Fans of Kristin Hersh, 50 Foot Wave and Throwing Muses
Thea Gilmore inspired by CASH/Strange Angels?
Neil Gaiman just posted about this on Twitter - it's from Thea Gilmore's MySpace blog.
(Disclaimer: I personally believe that good ideas belong to everybody. If Ms. Gilmore was actually inspired by Kristin's CASH subscription system, more power to her - although I guess she could have mentioned where the idea came from, but that's moot. If it's a coincidence, it's quite an amazing one.)
"(blog - ish) Angels In The Abattoir. A new venture.
‘May You Live In Interesting Times..' Chinese Curse
And indeed we are doing just that. In the throes of global recession all business is suffering, not least the music business.
But this is not due entirely to those nifty buzz phrases ‘economic downturn’ and ‘recession’. As someone who has made a life choice to write and sing songs, I'm living in a climate which has changed immeasurably for people who pursue that choice.
Those of you who have followed my career to any extent will know of my wariness of the corporate wheels that oil the music industry and the labels who allegedly ‘invest’ in artists - but also frequently draw them in, chew them around a little and spit them out leaving them owing money and, to all intents and purposes, on the scrapheap.
We live in the age of dumbing down. It may be possible as a musician to have a successful relationship with a big label if you make nice music, look nice, say nice things - in other words tick the right boxes. But if you’ll pardon the pun, the label artist relationship in the present climate has become a case of the bland leading the bland.
Musicians like me who seek to retain some semblance of artistic control over their output and the way its promoted, are bad news for big labels. I don't indulge in lowest-common-denominator trendiness, I wont throw shapes for tabloids and glossies.. hence my ‘marketability’ is, in some people's eyes, limited.
But worryingly, musicians who don’t conform in these ways are beginning to disappear. Not only does this deprive us of the talent of such musicians, it means that we are accepting popular music that is so beige that true creativity and individuality has been quashed.
More than ever, I don’t see how it is possible to maintain integrity whilst attempting to conform to all these industry templates.
I am incredibly fortunate - ithe label I'm with, Fullfill, is peopled with genuine souls who are in the business for all the right reasons - they love music - and they believe in me and work with me to sustain my career.
And furthermore, I have an incredible and genuine body of people who support the music I make. People who understand the value of not only music in general, but the need for diversity and grass roots sustainability.
But the times they are indeed a-changing - and everyone in every business is having to think further outside the box than ever. I am no exception.
So.. down to the bald facts
I make music
I intend to continue doing so ad infinitum, whether the times are prosperous or otherwise.
I intend to keep the same ideals and values which fuelled my work in the first place, and which have driven the work of most of the musicians I admire. Honesty over image, principles over marketing.
The music I love - and always aspire to make - is not a next-room soundtrack, it's raw, organic, unpredictable and honest. And at the same time I am unsashamedly proud of the work I do and I want people - particularly you - to keep hearing it.
So if an independent gal may lapse into a little corporate speak, for a second, what I think I need is a new business model.
I'm not after sympathy here, but maybe partnership.
I am starting a new subscription service called ‘Angels In The Abattoir'
The partnership I'm offering asks you for the following -
£52 GBP a year
And here's what you'll get for that:
A new, original and unreleased track download delivered to your inbox every month
this will amount to a full, exclusive album every 12 months which will not be available anywhere else.
A lyric sheet, handwritten and signed by me to a song of your choice.
An entry into a 'Thea Gilmore Song Lottery' - all members can suggest a song they want to hear me cover and once during the year I'll pull one out of the hat and record it!
A namecheck on my albums. For the duration of your membership you will recieve a special thankyou on my albums
A lyric sheet, handwritten and signed by me to a song of your choice.
Opportunities for exclusive live shows and backstage passes to gigs.
A set of 4 exclusive badges, unavailable elsewhere
Access to a members only website. Designed and run by me, featuring:
Video diaries
An ‘ask Thea’ forum
Previews of new releases, merch and generally getting the news before anyone else.
This has turned into a long letter, I’m sorry guys.. I’ll button it it a minute.. but finally:
This little business of mine will strive to be organic and centred around you. A kind of musical veg-box scheme, earthy, real and direct. There will be no middle-man and no industry firewall. We’re in it together.
The idea that we, listener and musician can be a cottage co-operative is exciting. But more than that, It threatens the status quo. And those of you who know me will know that is one of my favourite pastimes. Can we do this together?
Will you be an Angel In The Abattoir?
Watch this space
Love and thanks always
Thea "
(Disclaimer: I personally believe that good ideas belong to everybody. If Ms. Gilmore was actually inspired by Kristin's CASH subscription system, more power to her - although I guess she could have mentioned where the idea came from, but that's moot. If it's a coincidence, it's quite an amazing one.)
"(blog - ish) Angels In The Abattoir. A new venture.
‘May You Live In Interesting Times..' Chinese Curse
And indeed we are doing just that. In the throes of global recession all business is suffering, not least the music business.
