photo by Sebastian Kim

As I stream The xx on MySpace — for the fifth delicious time today — let’s talk about music and money.

Clearly I’m a little late to the party, but I’ve just been reading about YouTube’s new revenue sharing program. Have you heard about it? Musicians Wanted is a partner plan for independent artists — and the key word is indie. You need to own the global rights to publish and distribute your own video content.

Here’s how it works:

Artists earn monthly revenue from both “relevant” ads overlaid on their original videos and banner ads that run beside the viewer window. They also earn dividends when their YouTube videos are embedded on external websites, such as music blogs (a huge selling point for popular artists), and bands can add tour dates and links-to-purchase for albums and merchandise.

Interested artists have to apply, and they’re evaluated on factors including video popularity, number of channel subscribers, and their involvement in the YouTube community at large. Videos also have to meet quality requirements (i.e. no loopy screen savers paired with an audio track). What’s especially interesting is that YouTube employees will choose which acts are accepted, essentially turning them into digital music scouts.

The first band to join up? OK Go, which left EMI / Capitol earlier this year to start its own label — and since everyone and their grandmother watched the addictive treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again,” they’ve definitely got the audience to make it work.

OK Go also got tongues wagging for using State Farm Insurance money to make its “This Too Shall Pass” video. A toy truck with a tiny State Farm logo on its door gets the action rolling and at the end, the screen reads: “OK Go thanks State Farm for making this video possible.”

Whether they’re savvy or sell-outs is your call — the arrangement has been heavily debated in both business and music circles — but the band has demonstrated that it’s willing to get cozy with mainstream brands in order to keep producing quirky, highly viral videos.

As for the YouTube program, the mere idea is another notch in the vinyl for indie artists. Major label representation is not the promised land of the past, and as more and more musicians choose to control their own careers, viable revenue models will continue to evolve and expand. The program’s other upside is its potential to spotlight innovative visual artists and bands that apply real creativity to their videos. After all, the more people view the vids, the more cash flows into deserving pockets.

OK Go

Ready for a treat on a dreary fall afternoon? Steer yourself over here and dive into the moody, gloomy, dirty glamour of Anton Corbijn. He’s the legendary Dutch-born photographer and film director who has shot some of the world’s most iconic musical acts, including U2, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Iggy Pop, Bjork, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Nirvana and R.E.M.

Depeche Mode was my first major band crush. Their edgy electro-synth sounds offered the perfect soundtrack for my teenage angst. But even then, I was awestruck by Corbijn’s videos for singles including Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again, Behind the Wheel, and World in My Eyes. Music videos were just emerging as an art form, and MTV was almost garishly colourful — reflecting the bouncy, mainstream pop of the era. But Corbijn created fantasy worlds that were gritty, grainy and dark. His camera captured beauty edged with ugliness and more than a hint of subversion

The men in Corbijn’s viewfinder are rock outlaws, all distressed leather and louche attitude. The women walk dogs in stilettos and skintight dresses with Eurotrash indifference. They function as props — lounging in lingerie on couches and pouting in doorways, nonchalantly aware that they’re being filmed right into history.

Corbijn’s images were a massive departure from the fresh-scrubbed acts of the ’80s, and he continues to produce some of the most breathtaking photography around. If you haven’t seen his 2007 film, Control, about Ian Curtis and the rise of Joy Division, you need to book the night off right now. I mean now.

More than anything, the man is seriously prolific. Corbijn shot Echo and the Bunnymen in 1984 and still found time to tart up The Killers in 2008. He’s done stacks of books, major gallery exhibits, and I can only imgaine what new projects are rattling around in his creative mind.

Surfing through his website, I’m reminded that a creative life piles up day by day, project by project. When you stay on course, stay true to your influences, and work hard to hone your craft, the results can be extraordinary.

Johnny Marr in 2007

“…all the greats did it from the outside. And that’s a very, very inspiring thing.”

In a 2008 article for the Independent, Johnny Marr explored the roots of his illustrious music career – first as a hungry Manchester teenager queuing up in the snow to hear Slaughter and the Dogs and T-Rex, then as the guitarist and driving creative force behind The Smiths. In subsequent years, he’s refused to be pinned down, working as a sessional musician and collaborator for top acts including The Pretenders, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads, The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs.

Marr explained how the most innovative music always bursts in from the edges – from talented outsiders who are utterly driven to tell their stories and make new sounds. They write and perform for their tribe, and for the sheer thrill of it.

“The Beatles are the most obvious example – rejected by Decca for their four-piece guitar line-up. No one invented Bob Marley, no one invented the Sex Pistols or Kurt Cobain or Jay-Z – they all invented themselves and were rejected. They were outsiders and they were necessary.”

Marr’s philosophy isn’t new, but it might be the most compelling argument for pure, unfettered creativity that I’ve heard in a long while. He’s also one of my most revered musical icons, so I could be a little biased on that front.

Marr is no longer an outsider. Any industry exec would take his calls in a heartbeat. But, that’s not the point. Art, writing, fashion, design, cooking and music that shakes your very core will always originate at the periphery. It’s brave and different. It might be driven by ideas or emotions or just sheer beauty. It doesn’t matter.

But what happens when the show is over, the manuscript is finished or the dishes are cleared? How do creative people pay the bills? Where do you draw the line between selling your work and selling out – or is that a retro, rusty dilemma?

Inspired Outsiders digs down into the business of creativity. The Internet has spawned a wealth of online resources, tools and markets that have changed the game for artists of every stripe. Punk bands from Winnipeg can now make a decent living without major label backing. Photographers can sell limited edition prints online while accepting only the assignments that make them sweat.

It’s now possible to remain independent without getting stuck. And even when outsiders become insiders – attracting fans, opportunities, and maybe some serious money – they can still stay hungry and, most importantly, inspired.

How? That’s what this blog is all about. Thanks for reading along.