YouTube Needs a “Donate” Button

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The Internet pretty much forces musicians into poverty; if consumers are given the chance to pay for quality play, that could change.

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Yesterday, I stumbled upon Presenting Princess Shaw, a documentary about a YouTube singer who is “discovered” by remix artist Kutiman.

I didn’t know who Princess Shaw was, and I’d never heard of Kutiman either. So for my fellow friends in the dark, here’s a quick intro:

• “Princess Shaw” is the stage name adopted by 39-year old aspiring singer Samantha Montgomery, who works at a retirement home by night, and posts original songs a capella to YouTube by day.

• Kutiman is an Israeli artist who began a site called Thru-you, wherein he samples musical clips from amateur YouTube artists, mashes them together, and creates original works of composition. Please check out the site. You can go ahead and thank me later.

With all the drawbacks of distraction and privacy loss the Internet is regularly derided for (not unfairly either), it is soulfully good to see the visionary hope offered by an artist like Kutiman.

He takes low-quality, low-budget, YouTube clips and turns them into something magnificent.

That’s a gift.

And it got me to thinking.

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Ever since I read Andrew Keen’s book The Internet Is Not the Answer, I’ve been ever tempted to adopt his dismal take on our increasingly connected world. There’s the simple economic reality that while technology has created a few jobs, it has decimated so many others.

In fact, coincidentally, the music industry is kind of where Keen begins. As in, the total beating the whole enterprise has suffered at the hands of technology.

Seen a Virgin megastore lately? How about an independent music store? They’re more obsolete and than a white rhino.

That’s a lot of lost jobs. Jobs at record and cd manufacturers. Jobs for creative and design teams. Jobs for local employees at the store itself. Jobs doing A&R (Artist & Repertoire), wherein record label employees were hired to go out and actually try to find talent. Like, out on the street, in actual clubs.

Can you imagine?

Now, everything – all of it – is done online. And if you ask a musician, they’ll tell you that the artist/label relationship is as much about what the singer/songwriter brings in terms of already-established fan base as it is about how the record label will help promote the artist herself.

The problem has manifold roots, but one of them is undoubtedly that artists have been persuaded to offer their goods for free.

Pandora doesn’t really pay the artists at all.

Spotify pays fractions of pennies on the dollar.

And of course, you can find any song you want and stream it free on YouTube.

It occurred to me, while watching Presenting Princess Shaw, that while Montgomery’s haunting and gorgeous song “Give It Up” now has over 2 ½ million views on YouTube, is that translating into anything monetary?

In other words: is the way Kutiman and Princess Shaw impact so many people enabling them to make a living? You know. So they can keep doing more of these superb feats of musical ingenuity? (Kibbutz-living probably negates that factor for Kutiman, but most artists aren’t communally-minded Israelis…).

So here is my idea: Why not a “Donate” button on YouTube?

When you hear something like “Give It Up,” and you love it, and you want to honor that, you can click right there and pay the artist something. Like putting a buck in the busker’s upturned hat.

How easy would this be? I mean, it could link up to PayPal or another similar company, and take a person less than 60 seconds to recognize that true, honest, risk-taking musicality means something. That we honor artistry as a society, that we honor it as individuals. That we’re not entitled to the hard work of others who sing and play guitar and know how to edit and produce.

And here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be restricted to music. If there’s someone who does THE BEST cat videos, why not donate to them too? If it’s bringing you joy and laughter – if you think it deserves some encouragement – then why not give that kitty seer some cashola to keep it up?

I’m not even sure I like the word “Donate,” it’s just the only word I can think of that entails  preserving the awesomeness of accessing just about anything free, as well the desire of thoughtful consumers to give back to the artists/film makers/remixers/producers they really connect with.

It would be one way to combat the rise of joblessness created by endlessly “free” content due to the Internet.

And it would be a meaningful reminder that we do value art and beauty. And I think we value it more when it “costs” us something too.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Photo: Getty Images

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