# Kickstarter expects to provide more arts funding than the NEA **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980 "2012-02-25T18:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/1 "2012-02-25T18:24:59Z")
From [here](http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-funding-to-the-arts-than-nea.php): > [@](#): > > Kickstarter is having an amazing year, even by the standards of other white hot Web startup companies, and more is yet to come. > > One of the company’s three co-founders, Yancey Strickler, said that Kickstarter is on track to distribue over $150 million dollars to its users’ projects in 2012, or more than entire fiscal year 2012 budget for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), which was $146 million. Does crowdsourced funding represent the future of the arts? If so, is that good or bad? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/2 "2012-02-25T18:43:07Z")
I think it’s wonderful Let the people fund what they like directly. After seeing the way the OoTS pledge drive took off, I’m totally on-board with Kickstarter. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/3 "2012-02-25T18:58:10Z")
Probably not the entire future, but a segment of it. Bad overall, since it means that projects get funded based upon how well they’re publicized, not the potential quality and talent. If zombie films are what people want, zombie films will be made this way, but that doesn’t help artists who don’t want to make zombie films. Substitute any subgenre or style for “zombie films” in the previous sentence. Ultimately it favors popularity over quality – and popularity contests tend to go to the tried and true. Big question: how many users to they have? If it’s a few hundred, $150 million is a pretty good way of funding. If it’s ten million, it’s pretty poor. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/4 "2012-02-25T20:02:04Z")
From the article itself, it seems like the Kickstarter guys themselves are conflicted about whether their crowdfunding model should supersede the NEA, but lean towards the idea that it should serve as a complementary method of funding the arts: > [@](#): > > “But maybe it shouldn’t be that way,” Strickler said, “Maybe there’s a reason for the state to strongly support the arts.” Regardless, I think Kickstarter’s success is a great thing. I’ve contributed to three Kickstarter projects this year, all of which have been successfully funded. The fact is that there’s no penalty for trying - IIRC, if your project fails to attain the required level of funding, you’re more than welcome to retool it and resubmit. There’s an element of publicizing, to be sure, but the big success stories seem to be coming more from word of mouth than any concerted effort by Kickstarter projects to market themselves (after all, if they had the means to publicize through traditional means, they probably wouldn’t be trying to obtain funding through Kickstarter). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/5 "2012-02-25T21:27:04Z")
Kickstarter is pretty cool, but there’s already plenty of avenues to fund pop culture. I don’t really see what they do as being in competition with the NEA in any meaningful sense. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/6 "2012-02-25T21:32:46Z")
It does seem to be more complementary than a replacement. Having more sources of funding is good; it helps keep the arts being twisted to fit the prejudices of a narrow group. NEA + crowdsourcing is less narrow than either alone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/7 "2012-02-25T21:39:04Z")
Kickstarter serves a different purpose from the NEA, and it would be a horrible mistake to cut funding to the NEA because of the existence of Kickstarter. But as long as that doesn’t happen, I really don’t see a downside. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/8 "2012-02-25T21:46:01Z")
Is anyone actually talking about cutting the NEA because of Kickstarter? ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/9 "2012-02-25T23:19:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I think it’s wonderful Let the people fund what they like directly. After seeing the way the OoTS pledge drive took off, I’m totally on-board with Kickstarter. It was amazing seeing what happened when Double Fine used Kickstarter to fund their [next adventure game](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure/). I think they made their goal in the first eight hours and currently have over five times the amount they asked for! It’s gotten the rumors of a Psychonauts sequel all stirred up again. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/10 "2012-02-25T23:36:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is anyone actually talking about cutting the NEA because of Kickstarter? Is there ever a time when people aren’t looking to cut the NEA? For any reason whatsoever? ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/11 "2012-02-25T23:54:37Z")
