Jack Conte, Patreon, And The Plight Of The Creative Class

The DIY musician’s membership platform set out to provide a livelihood for artists on the internet. Is it more than just a band-aid for a broken system?

- Jonah Weiner 

IT’S 11.16 AM ON A SATURDAY, AND JACK CONTE – BRIGHT-EYED, BUSHY-BEARDED – IS ZIGZAGGING AROUND A CRAMPED LOS ANGELES RECORDING STUDIO, DODGING EIGHT MUSICIANS, TWO CAMERAMEN, A SOUND ENGINEER, AND A PROFUSION OF INSTRUMENTS, CORDS, AND MIC STANDS. “Let’s do it!” he cries out, sounding martial and chipper at once. Conte’s been here since 9.00 am, leading everyone through a packed day of recording. When the clock strikes 11.17 am and the doing-it has yet to commence, he cries out again, “Let’s do it, let’s do it, let’s go!”

Together with his wife, the singer-songwriter Nataly Dawn, Conte is one half of a band called Pomplamoose. They've spent 11 years together building an online following, mostly on the strength of their idiosyncratic, hyper- proficient pop covers – Lady Gaga's “Telephone” featuring eight-part harmonies, a xylophone, and a toy piano (9.5 million YouTube views); Beyoncé's “Single Ladies” arranged for upright piano, jazz bass, and an old Polaroid camera repurposed as a percussion instrument (11 million views). When they started out, Conte worked on the band full-time; he and Dawn would usually play all the instruments themselves. They also did all the arranging, filming, and editing. Making one video could take a week.