The new Medicis

摘要

KATHRYN ROSE faced a dilemma typical for a jobbing composer when she started out on her career. Hide her choral compositions away and show them only to those willing to pay for them? Or share her work with the world and earn a pittance? It was a choice between retaining control or giving access, explains Ms Rose, a Canadian who settled in London two decades ago: "But not both." Ms Rose chose to give access. All her work is available for free under a creative commons licence, which allows people to use it with attribution. Yet money comes in anyway. On the website PayPal, donors can decide whether to give Ms Rose a quaver (£4 per month, or $5), a crotchet (£8), or a minim (£16). Kofi, an online tip jar, allows people to chip in more. Some 30 people support her on Patreon, a patronage website. "Exposure is not always worthwhile," says Ms Rose. "But exposure plus getting paid anyway? I won't complain."