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 Post subject: New Business Model -- Getting Fans to Pay in AdvancePosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:15 am 
This would work only for musicians who already have "1000 True Fans": Quote: http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/jill_sobule_und.php Where Radiohead has now famously asked fans to pay what their latest CD is worth, Sobule has taken a slightly different route. In January, she asked fans on her website, Jill's Next Record, to donate money before she makes her next album. In telethon-like fashion, she asked fans to help her reach a goal of $75,000, which would cover studio time, producers, additional musicians and post-production. By March, she had reached her goal and raised over $80,000. Traditionally, a music label would pay for the recording upfront, but then get paid back from CD sales, and also get a large percentage of royalties. Instead of getting a share of sales, Sobule offers donors tiered prizes for different levels of donation, just like non-profits often do. For example, $10 gets you a digital download, $500 a mention on an instrumental track, $1000 your own theme song, and for $10,000 (which one fan paid) you get to sing on the record. Sobule assures us that post-production can fix being tone deaf. Maybe a good business model for Eisley to consider? |
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008 | Posts: 474 |
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:28 am
That's pretty much really awesome. Question though: I assume she had money left over for herself after production costs? _________________ "I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodsman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world." |
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Joined: 13 Apr 2007 | Posts: 1374 |
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:08 am
I don't know. The interesting thing was that she actually sold for $10,000 the right to have a singing part on the album. That seems a bit dangerous! In fact, I'd bet that a lot of fans would pay NOT to have some random person singing on the album. 
But that does bring up some ideas. For example, from past threads, I'd guess that some people would pay to have Chauntelle sing more often. |
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008 | Posts: 474 |
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:14 am
That's awesome if you already have a strong fanbase (which takes us right back to that "1,000 true fans" article you posted earlier!). I've heard about a few different people using that approach, though Sobule seems to take it a step further by involving donors in the creative process... Mentioning someone in a song or writing a theme song is a good marketing tactic, but I'd bet money that it doesn't make for a particularly stellar album--assuming she puts those tracks on the album and doesn't just send them to the donors. It would be weird to buy that album after its released and hear a bunch of normal-sounding tracks and then come upon "Dolores Schweitzer's Song" or something like that. 
I guess if there's a good kind of selling out, that would be it. _________________ INTELLECT AND ROMANCE OVER BRUTE FORCE AND CYNICISM Smokemonster |
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Joined: 24 Sep 2003 | Posts: 14510 | Location: Alone on an airplane, fallin' asleep against the windowpane...
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:20 am
Part of it is nice in theory, and it'd be good to keep as an option for any band not under contract already. I think it would be disgusting to hear donor names in songs. Maybe in tiny type under the lyrics in a booklet. Of course, it's useless for Eisley anyway until their contract expires. It still seems like this comes down to artists being at the mercy of the financiers. _________________ My photography:www.jamiemphoto.com You can't spell awesome without emo...backwards! -Julie definingawesome (11:44:11 PM): Eisley shivers our timbers |
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Joined: 15 Aug 2003 | Posts: 25184 | Location: East Texas
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:23 am
TheAntrider wrote: It still seems like this comes down to artists being at the mercy of the financiers. Yes. _________________ INTELLECT AND ROMANCE OVER BRUTE FORCE AND CYNICISM Smokemonster |
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Joined: 24 Sep 2003 | Posts: 14510 | Location: Alone on an airplane, fallin' asleep against the windowpane...
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:20 am
TheAntrider wrote: Part of it is nice in theory, and it'd be good to keep as an option for any band not under contract already. I think it would be disgusting to hear donor names in songs. Maybe in tiny type under the lyrics in a booklet. Of course, it's useless for Eisley anyway until their contract expires.. Too true! But I wonder if there are other things they could auction off somehow. Of course, I can tell from Boyd's latest post that he was uncomfortable with just having to raise the price of T-shirts, and I understand that it's only natural to feel that way about asking for money from people. But it really bothered me when I recently read this post by Kim, where she pointed out that they've "been working at this thing since 1998 for little or no pay. We all try to laugh when an ASCAP check arrives and we open them, and it will be for $89.00." That was just depressing. Bands that are as good as Eisley, and that have toured with big names, are still struggling? I would never have guessed. People that are doing good work should expect to be fairly compensated. So ever since reading that post I've been trying to think how bands like Eisley can find more ways to make a decent living. And not just Eisley, but all the other bands or musicians out there who are really good but who need a way to 1) find their potential fans and 2) make a living at it. |
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008 | Posts: 474 |
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:42 pm
Antrider, we are on the same page. Everything costs so much yet raising the prices means people have to choose to NOT see a different band they love or not go at all. I'm not sure what the solution is. I don't think most people in the music biz really have one either. |
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Joined: 27 Oct 2005 | Posts: 547 | Location: Northern UT
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:07 pm
How about this for fan-financing, the label Sellaband: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellaband I just today heard one band on Sellaband called Second Person. [trip hop with female vocals. Very Good!] _________________ "If those are my last words, I can do better." |
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Joined: 12 Dec 2004 | Posts: 414 | Location: houston
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:52 pm
eisley is worth the 10 bux to help them get into the studio. i'd do it. stuart i don't think there's really anything depressing about it; the fans lurrrvvee eisley and they're gonna keep them around. in fact, the only reason i haven't bought more eisley stuff or haven't gone to more concerts is because there just isn't enough to buy! they're just not releasing new music fast enough. i think the industry is still ridiculously conservative instead of aggressively adapting to what people want. what if eisley released a song every 2 days (or 1 song every couple of weeks) instead 12 new ones of 2 years? What if eisley covered "paint it black"? or released a cool new shirt? i would open my walet happily hand over the 12.99 and go to their concerts every chance i get. I'd buy a new eisley song every other day if i can afford it. in fact, i'd give up my coffee money a couple of days to get the new song or save up for a cool shirt. i think most fans here would do the same. instead of just making it simple and taking my money, the biz insists on inserting their asinine logic: "we gotta break them as stars and have them compete with mariah!" "we gotta spend millions marketing & hope they sell 1 million so they can recoup!" "we can't put out more than 1 cd per 2 or 3 years or else it will saturate the market!" "they have to have millions of fans!" "we have to compete with all the other entertainment industries!" "we gotta use sex to market it!" WB, don't make this complicated and just take my money you idiots! just my two cents. |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2007 | Posts: 671 | Location: Laughing City
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