corduroy colab
Corduroy Colab is an artist incubator that facilitates talent-discovery and creates new funding opportunities for artists early on in their careers. The program supports a cohort of artists in a series of collaborative multimedia releases over the course of a year-long engagement.
After receiving a startup grant from Techalliance and The City of London, we are excited to kick off our first cohort in London, Ontario, Canada’s first UNESCO city of Music.
Meet the Artists
imogen wasse
Willem James Cowan is a folk rock artist backed by a trio of musicians known as “the Friends of the Cove”. His songwriting overflows with lyrics, supported by one too many chords. Clever melodies paired with thoughtful poetry aim to connect with the listener in an unexpected but compelling fashion.
andrés garzon
Willem James Cowan is a folk rock artist backed by a trio of musicians known as “the Friends of the Cove”. His songwriting overflows with lyrics, supported by one too many chords. Clever melodies paired with thoughtful poetry aim to connect with the listener in an unexpected but compelling fashion.
willem james cowan
Willem James Cowan is a folk rock artist backed by a trio of musicians known as “the Friends of the Cove”. His songwriting overflows with lyrics, supported by one too many chords. Clever melodies paired with thoughtful poetry aim to connect with the listener in an unexpected but compelling fashion.
Evolving the Model for Funding the Arts
Before diving deeper into the mission of Corduroy Colab, it helps to look at some of the current models for funding the arts.
the independent artist
As tools necessary to create and distribute music became more accessible, the independent artist model was born. This promised more control and upside for the creative. However digital media platforms don’t fund the creation of work.
Artists have to amass a following on their own, while handling everything from recording, to promotion and touring. Only after they’ve built a following can they figure out how to monetize their work and even then the profits generated are often very low.
record labels
In the past, The record label model supported artists with low-risk loans and a network of industry professionals. Artists could focus on their strengths and let experts take care of the rest. Labels were great at discovering talent, but maintained strong control and ownership over an artist's career for profit.
Additionally, much of the funding avenues that labels relied on to generate profit went away with the rise of the internet, which made it difficult for labels to take risks investing in innovative artforms.
corduroy colab
Colab explores a middle ground between these models. We pay artists an advance against earnings for several collaborative works. The incubator doesn’t seek ownership over the artist's career but will profit from releases put out under its banner over the course of a year-long engagement.
We aim to create greater autonomy for our artists and encourage them to work on project’s outside of the scope of Colab. The program itself collaborates with external partners, artists and artisans in an effort to pool various communities and maximise the reach and impact.
Additionally, rather than waiting until a work is completed to share it with our community, we want to let them in on the creative process, through a number of unique, smaller releases and intimate events. With this approach, the program is able to create more opportunities for fans to support the arts, so that funds can be reinvested into future projects.
A Vision for a Fairer Creative Economy
There is a clear consensus amidst those working in creative industries that the current economic models for supporting the arts are broken. The industry needs new methods for funding artistic works in the creation stage, rather than the consumption stage. While Colab doesn’t solve all of this, we believe it will be an important piece of the puzzle in moving us towards a more equitable creative economy.
stay connected
Want to stay in the loop with everything that Season 1 of Corduroy Colab has in store? Be sure to follow us at the links below & you'll be the first to know about future releases, upcoming events & more!