TED演讲：请求的艺术(6)

 　　We sign, and there's all this hype leading up to our next record.  签约之后，公司举办了大量的宣传活动为我们的新唱片造势。

　　It comes out and it sells about 25,000 copies in the first few weeks, and the label¹ considers this a failure. 唱片推出之后仅仅几周就卖出两万五千张，但是我们的厂牌认为这是一张失败的专辑。

　　I was like, "25,000, isn't that a lot?" 我当时就说，“两万五千张，不是很多吗？”

　　They said, "No, the sales are going down. It's a failure." And they walk off. 他们说，“不，销量在下降。这是一张失败的唱片。”随后他们就抛弃了我们。

　　Right at this same time, I'm signing and hugging after a gig, and a guy comes up to me and hands me a $10 bill,  与此同时，一次演唱会结束之后，我为歌迷签名与他们拥抱的时候一个人走上前来给了我一张10美元的纸币，

　　he says, "I'm sorry, I burned your CD from a friend." 他说：“不好意思，我从朋友那里翻录了你的CD。”

　　"But I read your blog, I know you hate your label. I just want you to have this money." “不过我读了你的博客，我知道你不喜欢你的厂牌。我希望你收下这笔钱。”

　　And this starts happening all the time. I become the hat after my own gigs,  这样的事情现在常常发生。我们的演唱会结束之后，我变成了那个收集钱币的帽子，

　　but I have to physically² stand there and take the help from people,  我就站在那里，接受人们的帮助，

　　and unlike³ the guy in the opening band, I've actually had a lot of practice standing⁴ there. Thank you. 和之前开场乐队的那个成员不同，我在这方面拥有丰富的经验。谢谢。

　　And this is the moment I decide I'm just going to give away my music for free online whenever possible,  那一刻我决定我要抓住可能的机会，在网上免费共享我的音乐，

　　so it's like Metallica over here, Napster, bad;  当时Metallica正在声讨Napster；

　　Amanda Palmer over here, and I'm going to encourage torrenting, downloading, sharing, but I'm going to ask for help, because I saw it work on the street.  而我Amanda Palmer却在唱反调，鼓励BT、下载、分享，但是我会请求人们的帮助，因为这种方式在街头是行得通的。

　　So I fought my way off my label, and for my next project with my new band, the Grand⁵ Theft⁶ Orchestra⁷, I turned to crowdfunding.  所以我和厂牌斗争，结束了合作，并与我的乐队the Grand Theft Orchestra，我开始在人群中融资。

　　And I fell into those thousands of connections that I'd made, and I asked my crowd to catch me.  我纵身一跃，跳入我建立的成千上万的联系之中，我请求人群接住我。

　　And the goal was 100,000 dollars.  我的目标是十万美元。

　　My fans backed me at nearly 1.2 million, which was the biggest music crowdfunding project to date. 我的歌迷们为我提供了一百二十万，这是历史上规模最大的音乐人群募资。

1 label   

n.卷标，标签，标记；称号，绰号；v.贴标签于，把…称为

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• He has been given the label of "playboy".他被起了个“花花公子”的绰号。

2 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

3 unlike   

adj.不同的，不相似的；prep.不像，和...不同

参考例句：

• She's very unlike her mother.她一点也不像她母亲。
• It's unlike him to be late;he's usually on time.他不是会迟到的那种人，他通常很准时。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 grand   

adj.豪华的，宏伟的，壮丽的，主要的，重大的；n.(美俚)一千美元

参考例句：

• The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
• Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来，我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。

6 theft   

n.盗窃，盗窃罪，赃物

参考例句：

• She served two years in prison for theft.她因偷窃服了两年刑。
• Theft or murder is a crime.盗窃或谋杀都是犯罪行为。

7 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。