Startup incubators are run of the mill these days, giving innovators the tools and finances to help them grow an idea. From the US' Y Combinator to London-based Entrepreneur First, each one functions on a similar premise: take intelligent, driven people with (or without) a good idea, give them money and help and they can succeed. The question is, can it be done for musicians?
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At the Red Bull Music Academy, that model is being tested. The academy, launched in 1998 in Berlin, provides accommodation, studio space, lectures, access to equipment, food and evening entertainment for specially selected up-and-coming artists from around the world. What this means in real terms is a summer camp-style experience for the participants, who stay up all night in the 24-hour studios and wake up the next day in time for the compulsory mid-day lecture.
It’s striking how unique the programme is. There are few workshops set up to give resources to artists for free, let alone on a Red Bull budget. The company wouldn’t provide WIRED with a figure for the project's annual budget, but considering it included refurbishing an entire building in downtown Montreal, plus the expenses of the participants, press, performers and staff, we can imagine it’s eye-watering.
Pumping money into art is a commendable cause for a brand that could be blowing the same sum on advertising and marketing. This year's 70 artists - who vary in age, nationality and genre - are keenly aware of the opportunity they’ve been handed. “There’s everything here you could possibly want," Kučka, an Australian musician, told WIRED. “It’s surreal.” Of course, it’s not out of altruism - Red Bull is known for its brand work, with events from Dizzy Rascal’s Boy in Da Corner come back tour to its intensive sports facilityused by people like Serena Williams. Red Bull might be just an energy drink to many, but its brand reaches into many interesting corners of the cultural world.
This is evident at the academy in Montreal. It certainly is surreal: wandering through the beautifully designed building and its ten individual studio spaces - and drinking the constant supply of coffee (any artist’s dream) - it seems like an incredible place to create. Red Bull provides all the meals, and every day there are two lectures from inspiring artists - from Young Thug’s producer Alex Tumay to throat singer Tanya Taggat. The lectures are the only part of the three and a half week course that is compulsory: everything else is up to the participant.
But does it help them create music? Speaking to the musicians, there was a lot of conversation around collaboration. This expectation is entirely unregulated, and not in any way expected by Red Bull, so it seems to become a social exercise for the group. Participants work their way through everyone’s talents and genres, coordinating and collaborating in the finite studio space and time that they have.
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Inevitably, this creates pressure. Whilst no artist was under any assumption that they needed to produce something (a stark difference for your regular startup incubator model) the personal pressure to do so was evident. Emma-Jean Thackray, a British participant and jazz artist, explained her frustration around this. “One thing I found difficult was the collaboration element. I’ve worked before on a very individual basis, so collaboration is hard." She continued. "Getting in studios is also hard. People are so focused that they don’t realise that no one else has had a chance.” She did add, however, that it’s not all about producing a piece of work. “The studios are there if you want to use them, they’re not the main focus,” she said. “They just want you to get out of it what you want to get out of it.”
It’s a peculiar opportunity for musicians, and art definitely can’t be controlled and produced in the way that business ideas or VC-friendly startups can. Even if not a single new track came out as a result of the academy, there’s no doubt that this model of giving time, space, and money to creativity, can have a significant impact on artists. If Red Bull ever thinks of doing one for writers and journalists, WIRED is definitely interested.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
