It is always a choice as to whether or not to fund/purchase/support art. I think many of us are uncomfortable with just asking; I know I am, but when I did crowdfund (and BTW-we called it "CD Pre-Orders"), I felt a tremendous responsibility to those that did Pre-Order because I also felt that by taking their $$, they deserved to be informed as to the progress of the project every step of the way.

Many of us do go into debt to create our art and for myself, putting that kind of money on a credit card isn't for me. That third CD cost about $30,000 and about $10,000 was raised in crowd funding. The rest came out of some mutual funds I had, and that turned out to be a decision that came out pretty well in the end. You can read my blog post about it HERE.

Yes, it's a lot of money, but I don't regret paying a single penny and I am extremely proud of that recording. The experience of working with such fantastic musicians and delivering an album that many people enjoyed, not to mention giving me a modest career boost, was worth it.

Debra Cowan