Early career artists and the exchange of gifts on a crowdfunding platform

This article undertakes the analysis of crowdfunding as an activity combining aspects of the exchange of gifts and of commodity exchange. Based on empirical research – 30 interviews conducted with artists using the MegaTotal platform – we demonstrate that completing projects on that platform requires building relationships with a group of the most active users of the platform. Moreover, on the basis of the answers provided by contributors, we show that motives such as participation in the production of culture and deciding what kind of product will make its appearance on the market is what is important to them. Both parties are coupled by the mechanisms of gift exchange and the flow of money.