| This is an excerpt of the Introduction to Part One of BE THE MEDIA
by David Mathison. Since this is long, we will be posting this in five parts.
If you like you can download a free version of the full introduction at www.bethemedia.com |
BE THE MEDIA: Introduction to Part One: Rebooting the American Dream
by David Mathison
(PART FIVE OF FIVE)
The Outsource Option; or, Read This Before Groaning
Obviously, not everyone possesses
the skills, inclination, or patience to find and nurture patrons. Promotion can
be a full-time job, and a wearying one. Most artists, in particular, just want
to create art. Fortunately, an “artist services model” is emerging so artists can
outsource the nonart activities, such as distribution,
advertising, publicity, marketing, and booking. For instance, when
consultant Peter Broderick helps filmmakers sell DVDs directly from their websites,
the filmmakers earn up to nine times the profit per sale as compared to retail.
In other words, as you’ll see in the
outsourcing sections of the chapters on books (Chapter 2), music (Chapter 4), film
(Chapter 8), and the Internet (Chapter 9), you are not alone. We’re
all in this together. Help is at hand and, in fact, in hand since you have this book to
guide you.
Fair and Balanced
The Idol version of the American Dream—the distorted, “winner-takes-all”
model—is the ultimate version of an unfair system that continues to dominate
the entertainment industry, as well as other areas of American life. The system
relies on remote others’ ownership and control of the creative output of some
of our nation’s most talented and beloved artists, as well as an upward
redistribution of capital from hardworking consumers to a handful of already wealthy
executives and corporations, which neither deserve it nor need it.
As Be the Media will point out in the following chapters, however, the
hijacked American Dream, which too often lately has resembled a nightmare, is in
the process of being rescued. The new, emerging model gives many, many artists
and others the resources, freedom, and opportunity to succeed. Thanks to the
participation and direct support of millions of people like you, unprecedented
opportunities enable artists to control their own destiny.
The hope and promise of rebooting
the American dream is to create a sustainable system that is more fair,
balanced, and egalitarian; one that works for the people—from the bottom up—instead
of enabling a few squillionaires to control the media (and the message) from
the top down.
True, there are challenges and
risks, and no guarantees of success. We face uncertain times in both the entertainment
industry and the economy in general, making it even more critical for independents
to repurpose their offerings to create multiple streams of income from
diversified sources. Likewise, patrons should realize who benefits from every
dollar they spend. Instead of supporting corporations and executives, a fan’s
hard-earned money should directly reward their favorite artists, so that those
artists can keep a higher percentage of the revenues to grow, thrive, and
prosper – and create more great products.
Our commitment is to stay on top
of the changes and keep this book and website updated to help you, perhaps sooner
than later, live your version of the classic American Dream—that is, to put in
an honest day’s work on your art or passion, earn a living wage from it, have
adequate health care, provide a decent education for your children, save enough
for a secure and dignified retirement, and leave this world a better place.
Send your feedback to us at info@bethemedia.com.
Tell us how we’re doing, and how you’re
doing.
If nothing else, I hope this book
inspires, motivates, and empowers you to create and accelerate your own message,
in your own way.
"Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number—
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few."
"The Call to Freedom," by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1819)
Download free PDF of Intro to Part One
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