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In 2008, Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired Magazine, wrote a watershed essay called “1,000 True Fans” (True Fans), which was an expression of the simple idea that in the age of the Internet, any creative person could get support for their work with the help of 1,000 true fans, or some version thereof. This has been debated and discussed in every which way, but the idea has been one of the Internet’s most important, leading to the many variations of crowdfunding, including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, Patreon, Substack, etc.
Amanda Palmer, the punk cabaret, Dresden Dolls band star, gave a great TED talk (Amanda Palmer: The art of asking | TED Talk) and then wrote a book expanding on the idea of “The Art of Asking.” She made it clear that musicians, artists, could and should seek the direct support of their audiences. This was in 2013.
Today, it is even more relevant than ever, especially in the music world, where despite millions of streams of our music, 99% of musicians don’t make a living from their albums. I do hope this will change, and there are various ideas being developed to help minimize this problem. Nothing has changed yet, though.
Many of you know me for my piano playing and for leading the International Beethoven Project Not-for-Profit in its many iterations and projects. However, there is one aspect that most of you don’t know that much about, and yet one that means a lot to me: writing, telling stories and sharing my perspective on issues that matter to me.
Some of you may remember the period in time when I published the Journal of a Musician, between 2007 and 2010. It was very satisfying, exciting work, and allowed me to work with a number of brilliant writers who shared lesser known stories of music, culture, along with interviews with fascinating people from these fields. I am working to bring back a version of a magazine as part of the International Beethoven Project. But that will be a non-profit project separate from my very own, personal writing projects.
Across all my work, however, the constant has been story-telling in one form or another. I tell stories in everything I do, whether it’s obvious or not: music making, for me, is a form of story-telling; programming a festival is a type of story-telling; making an album and documentaries are forms of story-telling. It is a way to engage audiences consciously and emotionally.
Writing and story-telling have accompanied me throughout my life. In fact, my love of stories motivated me to major in English in college (as well as in History, which is also a reading and writing degree). It was not music… although I did get my Masters of Music afterward. While in college, I honed my writing skills, along with my research skills. I can tell you that I knew every nook and cranny of my university’s library, my second home.
I always wanted to write. Articles, short stories, maybe a book. Writing helps put thoughts together, it helps organize one’s vision of self and of the world. Perhaps this is why doing it well is so hard! Most of our thinking is jumbled, unlinnear, illogical. Writing allows one to refine one’s thinking, and to turn it into communicable expression.
And now, I am hoping to gather enough material for a book. This is partly a personal challenge, but it also is a reflection of where I think I am in life, of what I have learned and what I believe I can contribute to the discourse. For me, this is like making an album. It is a long-lasting statement, a part of me that I bequeath to the world at large, and for the work to have its own life outside of me. Unlike a concert, which is an experience lived in the moment, the album is something that is slowly crafted, put together piece by piece, over a long period, reviewed until it is “perfect”.
A book, to me, is also something that must come out of a long process of preparation, the more so probably today when it is so easy to put out a book (or an album). We end up being flooded with content that isn’t necessarily as good as it should be. But I am an advocate of slowness and ripening, of taking the right amount of time to prepare, to consider, and to work. Yet I do not idle! Just like giving countless concerts can only help make a good album, writing a good book can be helped by practicing writing. I do this by writing stories, opinion pieces, and research articles about topics dear to my heart.
Right now I am sorting out material, practicing my writing, and taking plenty of notes, not all of which make it out! In fact, I estimate that 90 percent of what I write never gets published in any form.
Oh, and you may wonder, what do I write about?
I have several topics of predilection which I come back to regularly:
Lessons learned from being a musician, intended for other musicians and aspiring musicians, as well as humans in general who like to understand how music making functions
Lesser known aspects of music history: forgotten composers and forgotten stories of famous composers
The state of the arts, and how to make classical music relevant in our times
I have also been researching the history of Ukrainian classical music this past year, and have found some really interesting things I have begun sharing.
I have also been doing lots of research on music in France between 1730 and 1830, which is a period of music history that is barely known despite having been very exciting. I will be sharing my discoveries soon.
And sometimes I write about other things entirely, primarily related to culture in some form.
I share my personal writing on two platforms: Ghost (which is like Substack), and Patreon.
On Ghost, I publish polished pieces (that’s my intent, anyway!) that are mostly open to all to read.
On Patreon, I publish more, both polished pieces as well as work diary entries, work-in-progress, occasional videos and recordings. Patreon is more the inner sanctum of all my art work-in-progress.
Ghost is free, with a paid option for those who want to support, but don’t have to in order to access my work.
Patreon is paid-only, with a choice of tiers, which is more an opportunity for people to choose their monthly support level based on their capacity.
Many amongst you have supported my work through the International Beethoven Project. It is a non-profit, and that support is absolutely essential to the production of big, ambitious projects. I am and have been wholly dedicated to our projects since 2008, giving my all to them. But those funds don’t support me directly.
In fact, I rarely ask anyone to support me personally. As Amanda Palmer says, there is no shame in asking, and she is right. In fact, your support is a driving force in my work, as it allows me to do more, do it better, and to get closer to my goals.
I have therefore resolved this year to aim for my version of 1000 true fans, which is, for now, a reasonable 100 true fans! I am lucky to have a few of you who have been loyally supporting me on Patreon or Ghost already.
I hope to get about 88 more true fans over the course of this campaign.
Can I count you in?
Supporting me can be nominal, as every bit counts, especially if I gather my 100 True Fans.
If you are wondering if you have to choose between supporting me and supporting the projects I work on with the IBP non-profit, stick to IBP! If you can support me directly AND continue to support IBP, even better.
Most people only see the final products, the albums I release every couple of years or so, or the events and concerts I organize or perform in. By supporting me through Patreon, or Ghost, you get to witness a lot more of the process, and to support me as an independent artist.
Support can be the equivalent of “buying” me a monthly cup of coffee, a sandwich, maybe even a nice dinner! It’s one way to look at this. In the life of an artist, the regularity of this kind of support is truly helpful.
But, even if you are unable to support me financially, you can still sign up on Ghost for free and read most of my articles. Please do so. I love and need readers!
And if you join my inner sanctum, you get to interact more directly with me throughout my process. Your thoughts and opinions are always an added plus to me.
To sign up, follow these links:
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/georgelepauw