D.I.Y.

a2f2a Hopes To Close The Artist Fan Divide

image from a2f2a.com
UK musician and activist Billy Bragg and Jon Newton who blogs at P2PNet have launched a blog that they hope will foster discussion between artists and fans. a2f2a.com (artists to fans to artists to artists) was started with a single underpinning principle: "Artists need to be paid, and fans want to pay them".

Is Direct Payment The Answer?

"Start your own revolution -cut out the middleman!" declares the site's sub-header; and an initial blog post lays out the basis for the discussion:

"The internet has huge potential for artists to make a living on their own terms. Previously, they’ve been forced to rely on the recording industry to fund recordings, manufacture and distribute their art and collect money for them. Without industry help, it was almost impossible to find enough fans to support a career.

Fans have also had to rely on the corporate recording industry to provide the music they wanted to hear. They listened to the radio in the hope of hearing the artists they loved, they bought weekly music mags to find out where and when their favorite bands were playing, and they went to record shops to get the music they wanted.

But fans can now do it all with the click of a mouse – and significantly, increasing numbers of artists are learning to do the same. Fans can get all the information they need about their favorite artists, and artists can find their fans online, without the scattergun approach of putting product into every record store in the country — and then keeping their fingers crossed.

But most important of all, fans can now support artists by paying them directly."

Join the discussion.

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5 Comments

  1. The fact that the “underpinning principle” solves itself should give everyone pause…is this an article of faith or a working assumption?
    Because either A) these artists are all talking about going direct-to-fan and leaving their labels, or B) it’s actually not true that “fans want to pay them.” I guess this is solved by making the definition of “Fan” into a simple tautology: “Those who want to pay you.”
    I don’t think it’s that simple, though.
    Side note: shouldn’t Bragg and company have started this conversation about….nine years ago?

  2. Justin,
    Agreed…
    The porn industry was taking money from fans in 1997 over secure CC POS widgets.
    Labels couldn’t figure it out because the old people who run those furniture companies don’t know shit about the internet. They still don’t.
    If you can’t figure out how to sell your music directly to people via paypal then I just don’t know what to tell you.
    An internet music tax will put the nail in the musical coffin maybe for good.
    bbb
    wheatus.com

  3. What’s with all the automatic assumptions??
    You people are just reading a phrase (such as “in favour of a music tax”) and assuming that’s what is being promoted. You obviously haven’t read any of the posts for yourself, or even the site’s mission statement, for crying out loud!
    Artists To Fans To Artists was erected in an attempt to repair the broken relationship we now have between artists and fans, and to start discussions about how to form a new business model where the artists get paid and the fans can go back to using their technology without fear of being sued.
    Should something like this have happened a long time ago?
    Absolutely!! But, you need to understand that the labels have had a firm grip on not only the music industry, but the artists they’ve exploited with their contracts. Speaking out against the labels is a very difficult thing for featured artists to do.
    Billy Bragg approached p2pnet.net one day, and a dialogue ensued between him and many of “us”. I like to think we represent a good cross-section of the P2P, tech and music communities that have been “criminalized” by the music industry. Both “sides” of these discussions soon realized there was a big need for artists and fans to start talking directly, and that no site was currently trying to do this. Billy actually put up some cash toward seeing this site happen!
    The biggest concensus so far on a2f2a.com is that the labels may have to be cut out of the future scene. They’ve certainly fed both the public and the artists a shitload of propaganda which has done a great deal of damage to both.
    Yes, an “internet tax” was ONE of the things discussed, because it has already been proposed by the mainstream. But if you read 99% of the comments, they reflect the opinion that the whole idea is certainly a trainwreck. That’s what this site is all about… Weeding out the bullshit!
    So, if you’re interested, by all means visit the site, and look at the ideas that are being thrown around. The site’s for all fans, not just the ones you see there now. You can voice your own concerns or just follow what’s happening. We are starting to see some other artists (besides Billy Bragg) jump into the conversations now. We knew they were “out there” watching how things developed, before taking the chance on their own personal involvement, and many are still sitting on the fence. But that’s okay! We understand their reluctance and are quite happy to see them come in when they’re ready.
    Seriously, this could even be an “historic event” you might want to keep track of!
    – “Devil’s Advocate”
    Digest Editor for a2f2a.com

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