How artists can (finally) get paid in the digital age | Jack Conte

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: NAN-KUN WU

Hi everyone.

嗨，大家好。

So, I'm going to take us back to 2007.

我要帶大家回到 2007 年，

I'd just spent about six months working on album

那時我花了六個月在一張專輯上，

that I'd poured my heart and my soul into,

我把我的心力全部投入進去了。

and it was getting about three plays per day on Myspace at the time,

當時在 Myspace 上， 它每天也就被點播約 3 次。

and I was getting more and more depressed when I started noticing these other people

當我注意到其他自彈自唱的人

把視頻放到一個叫 YouTube 的新網站上，

who were playing guitar and singing

and putting videos on this new site called YouTube,

能得到 300,000 次播放，

and they were getting 300,000 views.

我就更沮喪了。

So I decided I'm going to start making some Youtube videos.

所以我決定我要開始 做一些 YouTube 影片。

And one day they featured a video of my band on the homepage,

有一天，他們在首頁 主打一支我的樂團的影片，

which was amazing -- we got a bunch of new fans.

這很不可思議… 我們得到了一些新粉絲。

We also got a bunch of people

我們也得到了一些人…

who, I guess, just didn't really like the music or something --

我猜可能就不是 那麼愛音樂之類的人…。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It's OK because people started coming to our shows,

那不打緊，因為有人開始 會來看我們的表演了，

and we started touring,

我們開始巡迴演出，

and we came out with a record.

且我們發了一張唱片。

And when I checked our bank account balance

在第一個月的 iTunes 給付後，

after our first monthly iTunes payout,

我去查我們的帳戶餘額，

we had 22,000 bucks in it,

我們有 $22,000 進帳，

which was amazing because at the time I was living at my dad's house,

這很不可思議，因為當時 我還住在我爸爸家裡，

trying to make a living as a musician by uploading videos to the internet

身為音樂家，但要試圖通過 將視頻上傳到網路來謀生，

which literally zero people respected in 2009 --

在 2009 年，沒有一個人 敬重這謀生方式，

even the people who were uploading videos to the internet.

即使本身會上傳影片 到網路上的人也一樣。

And so for the next four years,

接下來四年，

I uploaded more and more videos to the Internet,

我上傳了更多視頻到網路上，

and they got better and better,

狀況越來越好，

and we made enough money through brand deals

通過與品牌合作、廣告 以及 iTunes 銷售，

and commercials and iTunes sales

to buy a house.

我們賺了足夠買一間房子的錢。

And we built a recording studio.

我們打造了一間錄音室。

But there was one big problem:

但有一個很大的問題：

making money as a creative person in 2013 was super weird.

在 2013 年，以創意人的身份 來賺錢是超詭異的事。

First of all, the business models were changing all the time.

首先，商業模型不斷在變。

So our 58,000 dollars of annual iTunes download income

我們一年從 iTunes 下載 賺到 $58,000 的收入，

was about to be replaced by about 6,000 dollars of streaming income.

很快就會被 $6,000 的 串流收入給取代。

Steams paid less than downloads.

串流的收入低於下載。

And then as more and more creators started popping up online,

接著，越來越多有創作者 開始出現在網路上，

there was just more competition for these five-figure brand deals

這些五位數金額的品牌合作 有越來越多競爭者，

that had kept the band afloat for years.

而我們的樂團多年來 都靠這些交易在維生的。

And to top it all off, our videos themselves --

而最關鍵的，我們的影片本身──

the creative stuff that we made that our fans loved and appreciated --

我們的粉絲喜愛且欣賞的創意作品──

that were actually contributing value to the world,

其實是在為世界貢獻價值，

those videos were generating almost zero dollars of income for us.

這些影片幾乎不會 為我們產生任何收入。

This is an actual snapshot of my YouTube dashboard

這是我 YouTube 儀表板的真實截圖，

from a 28-day period

呈現出 28 天的狀況，

that shows one million views

有一百萬次觀看，

and 166 dollars of ad earnings for those views.

帶來 $166 的廣告收入。

The whole machine in 2013

在 2013 年，這整個

that took art online and outputted money

將藝術放上網並產出金錢的機制

was totally nonfunctional.

完全沒有用。

It doesn't matter if you're a newspaper,

不論你是報紙，

or an institution,

或是機構，

or an independent creator.

