Trends in Crowdfunding for Arts and Culture

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Abstract
This chapter examines the evolution of reward-based crowdfunding in arts and culture, focusing on insights from an extensive dataset of Kickstarter projects. It reveals distinct category-level shifts, such as the growing dominance of tabletop games and the decline of once-popular film and music projects. Meanwhile, funding has concentrated towards a smaller number of “superstar” campaigns. The findings underscore crowdfunding’s role as a market research tool, fostering project learning and creator reputational effects rather than acting solely as a funding source. Understanding crowdfunding requires appreciating its interaction with upstream and downstream markets, including how it supports different production stages depending on industry. This highlights crowdfunding’s evolving contribution to creators’ downstream financing and market successes. Upstream factors, like creators’ labour markets and alternative financing sources, also shape crowdfunding engagement and outcomes. Ultimately, the chapter argues that crowdfunding’s primary value lies in informational advantages it brings to creators, funders, and adjacent markets.

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