've mentioned Kickstarter to you, I bet you'll start seeing it around too. Or you can go browse the site and see what people are cooking up in art, food, publishing, fashion, and more—you can even search geographically if you'd prefer to fund something in your neck of the woods.
I had the same experience you did. I'd heard or read the name once or twice, but had no idea it was going to be "a thing." Then when my bandmates pitched their plan to fundraise with it, I began to pay attention. Apparently it's become a really hot commodity. We'll see if that changes in the next year or so.
Posted by: scott | March 08, 2012 at 05:26 PM