Cover Story
The State of the Independent Musician
in 2012
By Max Blau
The most important statement in music this year was made on the streets of Melbourne, Australia. Amanda Palmer, dressed in a gold-and-pink kimono with a keytar slung over her shoulder, starred in a three-minute music video, saying nothing. Instead she held up more than 50 small posters explaining her desire to raise $100,000 from her fans to make a new record, publish a book and fund a tour.
That video was a main promotion for Palmer’s Kickstarter campaign, which launched on the last day of April. Her fundraising...