Amanda Palmer recently made history, becoming the first musical artist to raise over $1 million through Kickstarter.
Amanda Palmer Gets $1 Million in Kickstarter Funds
Still think record labels serve any purpose at all?
Web2Carz Senior Writer
Published: June 8th, 2012
Palmer even wrote and performed a song, “Please Drop Me,” shortly before the label obliged.
T
ime was, if you were a musician who wanted to get your music out to the masses, you needed to sign with a label, preferably a major label, so you could pay to record your record and take time to tour in support of it. But labels have grown increasingly irrelevant in recent years, and now singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer has shown that musicians can indeed do it all themselves (with a little help from their fans), by raising over $1 million through Kickstarter.
Palmer, who made a name for herself as the singer for the Boston-based “cabaret punk” band Dresden Dolls, was released from her contract with Atlantic Records subsidiary Roadrunner Records after a controversy about cuts made to one of her music videos. She even wrote and performed a song, “Please Drop Me,” shortly before the label obliged.
She released her second record, Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under through her Bandcamp store. Her third album, Theatre Is Evil, has already been recorded. Palmer plans to spend her million-plus on the packaging and promotion of the album, and the rest, she says, “will go towards the videos and the touring production, which looks like it may be an unprecedented feat of rock theater."
“Of course, if any money is left over I'll get that tummy tuck and [breast augmentation] I've always dreamed about,” Palmer adds. “Finally."
