How to build a unicorn-fan relationship with distributed work

September 23rd, 2010 by Tommaso De Benetti

When I talk about my passion for unicorns, most people do not know how to react. Some laugh as if I am joking. Others look confused, and back away from me a bit.

“Lots of people are into it” I say, walking after them, trying to justify my love with a description of Robot Unicorn Attack, an indie game with hundreds of thousands of fans.

Incredibly, some people remain sceptical. For them (if they are still in earshot) I bring out the big guns: the adventures of Charlie the Unicorn. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of this series are, in my humble, pro-unicorn opinion, among the most hilarious animations on YouTube. With their perverted nonsense, these episodes have attracted nearly 100 million viewers. (Move over Tea-Party!) You can now even buy handsome unicorn merchandise, or as I have, download delightful Charlie-flavored ringtones (to clarify the scale of this achievement, this is the first ringtone I have ever bought).

Distributing the creative workload
If there is one problem with the Charlie series, it is that there is not enough of it. The long wait between episodes have led strung-out, addicted fans to create imitations of the original. Although the results in this case are not brilliant, this fan-based, creative crowdsourcing is something we here at Microtask find very interesting.

More successful examples of such fan-motivated crowdsourcing abound in the music world. As we mentioned in a previous post, both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have pioneered this collaboration between artists and their fans.

Continuing this experimentation, Radiohead have recently released a free-to-download video of an entire concert made from “crowdshot footage”. This followed the release by Nine Inch Nails of a free HD version of the band’s tour Lights in the Sky, also made from “distributed filming”.

Star Wars Uncut: A new hope?
Other examples of fan-made crowdsourced content abound. Star Wars: Uncut, is a project where Star Wars fans from all over the world (and, it would seem, galaxies far, far away) were asked to re-enact 15 seconds of the saga. The segments with the most votes were then put together to form a complete, hilarious remake of the movie. (If you’ve seen Jack Black’s movie Be Kind, Rewind or any “sweded movies”, you will have an idea of what to expect).

Crowdfunding is another area where the relationship between artists and fans can be one of collaboration and respect rather than the traditional one-way, idol-driven dictatorships. For example are sites like IOU Music, shaping new landscapes for artists of the future.

At a time when technology is blurring the lines between creators and consumers, there has never been a better time to get involved in creative activity that you are interested in. Fans with no musical ability may never write a great song, but one day I hope they will be able to assist or influence its production, in a way that is beneficial for both them and the artists. Until that day comes, I’ll stick to just watching unicorns.

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http://www.facebook.com/kimmo.nurmisto Kimmo Nurmisto

Don’t worry you’re not alone! Charlie the Unicorn clips are awesome

It’s cool that you used music production as an example of creating community engagement! This is actually what AudioDraft is building at the moment. We are creating an open environment around music production which allows anyone to participate in it, not only by contributing by composing something but also simply by giving feedback and ideas.

We see great potential in keeping the crowdsourcing process open from an engagement marketing point of view. Our crowd sourcing contests work not only as a great way for the company to outsource their audio needs but as an efficient marketing campaign as itself.

Also the collaboration platform we offer to our community works as a great tool for artists to get their fans involved for example to the recording process of a new album. Artists can “blog” their progress with the help of the platform and involve their fans in to the process. The platform is still under heavy development but we have cools things bubbling under the surface!

“Disclaimer: Writer is one of the founders and the CMO of AudioDraft”
http://www.parliamodivideogiochi.it Tommaso De Benetti

Hi Kimmo, thanks for your reply. I’ll check out AudioDraft asap!
Sami Sundell

NIN example is one of the more advanced examples of fan-created content, but there are plenty of smaller scale efforts: just to name one, Raptori recently held a remix competition on their Facebook page.

Distributed filming, on the other hand, was preceded by “distributed stills” and “distributed recording”, if you want to name it like that; some artists have been using fan photos in their album covers, and of course the bootlegging industry has been blooming since the invention of transportable recording devices. Some artists have later taken best of those recordings and released them as official live albums.

Of course, the difference between those earlier day instances and the current artistic crowdsourcing is that nowadays the distribution of work and content is relatively easy and fast, so the efforts can be more ambitious. It’s also more focused: artists are actively searching for ways to co-operate with the fans, instead of fans acting independently.

When it comes to crowdfunding, I remain skeptic. On the whole, people don’t seem to be willing to pay even when they get immediate, concrete rewards. It seems too idealistic to think that people would in any significant way be willing to pay just so support their favorite artists. I hope IOU proves me wrong.
http://twitter.com/quietrevolution Rob MacArthur

Well belated, but thanks for the mention (I am one of the folks behind IOUmusic).

Thought I would also share my new favorite Youtube animation from last year in case you have not seen it: Llamas in Hats
No unicorns, but same dark humor as it is made by the same folks (so maybe you should hate it because it took away unicorn time….but I hope not).

Cheers and thanks again.