But this is not due entirely to those nifty buzz phrases ‘economic downturn’ and ‘recession’. As someone who has made a life choice to write and sing songs, I'm living in a climate which has changed immeasurably for people who pursue that choice.
Those of you who have followed my career to any extent will know of my wariness of the corporate wheels that oil the music industry and the labels who allegedly ‘invest’ in artists - but also frequently draw them in, chew them around a little and spit them out leaving them owing money and, to all intents and purposes, on the scrapheap.
We live in the age of dumbing down. It may be possible as a musician to have a successful relationship with a big label if you make nice music, look nice, say nice things - in other words tick the right boxes. But if you’ll pardon the pun, the label artist relationship in the present climate has become a case of the bland leading the bland.
Musicians like me who seek to retain some semblance of artistic control over their output and the way its promoted, are bad news for big labels. I don't indulge in lowest-common-denominator trendiness, I wont throw shapes for tabloids and glossies.. hence my ‘marketability’ is, in some people's eyes, limited.
But worryingly, musicians who don’t conform in these ways are beginning to disappear. Not only does this deprive us of the talent of such musicians, it means that we are accepting popular music that is so beige that true creativity and individuality has been quashed.
More than ever, I don’t see how it is possible to maintain integrity whilst attempting to conform to all these industry templates.
I am incredibly fortunate - ithe label I'm with, Fullfill, is peopled with genuine souls who are in the business for all the right reasons - they love music - and they believe in me and work with me to sustain my career.
And furthermore, I have an incredible and genuine body of people who support the music I make. People who understand the value of not only music in general, but the need for diversity and grass roots sustainability.
But the times they are indeed a-changing - and everyone in every business is having to think further outside the box than ever. I am no exception.
So.. down to the bald facts
I make music
I intend to continue doing so ad infinitum, whether the times are prosperous or otherwise.
I intend to keep the same ideals and values which fuelled my work in the first place, and which have driven the work of most of the musicians I admire. Honesty over image, principles over marketing.
The music I love - and always aspire to make - is not a next-room soundtrack, it's raw, organic, unpredictable and honest. And at the same time I am unsashamedly proud of the work I do and I want people - particularly you - to keep hearing it.
So if an independent gal may lapse into a little corporate speak, for a second, what I think I need is a new business model.
I'm not after sympathy here, but maybe partnership.
I am starting a new subscription service called ‘Angels In The Abattoir'
The partnership I'm offering asks you for the following -
£52 GBP a year
And here's what you'll get for that:
A new, original and unreleased track download delivered to your inbox every month
this will amount to a full, exclusive album every 12 months which will not be available anywhere else.
A lyric sheet, handwritten and signed by me to a song of your choice.
An entry into a 'Thea Gilmore Song Lottery' - all members can suggest a song they want to hear me cover and once during the year I'll pull one out of the hat and record it!
A namecheck on my albums. For the duration of your membership you will recieve a special thankyou on my albums
A lyric sheet, handwritten and signed by me to a song of your choice.
Opportunities for exclusive live shows and backstage passes to gigs.
A set of 4 exclusive badges, unavailable elsewhere
Access to a members only website. Designed and run by me, featuring:
Video diaries
An ‘ask Thea’ forum
Previews of new releases, merch and generally getting the news before anyone else.
This has turned into a long letter, I’m sorry guys.. I’ll button it it a minute.. but finally:
This little business of mine will strive to be organic and centred around you. A kind of musical veg-box scheme, earthy, real and direct. There will be no middle-man and no industry firewall. We’re in it together.
The idea that we, listener and musician can be a cottage co-operative is exciting. But more than that, It threatens the status quo. And those of you who know me will know that is one of my favourite pastimes. Can we do this together?
Will you be an Angel In The Abattoir?
Watch this space
Love and thanks always
Thea "
Tags: cash
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrew on -
I've definitely noticed more people move towards a CASH-type model, though none quite as similar as to what you've posted here - it's so similar I'm not sure that it is a coincidence?
Other people doing similar things:
Moonbear (http://www.myspace.com/moonbearmusic)
Preorder their album for $9.99, you'll get your name in the CD booklet, once they've got 100 preorders then they have enough money to produce the CDs and will send them out.
Allison Weiss (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allisonweiss/help-make-the-new-...)
Allison offers a range of amounts, for which you get in return anything ranging from a video update ($1), to signed copy of album, name listed in liner notes, personalized thank you letter, t-shirt, home-made CD-R of 5 songs of your choice (10-4 anyone?!), she'll write and record a song about a subject of your choice, which she'll perform live on youtube dedicated to you, and finally (phew!) she will play this song dedicated to you at a US show of your choice (all this for $2,500).
Interesting that she's hoping to raise $2,000 for this project and already has $5,610 - so it definitely works!
