William Lamb writes “If you are looking to purchase the Grammy Award-winning album Concert In the Garden by the Maria Schneider Orchestra for your library, you won’t find it in any store or from any traditional music distributor. However, you may purchase it directly from the artist as part of the revolutionary Internet-based music distribution and participation network called ArtistShare. As a particpant in the program you help fund recordings by artists as they are created. Contributing different levels of funding provides you with access to varying levels of materials and access to the artist during the process of creating a new work. Participant levels in the Grammy-winning Concert In the Garden range from $9.95 which will get you a basic level MP3 of the album plus accompanying artwork to create your own compact disc. Participation in the now closed $1,000.00 level helped fund the recording and gave participants a listing on the album’s liner notes. Libraries that wish to provide the album for their patrons can choose to burn a CD from downloaded MP3 files or order one of the limited edition pressing of 10,000 CDs direct from the artist for $16.95.
William Lamb writes “If you are looking to purchase the Grammy Award-winning album Concert In the Garden by the Maria Schneider Orchestra for your library, you won’t find it in any store or from any traditional music distributor. However, you may purchase it directly from the artist as part of the revolutionary Internet-based music distribution and participation network called ArtistShare. As a particpant in the program you help fund recordings by artists as they are created. Contributing different levels of funding provides you with access to varying levels of materials and access to the artist during the process of creating a new work. Participant levels in the Grammy-winning Concert In the Garden range from $9.95 which will get you a basic level MP3 of the album plus accompanying artwork to create your own compact disc. Participation in the now closed $1,000.00 level helped fund the recording and gave participants a listing on the album’s liner notes. Libraries that wish to provide the album for their patrons can choose to burn a CD from downloaded MP3 files or order one of the limited edition pressing of 10,000 CDs direct from the artist for $16.95.
The ArtistShare model draws on a long history of patron-financed art and utilizes Internet technology to broaden the patron base. In addition to access to the actual recorded work, patrons who participate in ArtistShare receive unprecedented access to the creative process. This may include sample tracks available along the recording process, interviews with participants, ability to make suggestions or ask questions, etc. Beyond the 3 times Grammy-nominated Maria Schneider Orchestra, guitarist Jim Hall, Phish’s Trey Anastasio and many others are using the ArtistShare model to finance creation of new music.
Alternative methods for music distribution and creation have proliferated for some time now, but this is the first time a recording has received major award recognition while operating completely outside traditional music distribution channels. For libraries, continued success of models like ArtistShare will require looking beyond traditional routes for acquiring music of interest and importance to library patrons. We have already been faced with many questions by the success of digitally downloaded music, some of which is never intended to be released on a manufactured compact disc. The ArtistShare system presents another challenge to redefine our own traditional models for music acquisition and distribution to our patrons. The time is now to develop and test models for the future.”
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