或是獨立創作者，都一樣。

A monthly web comic with 20,000 monthly readers --

網路漫畫，如果一個月 有 20,000 個讀者，

20,000 monthly readers --

每月 20,000 個讀者，

gets paid a couple hundred bucks in ad revenue.

廣告收入是幾百元。

This is 20,000 people.

這是 20,000 人。

Like, in what world is this not enough?

這還不夠？這算什麼世界啊！

I don't understand.

我不了解。

What systems have we built where this is insufficient

我們建立了什麼系統

造成這都還不足以讓一個人維生？

for a person to make a living?

So, I actually have a theory about this.

對這點，我有個理論。

I think it's been a weird 100 years.

我認為這一百年很詭異。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

About 100 years ago,

大約一百年前，

humans figured out how to record sound onto a wax cylinder.

人類研究出如何 把聲音錄在蠟筒上。

That was the beginning of the phonograph.

那是留聲機的開始。

Right around the same time,

大約同時期我們研究出

we figured out how to record light onto a piece of photographic paper,

如何把光記錄到感光紙上，

賽璐珞──電影和電視的開始。

celluloid -- the beginning of film and television.

史上第一次，你能把藝術 儲存在某樣東西上了，

For the first time, you could store art on a thing,

which was amazing.

這很不可思議。

Art used to be completely ephemeral,

過去，藝術是短暫的，

so if you missed the symphony, you just didn't get to hear the orchestra.

如果你錯過交響音樂會， 你就聽不到交響樂團演出了。

But now, for the first time,

現在，史上第一次，

you could store the orchestra's performance on a physical object,

你可以把交響樂團的演出 儲存在一個實體物件上，

and like, listen to it later,

留著之後再聽，

which was amazing.

這很不可思議。

It was so amazing in fact,

事實上，它不可思議到

that for the next 100 years, between 1900 and 2000,

在接下來的一百年， 1900 年到 2000 年間，

humans built just billions and billions of dollars of infrastructure

人類花了無數的金錢在基礎建設上，

to essentially help artists do two things.

來協助藝術家做兩件事。

First, put their art on a thing,

第一，把他們的藝術 放在一樣東西上，

and second, get that thing around the world

第二，把那東西送到世界各地

to the people who wanted the art.

想要那藝術的人手上。

So, so much industry is devoted to these two problems.

有好多的產業都 投入解決這兩個問題。

Oh my gosh, there are trucking companies,

我的天，有貨運公司、

and brick-and-mortar and marketing firms, and CD jewel case manufacturers,

實體行銷公司， 以及 CD 盒製造商，

all devoted to these two problems.

全都投入解決這兩個問題。

And then we all know what happened.

接著，我們都知道發生了什麼事。

10 years ago, the internet matures

十年前，網路成熟，

and we get Spotify and Facebook and YouTube

有了 Spotify、臉書、YouTube、

and iTunes and Google search,

iTunes、Google 搜尋，

and a hundred years of infrastructure

而一百年的基礎建設

and supply chains and distribution systems

以及供應鏈、配送系統、

and monetization schemes

變現方案，

are completely bypassed --

都完全被繞過了…

in a decade.

只花了十年。

After 100 years of designing these things,

花了一百年設計這些東西後，

it's no wonder that it's just totally broken for creative people right now.

難怪對創意人而言它根本完全不行，

It's no wonder that the monetization part of the chain doesn't work

難怪這條鏈中變現的部份沒用，

given this new context.

以這新的情境為前提就是如此。

But what gets me super excited to be a creator right now,

但現在身為創作者， 能活在現在並身為一位創意人，

to be alive today and be a creative person right now,

之所以會讓我超興奮的原因，

is realizing that we're only 10 years into figuring out this new machine --

是因為了解到，我們才剛開始 了解這個新的機制十年的時間，

to figuring out the next 100 years of infrastructure for our creators.

還要為未來一百年的 創作者建立基礎建設。

And you can tell we're only 10 years in.

你可以看得出來我們才開始十年。

There's a lot of trial and error, some really good ideas forming,

有很多的嘗試和錯誤， 也形成了一些很好的點子，

a lot of experimentation.

還有很多的實驗。

We're figuring out what works and what doesn't.

我們在找出什麼可行、 什麼不可行。

Like Twitch streamers. Who's heard of Twitch?

就像 Twitch 串流平台。 有誰聽過 Twitch？

Twitch streamers are making three to five thousand bucks a month

Twitch 的實況主一個月 能靠提供玩遊戲的內容

streaming gaming content.

