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Palmer urges Morrissey to crowdsource

By | Published on Monday 29 April 2013

Amanda Palmer

In response to a recent Guardian article, in which Morrissey was quoted saying he couldn’t get a label to release his new material, Amanda Palmer has written an open letter urging the singer to follow her lead and to finance a record release via a Kickstarter-style crowdsourcing campaign.

In The Guardian piece, Morrissey – forced to break from touring recently due to ill health – says: “I have a lot of songs. We could record three studio albums immediately, very easily. But none of the majors are interested. [They] are only interested in very young people who will fly by and ask for nothing in return”.

But surely, Morrissey – reckons Ms Palmer – you don’t need a label in this here online age because, while you may not have embraced social media and online fan engagement like the former Dresden Doll, you have an incredibly loyal global fanbase. And a quick Twitter survey of Palmer’s own fans saw 1400 people immediately confirming they’d pledge five dollars to access some new Morrissey material.

And, writes Palmer in an open letter on Salon.com: “OK, that would only yield you about $7,000, but you… you’re actually Morrissey. You have some of the most fanatical fans in the world; caring and devoted people from countries far and wide who would be really, really happy to support you at levels far beyond $5 just to have the songs in their ears. You’re possibly one of the best candidates on the planet to use crowdfunding, because of who you are and what you mean”.

Palmer then goes on to explain why Morrissey, of all people, no longer requires the services of a traditional record company, and why he should seriously consider fan-funding. Though, she adds: “Since I know you almost definitely won’t do this and that you may well think I’m a bothersome asshole for writing you this open letter, I’d just like to say this: You may be the end of a family line, but you have spawned a lot of singing, songwriting children, whether you like it or not, and I proudly count myself as one of them”.

She continued: “The Buddha once said that ‘if you were to carry your parents around with you for their whole lives – your father on one shoulder and your mother on the other – even to the point where they were losing their faculties and their excrement was running down your back, this would not repay your debt of gratitude to them’. As your devoted songwriting-spawn, I must say: I cannot get on board to quite this gruesome extent. But I’d be totally keen to help you crowdfund”.



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