This is a good article for artists and fans to read about the demo recording process. It also illustrates a key point about Patronism: artists and patrons are on a path together, not just producers or consumers.
Click here to read the article.
I have a few thoughts about his "mistakes":
Mistake #1: The song isn’t finished
Mistake #2: You haven’t made a rough recording
Mistake #3: You think the demo will fix what isn’t quite working in your song
Mistake #4: You think you’ll save money by recording/playing on the demo yourself
Mistake #5: You decide to record a full-band demo without having a very good reason
These mistakes are all part of the creative process. And I believe they enrich the experience of music for patrons.
I want to hear how some of my favorite songs came to be. I want to see the process. Did it all happen at once? Was there a lyric that was just a placeholder, like Paul McCartney's "Scrambled Eggs"? When I looked it up, I noticed that there was one lonesome video of Paul performing that song with the original lyrics on Jimmy Fallon's Laght Night. Of course, I con't find it because Sony had them take it down. That's a blog of a different color, but man... I would love to see it.
That's exactly the kind of freedom we want to create here. The people who really want to dig deeper into their favorite music can do it without having to search or strain, and the artists can share their whole creative path, while exploring it more freely than the commercial system allows.
Very good aspects John. That "wholeness" of an artist is what can get easily lost in the shuffle of marketing, branding and placing musical products. To me music never was and is a product you can buy but an expression, a moment to share. Of course there have to be ways how an artist can make a living through his craft. I feel that patronism gives both the music lover and the artist a new space to share rather than selling and buying. And THAT is art.
Amen, Ulrich. Amen. I like the idea that this can be a place to eliminate friction in financing and distributing music: Creativity flows out, patronage flows in, more creativity flows out, more patronage flows in...
Just do me a favor and keep writing such trcenhnat analyses, OK?