Ben Allison is the ultimate DIY jazz artist, blending jazz, rock, folk, and 20th century classical music into sonically compelling tapestries.  

His 11 albums have garnered considerable critical acclaim, and he has toured the world extensively with his groups The Ben Allison Band, Think Free, The Easy Way Trio, Peace Pipe, and Medicine Wheel.

For his latest album with Think Free, Ben decided to try a new approach to funding it: crowdsourcing.  

His campaign ends December 28th, and he is closing in on his funding goal.

We dig into all kinds of topics like:

• the many ways in which making a living as an independent artist has changed
• The actual business model of streaming music companies
• tapping into the base of "super-fans"
• recording at Maggie's Farm in Pennsylvania
• how mixing has become an addiction to Ben
• the potential alienation of technology
• his role as President of the Board of the New York chapter of the Recording Academy

It was a great conversation--Ben's a great guy and an interesting artist, and I can't wait to see how the album turns out!

Links to Check Out:

• Ben's website
• Ben’s YouTube monetization experiment
• Takedown Notices and Malware
• Kevin Kelly 1000 True Fans
• Zen and the Art of Mixing by Eric Sarafin (Mixerman)
• The Stars Look Very Different Today (Ben’s previous album)

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