Did Shakespeare ever get a grant? Nope. He was funded by the crowds that came to see his plays. So I’m all for letting the people fund what they want to see. Sure, some of it may be crap or mediocre, but so is 95% of anything, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/12 "2012-02-26T00:54:37Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > Did Shakespeare ever get a grant? Nope. Actually, yes. His theater company was called The King’s Men. Who do you think was signing their checks? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/13 "2012-02-26T01:03:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ultimately it favors popularity over quality – and popularity contests tend to go to the tried and true. In countries outside of the US, that’s a good thing. Those countries that don’t have Hollywood tend not to make things that are “popular” and instead end up only getting funding if it’s “important” or “culturally significant” which nobody ends up seeing. Popular makes money. Money makes more projects. Also, Kickstarter is literally to “kickstart” a project. Ever after, ideally, they ought to then be self-perpetuating. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/14 "2012-02-26T01:37:58Z")
It’s a good thing. In its own right, obviously, it means that things that people want to get made are more likely to get made. As a replacement for government art grants, it means people are giving their own money to artists they want to support, instead of having the government decide what is good art and who should get your money. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/15 "2012-02-26T02:36:27Z")
How is this more than a way of soliciting charitable donations (that is new and shiny for now, but will soon be as old as having a can of coins rattled in your face)? ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/16 "2012-02-26T03:52:21Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > How is this more than a way of soliciting charitable donations (that is new and shiny for now, but will soon be as old as having a can of coins rattled in your face)? It is closer to a pre-order system. If someone needs $10,000 to film a documentary, they need to sell x number of DVDs (or free downloads) to cover the costs. Kickstarter is a way to guarantee that there is sufficient demand for the product. There can also be special rewards such as lunch with the creator or signed copies of books. These are not donations because people get something in return. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/17 "2012-02-26T03:59:17Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > Did Shakespeare ever get a grant? Nope. He was funded by the crowds that came to see his plays. > > So I’m all for letting the people fund what they want to see. Sure, some of it may be crap or mediocre, but so is 95% of anything, anyway. I laughed way too hard at this. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/18 "2012-02-26T04:06:07Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > In countries outside of the US, that’s a good thing. Those countries that don’t have Hollywood tend not to make things that are “popular” and instead end up only getting funding if it’s “important” or “culturally significant” which nobody ends up seeing. Popular makes money. Money makes more projects. > > Also, Kickstarter is literally to “kickstart” a project. Ever after, ideally, they ought to then be self-perpetuating. Not really. You can’t foretell the appeal of something that’s different from the norm. There was no reason to think the Original Star Wars was going to be popular. Science fiction was never particularly popular, and were at a lull at the time. No one would have had much interest, especially if all they had was a description. And popular is not necessarily good; they’re independent variables. I’m sure Twlight would have had no problem with kick starter, but do you want all films to be of that nature? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/19 "2012-02-26T04:37:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > And popular is not necessarily good; they’re independent variables. I’m sure Twlight would have had no problem with kick starter, but do you want all films to be of that nature? That’s what’s happening despite Kickstarter. If anything, Kickstarter is allowing new and different ideas to develop, moving us away from this endless stream of vampire, toy-based, superhero, and Josh Hutcherson movies. I think you’re focusing on too small a part of what Crowdfunding does. What’s good about it is encouraging new blood and fresh ideas, even if within familiar and popular genres. How many times have we said “I can do better than that!” but don’t get an opportunity to prove it? Kickstarter gives those of us a fighting chance to see if we’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980/20 "2012-02-26T06:52:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Probably not the entire future, but a segment of it. > > Bad overall, since it means that projects get funded based upon how well they’re publicized, not the potential quality and talent. If zombie films are what people want, zombie films will be made this way, but that doesn’t help artists who don’t want to make zombie films. > > Substitute any subgenre or style for “zombie films” in the previous sentence. Ultimately it favors popularity over quality – and popularity contests tend to go to the tried and true. > > Big question: how many users to they have? If it’s a few hundred, $150 million is a pretty good way of funding. If it’s ten million, it’s pretty poor. Gee, it’s so terrible when people get to support what they like, instead of being spoon fed by some government agency or corporation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-arts-funding-than-the-nea/613980.md?page=2)