Kickstarter Funding: Opinions and Insights from Experts and Artists
Since its inception in 2009, Kickstarter has more or less kicked out the middleman with regards to raising funds from fans to artists. In addition to helping creative projects see the light of day, the global crowdfunding platform has industry experts and artists sharing insights.
“Kickstarter isn’t a profit center, it’s an organizer and an instigator…Kickstarter eliminates the risk that publishers and booksellers face. They have limited resources and limited shelf space, and Kickstarter is proof to them that something is going to work.” – Seth Godin
“The kind of system Kickstarter uses has been used for hundreds of years. Unlike Medici-style patronage, where the richest people in town give large amounts of money, Kickstarter’s system relies on the general public for funding projects, and rewards those backers.” – Perry Chen
“Those projects most successful on Kickstarter — those that receive funding completely and quickly — do so largely because the creator has a strong social network and invites people to be engaged.” – Lisa Gansky
“One of the best things about Kickstarter and crowdfunding and the collapse of the music business is a lot of artists like me have been forced to face our own weird mess about ourselves and what we thought it meant to become musicians.” – Amanda Palmer
“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.” – Steve Albini
“One of the smartest things Kickstarter has done, in my opinion, is give people a great shopping experience related to the arts, that funds the arts. In essence, they’ve gotten people to pay $200 for a T-shirt plus the feeling of participation in another artist’s endeavor.” – Jessica Jackley
“I never understood using Kickstarter for commercial purposes. If you want to raise money for commercial purposes, I think you should give someone a dividend. They make money, then you make money. It should be an investment, whereas I think Kickstarter’s true purpose is raising money for things that are in and of themselves justifying.” – Kurt Braunohler
“The truth is I’ve been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes.” – Spike Lee
