2008 Woodie Awards
Buy a share, break the band
Web sites allow fans to help bands trying to record albums
Julia Conny
Arts | 4/6/08
Here's a thought: Instead of buying albums and concert tickets for your favorite bands and artists, why don't you really stake a claim in the fabric of their careers? That's the idea behind slicethepie.com and sellaband.com, two Web sites that allow fans to play investor and turn recording artists into mini-Internet phenomena.
The goal is to key into a band's online fanbase. With enough promotion and online popularity, a band can earn upwards of tens of thousands to record an album. Here's how it works: At SlicethePie, a "Backstage Pass" costs $10.
A pass includes a copy of the album when it's completed, "exclusive rights to buy contracts," which can be cashed in after two years, and a front seat when the artist is in the studio. Sellaband is almost identical in process. For $10, you can become a "Believer."
A band must reach $50,000 or 5,000 "Believers," to have enough money to record an album. When the album is completed and available to purchase, each "Believer" is given a small royalty percentage for each album sold. And just like those ritzy Wall Street shareholders, the more you invest, the more active you become in your band's career.
London-based band, The Alps, already cashed into the fan-funding from their rigorous $30,000 earnings on SlicethePie.
Their album, "Something I Might Regret," is the first by such ventures to hit the streets. Success of the album is still pending, but the first result has already been cleared: fan-funding is a pool of potential.
CD sales are dripping and the music industry is reworking their aged models; it's time to get a bit more inventive.
SlicethePie and Sellaband are definitely onto something. By giving the consumer a chance to fundraise and earn money from their own good-giving, these sites are harnessing a powerful resource of work-of-mouth promotion.
It's a remarkable deal for the bands. There are millions of MySpace music profiles and boundless amounts of bands trying to make their mark on the Internet infrastructure.
The goal is to key into a band's online fanbase. With enough promotion and online popularity, a band can earn upwards of tens of thousands to record an album. Here's how it works: At SlicethePie, a "Backstage Pass" costs $10.
A pass includes a copy of the album when it's completed, "exclusive rights to buy contracts," which can be cashed in after two years, and a front seat when the artist is in the studio. Sellaband is almost identical in process. For $10, you can become a "Believer."
A band must reach $50,000 or 5,000 "Believers," to have enough money to record an album. When the album is completed and available to purchase, each "Believer" is given a small royalty percentage for each album sold. And just like those ritzy Wall Street shareholders, the more you invest, the more active you become in your band's career.
London-based band, The Alps, already cashed into the fan-funding from their rigorous $30,000 earnings on SlicethePie.
Their album, "Something I Might Regret," is the first by such ventures to hit the streets. Success of the album is still pending, but the first result has already been cleared: fan-funding is a pool of potential.
CD sales are dripping and the music industry is reworking their aged models; it's time to get a bit more inventive.
SlicethePie and Sellaband are definitely onto something. By giving the consumer a chance to fundraise and earn money from their own good-giving, these sites are harnessing a powerful resource of work-of-mouth promotion.
It's a remarkable deal for the bands. There are millions of MySpace music profiles and boundless amounts of bands trying to make their mark on the Internet infrastructure.
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