One of my regular coffee shops just changed hands and I’m trying out the old location under new management for the first time.  As I organize my thoughts and update my plans for “The Land”, my brain is running on all cylinders, fueled by a pretty solid Americano.

“Deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, a suspected murderer escapes a manhunt staged by his longtime rival, the Sheriff, by taking refuge on the land where he learned to hunt as a child with his estranged friend who uncovers evidence that he might be the villain they’re  looking for after all”

If we were having coffee right now I’d tell you…

I’m working on my budget for an Idiegogo campaign but before I get to that I want to talk about the phenomenal opportunity of crowd funding.

Crowd Funding

This new resource is a huge development that all independent artists should be using.  I don’t want to get too academic here, but I have something to say about the subject and this is a blog so here it goes…

Why is crowd funding a big deal? It works in a natural way to bring balance back into a market that has become oligopolistic over the last 100 years.  Atomism is the thing that ensures natural balance in a market based society.  Without it, the only way to achieve balance is through regulation (a nasty word in the business community) and that means conflict.  Balance, whether achieved naturally through consumer driven adjustments in the market or artificially through regulation means that barriers exist that prevent a small group of people from controlling most of the power which, in the absence of corporate conscience, incentivizes them to rob others of their opportunity for prosperity.  At that point, prosperity is no longer a principle but a privilege enjoyed by a small group of insiders.  Prosperity for all is an ideal that is never fully achieved but America has taken the concept farther than any other nation in the history of the world.  Plain & Simple: It’s who we are and what we do.  The truth is that we are an idealistic nation and this ideal has always been the top priority in Western Society.  It sets us apart from the totalitarian ones.  Thank You UT Austin Advertising school for teaching me the history of the Western social system: The Market System.  And thank you to the multi-national banks (particularly Wells Fargo, America’s Servicing Company, and Deutche bank) for being so greedy, thereby forcing me to re-learn the history, this time through real world experience.  Why am I thanking greedy oligopolies for kicking my ass?  Because, now I understand how it’s possible for the American market, district courts, and federal regulators to fail so badly that the banks are allowed to rob middle class Americans of the prosperity that we had worked so hard to build.  Meanwhile blue-collar criminals spend decades in jail for crimes far less destructive, on a good day.  On a bad day, they spend decades in jail for a crime they never committed.  After learning about these things both in academia and in life, I can say that the best way to solve this problem of market manipulation is a return to atomism.  In simple terms that means more competition which increases choice for consumers.  Crowd Funding evens the odds for those who have a great idea but don’t fit into some cookie cutter pattern constructed by self-serving corporations.  Aside from giving consumers more choice, it also gives artists an outlet.

Don’t get me wrong.  The pursuit of self-interest isn’t bad itself as long as the pursuit is not conducted wantonly.  But when there’s no atomism, then most of the marketable ideas out there never see the light of day.  It’s important for an artist to recognize when the conventional decision makers at the majors don’t want what you’re selling.  Either, you have to change what you’re selling to match what they’re buying (because, they have the money) or you have to figure out a way get money directly from the fans instead of letting it filter through the majors.  Then you have to produce, sell, and distribute the art yourself.  It’s said that talent is not born.  It’s created from an inner drive bolstered by coaching and practice.  Talent can happen anywhere at any time.  Many of us had the instruction early in our careers which got us this far and now crowd funding gives us the ability to practice and put art out there to be evaluated and commented on, developing our talent.  And the cycle continues.

Crowd Funding Develops Talent.