Amanda Palmer is widely known as “The Social Media Queen of Rock-N-Roll” for her constant and disarmingly intimate engagement with her fans via her blog, Tumblr, and Twitter (800,000+ followers), and has been at the vanguard of using both “direct to fan” and “pay what you want” (patronage) business models to build and run her business. In May of 2012 she made international news when she raised nearly $1.2 million pre-selling her new album, Theatre is Evil, along with related merchandise and “experiences” via Kickstarter. Theatre is Evil went on to debut in the “Billboard Top 10” when it was released on Sept. 11, 2012, and has been released in over 20 countries on her own label, 8ft records. To date her 2013 TED Talk, “The Art of Asking”, has been viewed more than 4 million times worldwide.
Amanda first came to prominence as one half of the internationally acclaimed punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. In 2008, she released her debut solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, produced by Ben Folds and accompanied by a fine art photography book featuring text by esteemed author Neil Gaiman (who Palmer has since married). After parting ways with her record label in 2010, she self-released two EPs: Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukelele and Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under, along with a musical theater-esque Evelyn Evelyn album and tour with Jason Webley.
Provocative, irreverent, controversial and wildly creative, Amanda Palmer will chat live with music industry critic and blogger Bob Lefsetz at #CMW2014 – Thursday, May 8, 2014 in Toronto.