However, Moonbear are not doing so well - they've not reached the 100 mark yet. If anyone would like to order one so I get my CD quicker that would be great....!
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Permalink Reply by woj on -
i'm on thea's e-mail list and got the note about this over the weekend and was struck by the similarity as well. dunno if she was inspired by kh/strange angels or not (it could go either way really, considering her history with the music industry) but i agree: the point is moot. anyone who wants to produce independent music, sooner or later, is going to come to similar conclusions with respect to fan-funded ventures.
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Permalink Reply by tim_G6 on -
And more power to folks like KH et al who take on the small business/cottage industry approach. We have the networks now with the interweb (gees, stating the obvious Tim) which makes the approach viable. YEars before the interweb, the major record companies served a purpose and then they got bigger and greedier and forgot about the artist, so now they are dinosaurs waiting for that final death strike.
But running any small business is tough and I hope everyone following this model has good help on the side - KH/Strange Angels makes for a great case study and model to follow.
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Permalink Reply by Hooberrydooberry on -
It is almost identical but I'm with the consensus that it's a good thing regardless of the inspiration.
It seems right that something like CASH should spread in separate little pockets with no 'business' connection between them. Partly for the death of the traditional music industry by a thousand little cuts, and partly to avoid the risk of the concept disappearing up its own arse in an animal farm type move towards just another entertainment industry.
I don't think I've ever heard Thea Gilmore. If Neil Gaiman's a fan, she's got to be worth a listen.
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Permalink Reply by plaintiger on -
i see that when pressed - by Ryder - Ms. Gilmore said:
I never claimed it was my idea.. I make no bones about the fact that many different artists brought me to this idea. Kristin Hersh was one of them, but there were others too.. Marillion, Josh Rouse, Carina Round, Tia McGraff, Erin Mckeown and many many more all have developed some sort of subscription scheme or sponsorship venture. So here and now, I should tip my hat to all of the above and thank them for leading the way in a dangerous business.
Angels In The Abattoir is a song lyric of mine and seemed an appropriate name for people who wanted to join. I'm sure I don't need to explain why.
And I'm not sure the CASH movement is joinable.. Certainly not at the moment anyway, and the time for action in my little world is now.
I also think that showing musicians that careers are sustainable in whatever shape that comes can only make a difference to them. All the musicians I mentioned above have led by example.. and the news is spreading, hence my stab at it, and I'm sure many others will follow suit.
There is something of a quiet revolution going on and these things are always started by few voices and expand into many. I'm not the first to follow this path (and neither was Kristin.. Marillion got there about a decade before and UK band Mansun did something very similar too) and I sure won't be the last. It would be a mistake to assume that just because I wasn't the first to think of an idea it is invalid.. in fact, slow dawning is the way many things get changed.
the similarities to K.'s essay are...uncanny, to say the least...and it's too bad she had to be pressed to even acknowledge those who've led by example. but yes, good ideas will always spread, and i guess it's kind of unrealistic to expect everyone who follows this path to list everyone who did it before them. happily, i don't think it'll be too long before listing them all will be quite simply impossible.
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Permalink Reply by MegaJim on -
From what I understand, though, CASHmusic is open to other artists. There are many artists working out these independent, subscription approaches. Gilmore's is nearly identical to CASHmusic. It just sounds to me as if she read about CASHmusic, but didn't actually contact anyone to explore her options. And then she just sort of copied it wholesale. She has come in during the tipping point of this model, while Kristin is a pioneer. Don't think that I feel negative about Thea, though. I don't listen to her music, but I'm happy that she is working to take control of her career.
FYI, I wrote to Amanda Palmer, suggesting that she become involved with CASHmusic. Her manager, Emily White (fulfills some level of management or coordination), was asked to be on the CASHmusic board. I'm not sure if Amanda will ever be a part of CASHmusic, but she is connected in some way. I think there are lot of such connections that aren't as apparent to us when we just visit the CASHmusic site.
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Permalink Reply by jediroller on -
Hey, I did the same thing with Amanda when she did that "Please Drop Me" video!
I got the exact same impression when I read Thea G.'s blog. And came to the same conclusions.
MegaJim said:From what I understand, though, CASHmusic is open to other artists. There are many artists working out these independent, subscription approaches. Gilmore's is nearly identical to CASHmusic. It just sounds to me as if she read about CASHmusic, but didn't actually contact anyone to explore her options. And then she just sort of copied it wholesale. She has come in during the tipping point of this model, while Kristin is a pioneer. Don't think that I feel negative about Thea, though. I don't listen to her music, but I'm happy that she is working to take control of her career.
FYI, I wrote to Amanda Palmer, suggesting that she become involved with CASHmusic. Her manager, Emily White (fulfills some level of management or coordination), was asked to be on the CASHmusic board. I'm not sure if Amanda will ever be a part of CASHmusic, but she is connected in some way. I think there are lot of such connections that aren't as apparent to us when we just visit the CASHmusic site.
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