Oliver Rawlings Find Crowdfunding Fascinating

Hailed as the new way to bankroll huge projects, crowdfunding is here, it’s larger than life and I find it fascinating. Oliver Rawlings readers, crowdfunding is the future.

The Relationship between Culture and Technology

As any reader of this blog can attest to, I find culture and technology fascinating. Two of my life long passions, I never miss an opportunity to blog about these two complex subjects, and I’m the sort of person who can’t resist reading about them either. It’s practically an addiction!

That’s why I find it riveting when the two come together. We live in a world driven by technological advances. New technology is practically the muse of the 21^st Century, spurring creative types to greater heights and inspiring truly post-modern works of art that would have been impossible to achieve without the aid of modern technologies such as the internet, laptops, smartphones etc.

What is Crowdfunding? How Does It Work?

That’s why I find crowdfunding fascinating. Crowdfunding is where someone raises money for a subject by going to many individual donors, and asking each one to donate a small amount of money, often in return for a gift, but no actual share in the profits the project generates.

So how is this possible? Well the artist sets up a donation page on a crowdfunding website, such as Indiegogo, makes their pitch and people log on and donate. The fact that the internet enables anyone to donate means that niche projects that wouldn’t have otherwise gotten off the ground, due to lack of interest, are able to go into production.

Why, because those people who want to see it happen are able to help it do so without the larger considerations that often way fund providers down, such as profit margins, advertising interest and the ability of the project to secure interest from key demographics.

A More Direct Input into the Artworks that Define Our Culture

In essence, crowdfunding is a way to bypass the usual funding avenues that artistic projects must travel down, and it broadens the scope of culture openly available to the masses. The genius of crowdfunding is that not only does it provide the cash, it builds up a fan base for the project to speak to once it’s finished;  people who have watched it grow from conception and have tracked it through to completion. It provides a personal attachment to art that we’ve never seen before.

In this way, crowdfunding is indicative of the evolving nature of the relationship between technology and modern culture. In the world of 2014, we have more access than ever, and more of an input into, the artworks that define the culture we live in. This direct participation is providing universal access to works of art that would likely otherwise never seen the light of day.