賺 $3,000 ~ $5,000。

The big ones are making over 100,000 dollars a year.

有名的直播主一年還能賺到 超過 $100,000。

There's a site called YouNow,

有個網站叫 YouNow，

it's an app.

它是個 app（應用程式），

It allows musicians and vloggers to get paid in digital goods from fans.

它讓音樂家和影音部落客 能以數位商品從粉絲身上賺取報酬。

So, I'm also working on the problem.

所以我也在努力解決這個問題。

Four years ago I started a company called Patreon

四年前我和朋友成立了一間公司，

with a friend of mine.

叫 Patreon。

We're 80 people now working on this problem.

我們現在有 80 個人 在解決這個問題。

It's basically a membership platform

基本上，它是個會籍平台，

that makes it really easy for creators to get paid --

它讓創作者很容易能賺到錢，

every month from their fans to earn a living.

每個月從粉絲身上賺錢來維生。

For a creator, it's like having a salary for being a creative person.

對創作者來說，這就像是 去做一個創作者的工作來領薪水。

And this is one of our creators.

這是我們的創作者之一，

They're called "Kinda Funny."

他們叫做「有點好笑」。

They have about 220,000 subscribers on YouTube.

他們在 YouTube 約有 220,000 個訂戶。

And when they upload a video,

當他們上傳一個影片，

it gets somewhere around 15,000 views to 100,000 views.

觀看數會有 15,000 人次 到 100,000 人次。

I want you to check yourselves right now.

我想請大家停下來想想，

I think when we hear numbers like that, when we hear "15,000 views,"

我想，當我們聽到 「15,000 次觀看」，

and we see content like this,

且我們看到像這樣的內容，

we just snap categorize it as being not as legitimate

我們會立即把它歸類成

不像你在廣播聽到的晨間節目

as a morning show that you'd hear on the radio

或是在 NBC 看到的脫口秀那麼正統。

or a talk show that you'd see on NBC or something

But when "Kinda Funny" launched on Patreon,

但「有點好笑」 在 Patreon 上開張時，

within a few weeks, they were making 31,000 dollars per month

才幾個星期，他們這個節目 就能有 $31,000的月收入

for this show.

It took off so fast that they decided to expand their programming

它起飛的速度很快， 讓他們決定要擴展節目編排，

and add new shows,

並增加新的節目。

and now they launched a second Patreon page --

現在他們的第二個 Patreon 網頁也開張了──

they're making an additional 21,000 dollars per month.

他們的月收入再添 $21,000。

And they're scaling what's essentially becoming a media company,

他們已經爬到基本上可以算是 一間媒體公司的層級了，

financing the whole thing through membership.

一切的經費來自會籍。

OK, here's another example.

好，這是另一個例子。

This is Derek Bodner,

這是德瑞克巴德納，

a sports journalist who used to write for Philadelphia Magazine

他是運動記者， 過去為費城雜誌寫文章，

until a few months ago when the magazine cut out all sports coverage.

但幾個月前，該雜誌 裁掉了整個運動版。

Now he writes articles and publishes them on his own website --

現在他在他自己的網站上 撰寫與發佈文章──

他仍在報導運動，但自己當老闆。

he's still covering sports, but for himself.

And he's making 4,800 bucks a month from 1,700 patrons,

1,700 個會員讓他月入 $4,800，

financing it through membership.

他的網站靠會籍收入維生。

This is Crash Course --

這是「速成班」──

free educational content for the world.

提供免費教育內容給全世界。

This show is actually on the PBS digital network --

這個節目在 PBS網路上播出，

29,000 dollars per month.

月收入 $29,000。

This is a duo sailing around the world,

這兩人組航行全世界，

getting paid every month for documenting their travels

靠他們的旅行記錄來賺月收入，

from 1,400 patrons.

有 1,400 個會員。

This is a podcast, "Chapo Trap House", making --

這是播客「Chapo 陷阱屋」，賺…

actually, since I screenshotted this,

其實，從我截這張圖之後，

they're making an additional 2,000 dollars per month,

他們的月入收又再添 $2,000 ，

so they're now making 56,000 dollars per month for their podcast.

所以他們現在從播客 賺的月收入是 $56,000。

And Patreon's not the only one working on the problem.

Patreon 不是唯一 在解決這個問題的平台。

Even Google's starting to work on this.

連 Google 也開始涉入。

A couple years ago, they launched Fan Funding;

幾年前，他們推出「粉絲資助」；

more recently, they launched Super Chat

更近期，他們推出「超級留言」，

as a way for creators to monetize live streaming.

