![\"MakingaLivingMakingMusic](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MakingaLivingMakingMusic-6.25.13-Final-hi-res.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Maybe it’s obvious, but in the for-profit world, making money is the point; profit defines success. In the non-profit world, the relationship between profit and success is more complicated. “Profit” (or balancing the books) is regarded as a hill to be climbed over rather than the objective.<\/p>\nIn the hyper-connected world of social media, profit is no longer simply about selling more product. More than ever consumers are about relationships – the kinds of relationships that non-profits have worked on for years. It used to be that a company’s story was essential to those consumer relationships; now it’s the stories of the community around the company that are increasingly important. Companies like Marriott have become sophisticated storytellers and content producers<\/a>\u00a0because of their need to attract audiences who increasingly define themselves by the stories they share.\u00a0Through those stories, audiences become invested in the success of the community around the companies. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n Crowdfunding: Raising Money Or Building\u00a0Audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n Crowdfunding began as a way to raise money to fund products; it’s evolved into a way to create social networks around ideas that can be shared and invested in, populated by customers who have a stake in the success of that community.<\/p>\n Maybe this is just the next evolution in clever marketing, but I wonder if it’s more than that. Investors are more loyal than traditional customers, and communities of investors are more focused on the success of their community than unconnected consumers are. Marketing’s sweet spot has always been the emotional tug – buy our product and you will feel glamorous. Desireable. Smart. Funny. Hip. In a hyper-connected world, companies now want you to feel about them the way you do about your favorite sports team. Root for them. Root for each other. Do what you can do to help. Buy more stuff.<\/p>\n The arts have long depended on patrons to feel like they’re part of a community. But how many arts organizations make their communities feel like investors? Plenty of artists have used crowdfunding to raise money for projects. But those who are really good at it use it\u00a0not just to raise money but to motivate an audience.<\/p>\n A recent study<\/a> found that musicians earn money from 45 revenue streams, many of them not directly involved with the act of playing music itself. Diversifying income sources is essential these days as the music business whipsaws between business models.<\/p>\n One could think of those revenue streams simply as the way you make money. You could think of them as desperate strategies to continue to make income as compensation for playing and recording music has collapsed. Or you can think of them as opportunities for\u00a0audiences to become investors. Investing with money, sure, but also audience investing in your success. Wearing your T-shirt, talking you up, sharing your music, your pictures, motivating others to pay attention.<\/p>\n These days people define themselves through what they choose to share. If they’re particularly motivated they’ll be creative in how they share their love. That in turn motivates others and the cycle repeats. Why would anyone spend hours making a video or writing a blog post promoting someone who isn’t paying them? Because they’ve gone from being consumers to being investors. Investing in you is investing in their own identity.<\/p>\n The idea is simple, really. Investors are worth much more than customers. Customers consume, then move on; investors take a personal stake in your being successful (we call them fans). People who make no investment in consuming your work are\u00a0only fickle customers. People who are invested in you are worth much more than any money they might throw your way. I’m not sure there’s anything new in this – there have always been fans and artists have always been dependant on those fans to promote them. But today fans can have as much if not more impact in building an audience around you as traditional media. This guy <\/a>can get 7 million subscribers to his YouTube channel<\/a>, 100s of millions of views of his videos and enough fans that he writes a book and makes a movie? Seriously. You can be appalled, or you can try to figure out how he did it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe it’s obvious, but in the for-profit world, making money is the point; profit defines success. In the non-profit world, the relationship between profit and success is more complicated. “Profit” (or balancing the books) is regarded as a hill to be climbed over rather than the objective. In the hyper-connected world of social media, profit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-audience","8":"category-audience-experience","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MakingaLivingMakingMusic-6.25.13-Final-hi-res.jpg?fit=1600%2C1044&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-ag","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2650,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2023\/07\/inflection-point-a-crisis-in-paying-for-culture.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":0},"title":"Inflection Point? A Crisis in Paying for Culture in the Age of Abundance","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"July 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Our consumption of culture has never been higher. So why are culture producers melting down?","rel":"","context":"In "arts and business"","block_context":{"text":"arts and business","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/lego-g28bd3326a_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/lego-g28bd3326a_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/lego-g28bd3326a_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/lego-g28bd3326a_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/lego-g28bd3326a_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":354,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/05\/power_in_numbers_there_ought-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":1},"title":"10 Ways to Think About Social Networking And The Arts (the zen of "free" as a strategy)","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"May 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Power in numbers. There ought to be a simple formula to calculate it. Is it better to have a small devoted audience or a massive casual one? It depends on the scale of what you're trying to do. TV has power because it has the ability to attract millions of\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 13 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 13 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/05\/power_in_numbers_there_ought-2.html#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"power.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/power.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2395,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2020\/08\/five-things-to-fix-in-the-arts.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":2},"title":"Five Things to Fix in the Arts","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"August 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The shutdown has suspended usual rules, positions and behaviors, suggesting there may be opportunities to not just rethink but take action.","rel":"","context":"In "arts and business"","block_context":{"text":"arts and business","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ivan-vranic-j9-2LIZ2_Rc-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ivan-vranic-j9-2LIZ2_Rc-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ivan-vranic-j9-2LIZ2_Rc-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ivan-vranic-j9-2LIZ2_Rc-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ivan-vranic-j9-2LIZ2_Rc-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2429,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2020\/08\/five-things-1-business-models-and-a-9-billion-idea.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":3},"title":"Business Models and a $9 Billion Idea","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"August 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We need a significant, stable ongoing source of new funding that is politically insulated and inflation-proof.","rel":"","context":"In "arts and business"","block_context":{"text":"arts and business","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cars-2605953_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cars-2605953_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cars-2605953_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cars-2605953_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cars-2605953_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2007\/11\/a_low_pressure_air_mass.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":4},"title":"A Low Pressure Air Mass…","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"November 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"If the power of mass culture is based on the ability to attract a mass audience, then perhaps it's worth looking at the size of the mass. Magazines: People magazine is solidly mass market. In 2006 it had a circulation of 3.8 million. Its rivals Us Weekly sold 1.8 million\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":619,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2015\/11\/mass-market-versus-arts.html","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":5},"title":"The Mass Market Ain’t What It Used To Be (And What That Means For The Arts)","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What does it mean to \"engage with an audience\"? It's a fundamental question for anyone who makes anything. Whether it's a political party trying to win votes, Coke trying to sell drinks, an entrepreneur trying to sell an idea, or a theatre trying to sell tickets. 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