Virtual music, virtual money: the impact of crowdfunding models on creativity, authorship, and identity

The traditional path between music creator and audience has been seen to be complex, managed by a series of cultural intermediaries. The focus of criticism from both music producers and consumers decide on what is funded and what the consumers will hear. Emergent models of crowdfunding, born in the virtual environment, are, however, changing this situation by allowing music creators to connect directly with their audience in order to gain support for potential creations. A project is pitched, fans coalesce around it, it is funded, and it is then sold, all virtually. As such a new phenomenon, though, the reality is unlikely to be as simple as the utopia suggested. This chapter therefore examines how crowdfunding affects creativity, authorship, and identity in relation to producer, product, and fan.