The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding
Since its inception in 2009, Kickstarter, a crowdsourced funding site, has been a platform for independent creative projects to get funding, ostensibly providing alternate routes of economic viability outside of a traditional framework of creative production and distribution. Kickstarter comes onto...
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2016-08-01
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Series: | Social Media + Society |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662394 |
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doaj-83648facd64446e389b4a9b623e83b822020-11-25T03:09:23ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512016-08-01210.1177/205630511666239410.1177_2056305116662394The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through CrowdfundingCynthia WangSince its inception in 2009, Kickstarter, a crowdsourced funding site, has been a platform for independent creative projects to get funding, ostensibly providing alternate routes of economic viability outside of a traditional framework of creative production and distribution. Kickstarter comes onto the scene after the proliferation of online social networking sites, through which bridging social capital ties are more easily maintained. This article investigates the ways in which independent musicians have used Kickstarter in conjunction with pre-existing social networks to fund their album and sustain themselves and their artistic endeavors economically while also exploring how social networks provide ways for these “Kickstarter campaigns” to reach potential backers (funders). Through three online surveys targeting musicians, their backers, and general Kickstarter backers, yielding a total of 61 respondents, this article finds that pre-existing personal social networks and relations are imperative to the successful funding of Kickstarter campaigns.https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662394 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Cynthia Wang |
spellingShingle |
Cynthia Wang The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding Social Media + Society |
author_facet |
Cynthia Wang |
author_sort |
Cynthia Wang |
title |
The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding |
title_short |
The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding |
title_full |
The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding |
title_fullStr |
The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Promise of Kickstarter: Extents to Which Social Networks Enable Alternate Avenues of Economic Viability for Independent Musicians Through Crowdfunding |
title_sort |
promise of kickstarter: extents to which social networks enable alternate avenues of economic viability for independent musicians through crowdfunding |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
Social Media + Society |
issn |
2056-3051 |
publishDate |
2016-08-01 |
description |
Since its inception in 2009, Kickstarter, a crowdsourced funding site, has been a platform for independent creative projects to get funding, ostensibly providing alternate routes of economic viability outside of a traditional framework of creative production and distribution. Kickstarter comes onto the scene after the proliferation of online social networking sites, through which bridging social capital ties are more easily maintained. This article investigates the ways in which independent musicians have used Kickstarter in conjunction with pre-existing social networks to fund their album and sustain themselves and their artistic endeavors economically while also exploring how social networks provide ways for these “Kickstarter campaigns” to reach potential backers (funders). Through three online surveys targeting musicians, their backers, and general Kickstarter backers, yielding a total of 61 respondents, this article finds that pre-existing personal social networks and relations are imperative to the successful funding of Kickstarter campaigns. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662394 |
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