Episode 43: Brian Camelio and ArtistShare

Speaking of the Arts

Brian Camelio founded ArtistShare in 2001. The platform is now recognized as the Internets first fan-funding platform. ArtistShare enables fans to not only fund their favorite artist’s projects, but to truly become participants in the creative process. Brian was a visionary in that he saw the internet’s potential as a way to connect fans and artists directly. Since 2003, ArtistShare projects have received countless awards and accolades including 30 Grammy nominations and 10 Grammy award wins. In March of 2019, Brian was contacted by the Web Foundation, which was founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who is credited with helping to invent the internet. The Web Foundation was celebrating the Web’s 30th birthday and they complied a select timeline of events which included “the launch of ArtistShare which has had a significant contribution to the web.” I learned a lot in my conversation with Brian and hope you find this applicable to your own corner of the arts universe. In particular, we talk about Brian's unique approach to what he calls "fan relationship marketing." This is particularly relevant for artists and arts organizations right now as everyone is trying to make sense of how to use their data to better connect with fans and patrons. There is also a great marketing story about what Brian learned from Trey Anastasio, the guitarist from the widley popular group Phish. Thanks again to Brian for taking the time to speak with me. Please enjoy our conversation and thanks everyone for listening to Speaking of the Arts!