[PD] earning a living coding Pd

Hans-Christoph Steiner hans at eds.org
Thu Jan 29 22:40:19 CET 2004


On Thursday, Jan 29, 2004, at 16:30 America/New_York, derek holzer  
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> my two bytes:
>
> mark wrote:
>> I am not sure that even if you where to package PD that you would  
>> have an easy job making a living - you would be  competing head on  
>> with Cycling
>> '74 and I am not convinced that the market space is that big.
>
> The consumer/commercial music software market is very crowded right  
> now, and PD would need a *lot* of work to play in that field. Espc  
> judging from amount of high-quality documentation in Max/MSP, and the  
> fact that they *still* get an insane amount of really stupid RTFM  
> questions on their list just due to the fact that people pay for it,  
> and they also think that they pay for somebody to do their reading for  
> them.

This is where I think the Redhat/Cygwin model could work.  People who  
want support can pay for a neatly packaged piece of software that has a  
phone number that they can call and get someone to ask questions.  As  
the market for media art and the like grows, I think this will only  
become more and more feasible.

.hc


>> My approach would be the services model (see Jboss as one of the  
>> really
>> sucessful companies using this model). Basically build  
>> installations/projects etc.
>> based around PD.
>
>
> I, like many many others, really feel like trying to commodifiy  
> digital information is like selling sand in the Sahara. Whether it is  
> digital music, software code, text articles or any other digital  
> product of one's intellectual labor, I think the money-making emphasis  
> should be on customization and personal appearence rather than  
> mass-market product. I was recently speaking with a rather well-known  
> experimental laptop artist who confided that all of his money comes  
> from concerts and lectures. Any CD sales merely fund the production of  
> the next release.
>
> Several PD coders I know, to take the customization angle, have solid  
> careers as "ghost programmers" for composers. The software already  
> exists, but the composer is more interested in the idea than the  
> technical realization, and these "ghosts" often make absolutely  
> sublime work under these circumstances. Similar scenerios can be  
> envisioned for theatre or dance groups as well as composers and more  
> "traditional" musicians.
>
> On the commercial project level, PD [+ Linux!] still makes sense over  
> Max/MSP/Jitter/Nato/AuVi or whatever because there are no restrictive  
> licenses to deal with, and the type of hardware it can run on is also  
> less restrictive. If I am commissioned by somebody to make an  
> audiovisual installation using PD/GEM/PDP, for example, the overhead  
> costs will be substantially lower in terms of hardware and software  
> than with "those other" apps. Basic business sense tells us that lower  
> overhead = higher profit... But this is a well-known fact about free  
> software, which can be applied to any field of computer technology, so  
> I won't harp on it too long here.
>
> As for the personal-appearence tip, I myself don't exactly make a  
> living off PD [yet], but I do get to travel, meet people and even pick  
> up some cash now and again from workshops, installations and  
> performances. The workshops angle is very interesting. Every time I  
> turn around, there is somebody wanting some instruction in PD. If it  
> is a group or an institution, they can usually find some money for  
> this purpose. I even get to perform more often by putting a gig in the  
> rider for my workshops ;-) If this were just another commercial  
> software, I simply wouldn't do this. I often tell people that Cycling  
> '74 should pay them for every Max/MSP or Jitter workshop they do,  
> because those folks are the front line of C74's marketing campaign!
>
> Lastly, and just as importantly, I also try to support other  
> developers in the community whenever I can by offering them chances to  
> do workshops as well. In this way, we can all support each other  
> rather than try to squeeze nickles and dimes from each other's hard  
> work.

> Maybe this gets some heads turning?
> Best,
> Derek
>
> --  
> derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl
> ---Oblique Strategy # 130:
> "Question the heroic"
>
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"Information wants to be free."
                              -Stewart Brand





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