Talk to NPR, help A-Corps

Welcome to an exciting week in the world of A-Corps. Exciting because this week we got some press.

This is the social media age but capital-P Press still matters for a project like ours. We’re making something simultaneously ambitious and pretty boring (few go to sleep dreaming about corporate structures, but, alas, we do).

Press helps us spread the word. This week there were two great press hits for Artist Corporations, including one you’re personally invited to participate in.

Frieze on A-Corps

On Monday the Frieze Art Newspaper published a piece exploring our work with Artist Corporations.

Frieze’s Louis Bury writes:

“Artist Corporations, or A-Corps, [are] an oxymoronic-sounding initiative to pass a law in the US, potentially as early as 2026, that would establish a new corporate form that artists can adopt…

“The basic idea behind an A-Corp is that the founding owners can build equity if and when the value of their intellectual property grows, issuing shares to outside investors rather than selling off the full rights to their work. The A-Corp structure would also allow owners to access non-profit funding and enable multiple ownership groups to pool together and purchase benefits such as healthcare.”

The piece goes on to explore the potentials and potential limitations of A-Corps. Frieze is a very influential and important publication in the art world. Well worth a read.

TED Radio Hour

Earlier this month another great opportunity popped up: the TED Radio Hour on NPR wanted to do a segment on A-Corps as part of a larger show.

We sat down for a 90 minute interview. A few days later the show came back with an update: they now wanted to do a full hour on A-Corps by itself, and they wanted to talk to some artists and creators who are interested in it.

Turns out they literally mean it.

The TED Radio Hour is inviting any artist or creator to send them a voice memo answering four questions about your practice. Some of our answers will appear on the show.

The questions:

1. What is your first and last name and where are you located?

2. What is the creative craft, job, or pursuit you are trying to turn into a source of income?

3. What is your biggest pain point? What are the challenges to making this a full-time job or source of income? 

4. How do you think the legal structure of an A Corp, or Artist Corporation, would solve your challenges?

Instructions:

• Record a voice memo answering these questions
• Send the audio file to TEDRadioHour@npr.org with the subject line “Creator Economy Challenges”
• CC us: hello@artistcorporations.com
• The deadline is this Saturday, October 3

Let’s go

Like we said last week, this is a collective project not an individual one. But we didn’t expect NPR to be so on our wavelength just a few days later.

Step by step, y’all, we’re doing it. Always together.

Yancey