Over the last few years, crowdfunding has really taken off in the independent music scene. As I continue to interact with musicians on a regular basis, I find a lot of them are taking the crowdfunding route of finding investment for their music production and promotion. I want to use this blog article to explore what crowdfunding is about and how you could use it in your music.  

Crowdfunding is simply the financing of projects and people by crowds. Although many musicians like Jill Sobule choose to approach crowdfunding on their own, there are others who choose to go through an established party like SellABand.com whose model has been gaining real traction since Spring 2007. 

The SellABand model is a great way for artists to get their music heard and make some money. The process is simple: you can sign up and upload your music. If people listen to it and like your music, they can pay a minimum of $10 and once you reach $50,000 USD, SellABand will provide people, guiding and studio to help you record and release your album. 

As for the people who pay money… they get their money back if you don’t reach $50k, and if you do, they’ll get a copy of your new album when it’s released. It’s a real win-win situation and so far, they’ve had a number of albums produced. 

SellABand isn’t the only of its kind - the more newer Strayform seem to be going well too.

But you don’t have to go through a ‘facilitation’ site like the above. You could choose to do it yourself. And if you do, you then have the freedom to create your own incentives for donation (apart from just a free CD) and you get to organize your own team to create your music and promotion. Whether that’s a good thing or bad, it’s debatable.

For going it on your own, let’s use Jill Sobule as an example. Jill’s crowdfunding took place a while ago and is complete. This was Jill’s incentive plan to raise funds and shows what she’d give back in return:

$10 - Unpolished Rock (but with potential) Level: A free digital download of the album, when it’s released.

$25 - Polished Rock Level: An advance copy of the CD. Weeks before the masses.

$50 - Pewter Level: An advance copy and a “Thank You” on the CD.

$100 - Copper Level: All the above, plus a T-shirt saying you’re a junior executive producer on the album.

$200 - Bronze Level: Free admission to my shows for 2008.

$250 - Silver Level: All the above, plus a membership to the “Secret Society Producer’s Club,” which means you’ll get a secret password to a website where I’ll post some rough tracks, or… something worthwhile.

$500 - Gold Level: This is where it gets good! At the end of my CD, I’ll do a fun instrumental track where I’ll mention your name and maybe rhyme with it. And if you don’t want your name used, you can give me a loved one’s instead. What a great gift!

$750 - Gold Doubloons Level: Exactly like the gold level, but you give me more money.

$1,000 - Platinum Level: How would you like to have a theme song written for you? I’ll have a song you can put on your answering machine and show off. Again, this could be a gift.

$2,500 - Emerald Level: Mentioned as an executive producer of the album — whoop-di-doo!

$5,000 — Diamond Level: I will come and do a house concert for you. Invite your friends, serve some drinks, bring me out and I sing. Actually, this level is a smart choice economically. I’ve played many house concerts where the host has charged his guests and made his money back. I’d go for this if I were you.

$10,000 - Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level: You get to come and sing on my CD. Don’t worry if you can’t sing - we can fix that on our end. Also, you can always play the cowbell.

 

In total, she collected $83, 529. Pretty impressive.

Before you start crowdfunding, it’s important you know what you’re going to do with the money you get in as much specificity and with as much clarity as possible.

You need to know the people who’ll help you create your music, produce it in the studio, mix and master. You should know the cost of CDs, print work, wrapping and any other packaging stuff. 

You should also know exactly how you plan to promote your music. This should be strategic rather than opportunistic. It’s a good idea to get this all planned so that your promoting flows and you know what you should be doing and when you should be doing it. Being clear and showing that to potential people who may fund you is a great way to build trust.

If you’re going to go with crowdfunding for your next music project, consider keeping a blog to journal your progress and learnings. Doing this will prove fruitful for you later as well as of help to other musicians.

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