Life as an artist is getting harder. Across the world government funding for the arts has been cut substantially since the GFC to offset deficit blow-outs brought on by sub-prime.
Most artists would prefer to generate their own income from their work than rely on government support anyway. But this is hard. How does the artist bridge the gap between themselves and their potential supporters, especially for modern, digital art?
make, our new start-up, solves the problem. It is best described as a recurring crowdfunding platform, and it allows artists to post their creative works, then invite supporters to pledge small amounts for each new creation. It is a collaboration between Loyalty & Reward Co and Battle Royal.
Currently make is available in English and German language versions, and over the next few months will expand to Spanish, Italian and French versions.
Brendan Shelper, CEO of production company Battle Royal and the designer of make, has been working in the Berlin art scene for many years, and has seen the challenges first-hand. “The talent of the local artists I meet is staggering,” he says. “Yet many struggle to survive finacially due to the lack of infrastructure to help them find a market for their works. make fills that gap, allowing the artist’s community of family, friends and fans to easily support, and thereby participate, in the process of creation.”
The make tagline is ‘made by many’, which is a nod to the community supporting the artist.
“For the unfunded artist, their creations are dependent on the people who support them,” says Brendan. “That’s why the art is made by many. For a few euros per month, anyone can participate in the creative process. This includes receiving small rewards from the artist, being able to interactive with them, as well as commenting on their works. Supporters can look at a new, cutting-edge work and tell themselves, ‘I contributed towards the birth of this art.’ It’s a great feeling.”
Our ambition with make is for it to be the pre-eminent crowd-funding platform for artists in Europe, generating a living wage for 100,000 artists within 2 years. The art already posted on the site is an outstanding collection of songs, video, photos and drawings from a clearly-talented group of young artists. And in a positive development, support in the form of pledges are steadily rolling in.
We invite you to spend some time enjoying the art on make, and we’d love any feedback you’d care to share as we seek to continue development of the user experience.
Philip Shelper is a loyalty management consultant based in Sydney, Australia who obsesses about everything to do with loyalty and rewards. His company Loyalty & Reward Co are a leading loyalty management consulting firm.
Let’s connect! https://au.linkedin.com/in/philipshelper
