Hej, hi, hello!
I just wanted to drop quick update for y’all that you may (or may not) have already seen on socials. But from today onward I’ve decided that TEMPLE will be completely free! I will still leave to option to pay $5/mo if you’d like, but it’s no longer needed to get the most out of the experience and is essentially just a support tier now. And if I’m going to be completely honest, if you were considering joining but haven’t, I’d rather you spend that $5 over on my Bandcamp to get your favorite songs or EP.
I decided to do this because, quite frankly, I don’t like putting stuff behind a paywall. I understand that I’m technically a product and that I need to monetize, etc. etc. but I didn’t start making music and videos to make money. I did it because I love it. And I continue to do it because I love it, even though financially it’s a zero return endeavor for me right now, and I’m perfectly ok with that.
Honestly, I always envisioned TEMPLE as a creative sanctuary and hub where I could drop whatever I’ve made whenever and however I wanted to. It could have a lot of context and story around it, or it could just be a video or piece of audio with zero story. It wouldn’t matter as long as I could share it with people. And to lock stuff off unless you pay feels like I’m doing the opposite of that. So I’m not going to do it anymore.
I don’t want to keep circling back to money, but since that is the topic at hand I might as well go on a little tangent because I was born to yap. So I will say it does feel scary because it goes against everything I’ve ever been told about how to monetize myself as a musician. But as an artist myself, I find myself spending the most on artists who don’t lock off their worlds. They share, or have shared, openly and freely. I think a great example is Imogen Heap. She shared so much over so many years, without charging a cent, and that’s what really drew me in. To hear how things were made or what gear she was using made everything I listened to so much more engaging to me. And that’s the journey I want to go on now.
Maybe my ideology will change in the future. Maybe it won’t. But for now, may you enjoy wandering though the ever expanding and evolving halls of TEMPLE.
xxx,
hux