I came across this post on Mastodon:
The blog post is worth a read. Essentially though, Dave is making his music available for free and pointing people towards charities he supports to make a donation. I like this approach. I also like Michael Sheen, who has moved toward being a not-for-profit actor, but in a slightly different way.
I'm not sure either of these would work for me. I don't think enough people are aware of what I do or listen to my music to be influenced to donate to charities I support. And I'm definitely not independently wealthy and sought after enough to donate and earn it back.
I could pledge to donate any profit I make to charity and be transparent about who that is. I could also give up running my own platform and donate that money too. I could release my music under a Creative Commons license as well to spread the word. I wish there was an extra CC license that fit the bill a little better, but it is pretty close.
I have supported a number of charities in the past - I think I'd include some of these but also look around before settling, particularly for more local ones because I'm leaning toward the more local approach. These include:
- The Loveland Foundation (mental health, particularly for black women and girls)
- Chineke! Foundation (diversity in classical music)
- Amnesty International (global human rights)
- Nottingham Hospitals Charity (my local NHS Hospitals)
- Stimpunks (Mutual Aid and Human-Centered Learning for Neurodivergent and Disabled People)
I think the last two feel very right at the moment. I also think that charging for my music works for me in the sense that I think music should have value, people should pay for it and for musicians that can't afford to do what I do, they shouldn't have it devalued by me giving it away. (I can see the other side of the argument by the way, so I'm only saying it seems best for me, not for everyone, and I'm certainly not being critical of anyone who has a different thought or approach to me.)
I could also get round the feeling that I was wasting my contribution by spending on this website by committing to donating the same as the costs from the off. In effect I'd be donating 100% of the payments I get here plus a sum equal to my overheads. That feels about right too.
So a few mechanics to work out before I become a Social Enterprise, but that's the direction I'm heading in!!
I'd really love to know if anyone has thoughts or ideas around this as I'm working things out…