讓創作者能把直播串流轉為金錢。

Newspapers are starting to experiment with membership.

報紙開始實驗會員制，

New York Times has a membership program;

紐約時報有會員專案；

The Guardian has over 200,000 paying subscribers

衛報的會員專案有 200,000 名

to its membership program.

付費訂戶。

There's this bubbling soup of ideas and experiments

這就像是點子與實驗的滾湯，

and progress right now,

現在正在進展中，

and it's pointing in the direction of getting creators paid.

它所指向的方向， 就是讓創作者賺到錢。

And it's working.

且它是有用的。

It's not, like, perfect yet,

它尚未完美，

but it's really working.

但它真的有用。

So, Patreon has over 50,000 creators on the platform making salaries --

所以，現在有 50,000 個創作者 在 Patreon 平台上賺薪水──

getting paid every month for putting art online,

把藝術放上網來賺取月收入，

for being a creative person.

以創意人的身份來賺錢。

The next hundred years of infrastructure is on the way

接下來一百年的基礎建設 已經在進行中了，

and it's going to be different this time because of this --

這次會不一樣，因為這個──

because of the direct connection between the person who makes the thing

因為製作東西的人和喜歡東西的人

and the person who likes the thing.

之間有著直接連結。

About seven or eight years ago,

約七、八年前，

I went to a cocktail party.

我去了一個雞尾酒派對。

This is when the band had hit our first machine,

當時樂團初次用到賺錢機制，

so things were really cranking.

一切在曲折進行中。

We had just made about 400,000 dollars in one year

我們剛賺了 $400,000 的年收入，

through iTunes sales and brand deals and stuff like that.

來自 iTunes 業績、品牌合作等。

And this guy comes up to me and says,

有個人走向我，說：

"Hey, Jack, what do you do?"

「嘿，傑克，你是做什麼的？」

I said, "I'm a musician."

我說：「我是音樂家。」

And he just sobered up immediately,

他馬上清醒過來，

and he stuck out his hand,

他伸出手，

put a hand on my shoulder,

另一手放到我肩上，

and in a real earnest, very nice voice he was like,

用非常誠摯的聲音說：

"I hope you make it someday."

「我希望你有一天能成功。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And ...

且…

I have so many moments like that logged in my memory.

我記憶中有好多這樣的時刻。

I just cringe thinking of that.

想到這點就讓我畏縮。

It's so embarrassing to just not feel valued as a creative person.

身為創意人卻不被重視，好難堪。

But as a species,

但身為一個物種，

we are leaving that cocktail party behind.

我們把那雞尾酒派對拋諸腦後。

We're leaving that culture,

我們要離開那文化，

we're out of there.

我們要離開那兒。

We're going to get so good at paying creators,

我們將會非常擅長付錢給創作者，

within 10 years,

在十年內，

kids graduating high school and college are going to think of being a creator

從高中大學畢業的孩子 將會認為成為創作者

as just being an option --

也會是一個選項──

I could be a doctor, I could be a lawyer,

我可以當醫生、我可以當律師、

I could be a podcaster, I could have a web comic.

我可以當播客、我可以做網路漫畫。

It's just going to be something you can do.

它將會是一件你能做的事。

We're figuring it out.

我們正在想辦法。

It's going to be a viable and sustainable and respected profession.

這將會是個能維生 且受到敬重的行業。

Creators are going to come out the other end of this weird 100 years,

創作者將會從這詭異的 一百年的另一端出來，

this century-long journey,

這百年之旅當中，

with an awesome new machine.

會有個很棒的新機制。

And they're going to be paid, and they're going to be valued.

他們將會賺錢，他們將會被重視。

Thanks, everybody.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

I think it went pretty well.

我想，還挺順利的。

I want artists who saw that to not give up --

我希望看到這段演說的藝術家不要放棄──

to know that we're getting there.

知道我們正在朝那兒邁進。

It's not there yet,

還沒有到達，

but in a couple years,

但在幾年後，

there will be so many systems and tools for them

將會有很多系統和工具幫助他們

to just make a living online,

能在網路上賺錢謀生，

and if they've got a podcast that's starting to take off,

如果他們的播客開始起飛，

but they're not able to make money on it yet,

卻還沒能賺錢，

that's happening

現在就是這樣，

and they're going to be paid.

他們將會賺到錢的。

It's happening.

這正在發生中了。