Amanda Palmer TED talk

Amanda Palmer certainly did not accept the normal business of music as something she was willing to do.  Most musicians seem to get popular, sign with a major recording company, and then get rich off of the albums they sell with the company.  Amanda tried to make her living this way, but in the end, it wasn’t for her.  I think it is interesting how her recording company thought that selling twenty-five thousand albums was a disappointment, and then she went and was able to get twenty-five thousand people to donate over a million dollars to her as a result of her giving away her music for free.  She said in her talk that many people were condemning her for promoting illegally downloading her songs, but in the end, she was more successful with that practice than she was trying the traditional way of selling music.  It would be interesting to see how well other artists would do if they abandoned their recording companies and opted to sell music the way that Amada Palmer does.  Essentially Amanda Palmer reshaped the business of music by relying more on the fans donating her money because they illegally downloaded her music rather than relying on the ability to sign with a major recording company. 

Aside from redefining the business of music, Amanda Palmer also was able to change the way that artists and fans interact on a day-to-day basis.  Usually successful artists tend to look down at their fans as lesser beings.  They never have any true interaction with them other than the occasional autograph signing, which I think is almost just another chance for the artist to look down at the fans that are begging for their signature.  Palmer changed this by truly interacting with her fans on a normal, human level.  She talked about she spends a lot of times asking fans on twitter if she can use their piano to practice on or even spend the night with them.  This is something that many successful artists would never consider doing.  Not only does it take an incredibly brave person to venture into a strangers house, but most stars would think that they wouldn’t get a seconds sleep because they would be constantly bothered by the residents of the house.  Palmer definitely is able to interact with her fans in such a way that it makes the fans feel much more equal than fans of other famous artists.  This interaction with her fans might have also helped her gain popularity.  I think that people might listen to her music because she stayed at their house one night, and they might discover they like it and they tell others about her music, which increases the number of fans she has.    

Amanda Palmer’s style as a TED speaker seems like it is the same as her interactions with her fans, casual.  She wore casual clothes, spoke in a casual tone, and seemed to make the audience feel a lot more casual than some other speakers.  When she was speaking she definitely made her topic sound important, she just wasn’t as dramatic about it like some of the other speakers we’ve seen were.  She also used a little bit of humor throughout the talk in order to keep the crowd relaxed.  She was able to make fun of herself so that crowd was able to stay loose during her talk.  She definitely was passionate about her subject of being able to ask for help more often, but she stayed loose about it the whole time.  She spoke at a normal pace, but sometimes when she got to important parts of her speech in seemed to me as if she slowed her pace a tiny bit in order to emphasize the importance.  I think that her ability to stay casual during her speech helped the audience relax and enjoy the content of what she had to say.  Out of all the TED talks we have watched, I think that this is my least favorite.  It wasn’t necessarily bad, it’s just that the others we watched seemed to have much more important topics with much more captivating speakers.  I also think that what she is asking us to do is rather strange.  She is essentially giving away music and then asking for money from her fans.  She is making millions off dong this and at the same time, there are people on the street with nothing begging for money.  The people giving her money are probably the same people who give nothing to the people who actually need the money much more than Amanda Palmer does.