Kelly Kintner - Blog

Is there a way to make this LESS like a business?

One of the things I don’t like about the music business is the word business. Some folks get off on it. Wheeling, dealing, shaking hands, money flying around. I hate all that crap. However, I think people know that about me and use that knowledge to get what they want from me. So while I hate it, I try to practice at it. It is a skill like anything else, practice helps.

I am not here for you, sorry. That isn’t where I am at.

I just can’t count how many times I have been ripped off. From lousy jobs and ex-wives to slinging records and guitars, voting, to tuition… I can’t catch a break. I sometimes feel like my real purpose in life, looking from the outside in, is to be a battery for other humans. I have so much energy for projects, socially and creatively, I often run into folks who help me feel this way, powering them..not me. That is not a good feeling. And it happens a lot with folks who like “the music business.” What I am certain they’re after is “music benefits.”

I speak for myself. If you feel like I do, I got lucky.

What makes this difficult is I can’t speak for every musician. We are all in different places and we all hopefully like different things. You may not be sick and tired of older hoarder types who will not play a song with you without a prenuptial and lots of signatures. (I have been turned down for collaborations from artists who liked my songwriting but couldn’t do it because I didn’t have enough followers on Spotify.) They are wrong to be that way. You may not be tired of folks telling you how to run your creative life like a god damn spreadsheet when all you want to do is finger paint with friends, essentially. You may not be tired of the only folks in your life who want to talk to you (besides Keri) are the ones who want to give you advice or tell you what you are doing wrong. You might not be tired of listening parties and feigning excitement when you just want to play guitar and write words with buddies. Whatever the case, you might like Subvert.fm because it doesn’t really feel like “business.” That’s a perk from my spot. It feels like a club. That’s what I am looking for.

Do you see the herd?

Today is a Bandcamp Friday and it feels like a corral again. “Everybody go here.” I say, “no.” Simply give me a credit per quarter to use on any day I want that is significant to me or my fans. I do not want to make an email for fans the same day everyone else does. It’s bad enough we all feel we have to distribute the same. Having sales on the same day doesn’t benefit us. It benefits Bandcamp. Maybe it benefits who is getting their data. If you are doing what everyone does, you are following one person, typically. Did you know that? A sure-fire way to get lost in the crowd is to do everything the crowd does. Also, they have to have thought this. So who’s winning? It ain’t the musicians blowing up my inbox a few arbitrary Fridays a year.

That definition of insanity that really isn’t a definition of insanity.

I think there’s always better ways when I get really frustrated. I might have to learn things, make changes, or even buy something. But I don’t think it makes much sense to keep getting frustrated over and over. If that is your bag, this may not be for you.

Keep the AI on Bandcamp.

Subvert.fm is different so far. There’s moderation of content. Some may not like that. They do not allow AI art or music if they can detect it. I like it. I think it’s nice to have a distributor where the fleshies hang out. The aesthetic is different over there. It’s more like a craft mall than a vending machine in a break room. I love craft malls! I don’t care if our music is your break room. But I’d like the store you get it from to be more like a flea market, not like a chain box store. Bringing my wares to the co-op market is a better vibe for me than being a brand or owning a business. Subvert manages to do this by banning AI the best they’re able and actually being a co-op.

What is a co-op? Let’s ask google for something it can still do. Let’s grab a definition:

A co-op (short for cooperative) is a business, organization, or living arrangement owned, controlled, and operated for the mutual benefit of its members rather than outside investors. 

Common Meanings and Types of Co-ops

• Business / Worker Co-op: A company owned and managed by its employees or customers (such as a credit union, agricultural group, or grocery store) where decisions are made democratically—usually on a "one member, one vote" basis.
• Housing Co-op: A residential building or community where residents do not own their individual units directly; instead, they buy shares in a corporation that owns the property, granting them the right to live there and a vote in building management.
• Education (Co-op Program): A college or high school program where students alternate between traditional academic semesters and full-time, paid professional work experience in their field of study.
• Video Games: Short for cooperative gameplay, meaning a game mode where players work together as a team against computer-controlled opponents or challenges rather than competing against each other.

A bird in the hand..

Subvert.fm doesn’t do Bandcamp Fridays. It allows for ownership. It is built from the ground up with the musicians it serves in mind. I am not just a subvert music page, I am part owner. This is important to me. Every software developer, every site, every distribution platform, every business, it feels like, is not going to let me own anything, even if I have money. They rent it out. They make up days you’re supposed to be excited about that are every bit as meaningless as a national holiday, maybe less. They quit selling anything, for the most part. They want a subscription. This keeps costs up front low for the ‘comsumer’. Sounds like a good deal. But we can’t sell it when we don’t need it anymore. All the knowledge we learned just to use it doesn’t apply elsewhere. They get our monthly for life. What they’re after. And I am just talking about trying to give folks a song we made. Keri and I hope our song helps you in a tight spot someday. But we worry about you wanting us forever. We’re more of a “let’s hang out and play songs” type. There’s no “future” in that. It’s about right now.

Meanwhile, back at the craft mall.

I am writing this on a Bandcamp Friday after I have spent a few days uploading 9 or so releases of an album, EP, Singles on Subvert.fm. I made artwork without AI per their policy. A while back I deleted all of our album art when I learned more about AI and didn’t want to be a part of that. Now the process is photos, a friends’ art, I even bought one of them. I have also corrected them on Bandcamp as I do them. But on Bandcamp, the atmosphere is so different. If our song appears on a page of a bunch of Bandcamp releases from other artists, it’s obvious to us a lot of folks are using AI. With a subvert scan, we are back at the craft mall. I like that better.

Finding your brand is finding your belief.

Folks love their brand names. Finding a good brand is much like finding something to believe in. We all want that. But it doesn’t exist very often in reality. Big businesses suck. Subvert.fm could even suck. But as part owner, that would be partly my fault. So I am trying to help it along.

Ownership helps the owners. So why not make them everyone?

When folks are granted ownership or a sense of it in products or companies they use or like, they step up to the plate to keep it. They may even think of ways to help maintain it. By developing a community-owned platform, Subvert has my vote. For now. Things change, especially in software and distribution, I’ll try to keep you posted.

Kelly Kintner, Songwriter, Producer,

The Kintners, Djembe Funk (Subvert Links)