A while back I asked the massive for advice on crowdfunding print costs for a book – which was gratefully received. Said book was duly funded and is currently with the printer. Trebles all round! 🙂
This time, I come for advice related to a musical trio I’ve been helping towards an album. Rather like my book, their product is essentially already in place (recorded, mixed, mastered, booklet designed, website near complete, distribution arranged). A set of circumstances has meant that their gigging has been far, far leaner this year than it has been for the previous 5 years, hence a cash flow blip.
So, they are resolved to use crowdfunding to cover the manufacturing cost, in time for release in November.
Here’s the thing, though… They’d prefer not to use Kickstarter if possible, because a couple of acts within their geographical area have over-used it, or used it in a way that seems a bit tawdry (I don’t know the details), and the chaps are worried about being tarnished by association.
The flipside of that, though, is that Kickstarter is well-known so it is a brand/platform people sort of instinctively trust.
So… can the massive recommend any other music-focused crowdfunding platforms that might be appropriate or come with personal recommendations? Or should the chaps just grit their teeth and use Kickstarter? Having used it once myself, I can certainly recommend it in terms of being user-friendly/easy to use.
Some friends have run Indiegogo campaigns to fund albums and tours, with gifts like handwritten lyrics, badges, fridge magnets, CD credits, signed CDs and so on. They’ve tied that to Facebook and Twitter appeals. I’m not sure whether, if you’re not already part of their networks, you’d get much visibility tho. One was chosen as ‘campaign of the week’, so maybe they do have an audience, like Kickstarter.
There’s Pledgemusic – https://www.pledgemusic.com/
It’s dedicated to music (but includes books) and has some pretty high profile names (you’ll want to get your name down for the Ten Years After 10 CD Box Set I reckon).
A band local to me ran a successful CD launch via this site. They did it partly to bring in money but also it helps with distribution and connected them directly to their audience. It was via this site that I got Bernie Marsden’s book.
This site lets bands either set funding targets (so if it’s not met, nothing is issued / no money taken) or as seems more common, it just takes orders for limited editions of CD, vinyl, lyric sheet, Tea towels etc.
Pledgemusic is a good ‘un.
Built on common sense and fairness (as far as I can tell) – no charge if targets aren’t reached, a range of product and “goodies” on offer.
Yup, its got the big names, and also the smaller, even uheard of, all vying for attention, and never let me down with either orders or discovering new stuff “I might like” (according to my Newsfeed).
TYA, Bart – I think not! I do actually own several TYA vinyl albums. I like Undead and Stonedhenge but they suffered from that Woodstock turbo-12-bar thing thereafter. Every now and then I’ll think, ‘I must be missing something…’ and go back to make sure – I even bought a 2CD Alvin Lee solo best of a year or two back – but generally I find that, their inspirational moments are spread very thinly across their ouevre. Buying 10 albums to get one unreleased disc is a bridge too far. Though I might see if I can find a cheap Undead on CD… 🙂
Bandcamp.
They only do music (or that’s all they target at me) and the model seems good. Friends have used it.
As a punter, you pay your money upfront (I think) and get the option to stream or download (in a variety of formats) either then or later on CD “release” date. Then a CD drops through the letterbox after a bit.
Is that how it works, Bob?
I’ve bought downloads there, but never any cd or vinyl. It seems geared to bands with music ready to issue, rather than those needing funds?
As an artist you can set the price and format and the punter simply chooses and pays. Simple. But the key think is to get out and do gigs and network like mad. It’s mostly about hard work sadly.
I get the feeling that that’s right for Bandcamp – I see it more as a kind of shop/shop window for cottage industry artists, whereas the likes of Pledge or Kickstarter are one-off ‘events’.
The band I’m assisting are road warriors normally but, as I said, a set of circumstances means they’ve only been able to play a handful of gigs this year, so it’s a matter of working around that in the short/medium term – the period within which the album will be released – until those circumstances change. They have a very strong Facebook following and are friendly with many other bands/artists in their milieu, so I suspect that that (on social media) will be the basis of their crowdfunding campaign.
That’s what I thought and kind of why I suggested Bandcamp – they have a fanbase, have done the recording/mixing/mastering and now just need to pay for the production run. I often buy in advance this way and I know a couple of acts who have gone down this route.
I see PledgeMusic and the like as a kind of longer-term artist sponsorship deal, usually covering recording costs as well. Maybe that’s just the artists I follow.
Hey Steve – yeah. That’s how it works. Bandcamp is by far the best way to sell music for the independent artist. You need to – as we do – use Spotify and iTunes etc, just for visibility, but our physical products are all sold through Bandcamp and we much prefer it when digital product is bought through it too, as they don’t scalp us.
We considered a pledge model for the album but it honestly felt a little presumptuous. Our fanbase is tiny (it’s not a big college town) and we couldn’t in any conscience ask them to bear the upfront cost of making the record.
My view is that if you’re an independent and unknown musician, you front the cost and take your lumps. Pledges seem to me to be for people who have a track record and a history, who have a fanbase worthy of the name. I love our band but we have one DIY album and one DIY EP under our belts, neither of which sold in any number, and we don’t gig that much, so we didn’t feel able to call in favours because nobody owes us any!
I hear what you say there, Bob and I understand about that approach being right for a rarely gigging band with a bit of spare cash. In this case, the band members have effectively paid for the product costs thus far but circumstances – and really, it would be unfair to list these – are such that their resources are gone and the date book almost empty until January. So, for their album to appear this year, they need to basically pre-sell some copies – and they have a fanbase that can certainly make that work. It’s been a psychological hurdle for one or two of them to look at crowdfunding, but they’ve now embraced the principle on the basis that it’s really just pre-selling copies with a couple of bells and whistle thrown in (T shirts, house concerts) if a few fans want to be generous.
That’s entirely fair enough 🙂
Thanks all – I’ll check out Indiegogo and Pledge – and I agree that Pledge often seems to have the ‘big names’, hence that air of trustability to the average punter (rightly or wrongly)…
Anyone on the AW used Pledge before?