Social music service SellaBand has won $5 million (Euros 3.5 million) in a Series A round from Prime Technology Ventures, also a Dutch company, reports TechCrunch UK. (SellaBand operates across Europe but is registered in Germany).
Music fans on SellaBand invest 10 dollars in an artist they want to back. If the artist gets to 5,000 ‘believers’ they get 50,000 dollars and then SellaBand steps in to get the band to record an album in a real studio. Each fan gets a limited edition CD. If the artist doesn’t reach $50,000, the fans can get their money back or give it to another artist. So far they’ve released albums from eighteen bands from eleven different countries. Last December SellaBand partnered with Amazon to offer a dedicated music store on Amazon.
We wrote early last year that this model seemed to be working quite well, and noted similar startups, with some being given a boost by Amazon - which seems to be deeply involved in changing the online music industry.
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Looks like someone is cashing in the Myspace band phenomenon. Great idea and execution.
I AM READY LOOKING FOR GOOD BOOKER. I WROTE MY NEW RELEASE,”HONORING MY FAMILY”, FOR A EUROPEAN AUDIENCEMY LIFE ON STAGE
Category: Writing and Poetry
WHEN I GO TO WORK I SEEK THE STAGE, BUT MOST MEN BUILD A PERSONAL CAGE
I WAKE FROM SLEEP WITH FLEETING FAME OF LIFE WHEN MANY KNOWS MY NAME
I TAKE THIS GIFT WITH GOD HAS BLESSED THUS SOULS THAT NEED I DO CARESS
I SPIN MY WEB OF MELODIES LIKE MONKS WHO SPEND THEIR LIVES ON KNEES
BETWEEN EARTH AND HEAVEN MUSIC BINDS SO MANY FIND HIS PIECE OF MIND
MY VOICE THE TOOL I KEEP IT SHARP AS ANGLES PLAY THEIR GOLDEN HARPS
INTANGABLE, EXCEPT ON SHEET BUT KNOWN TO MAN AN INNATE BEAT
THIS MUSIC PLACE WHERE SOME DO LIVE WE TRADE OUR LIVES SO WE MAY GIVE
A SACRIFICE OF LOVE AND HOME, A GYPSY’S LIFE AS MINSTRELS ROAM
SO TAKE CARE I SPEAK FOR MUSIC SEEKS AND MANY EYES DO KNOW THE BLEEK
THE PARASITES DO NEED TO FEED AND CAN CAUSE A WEAKEN SOUL TO BLEED
BUT OH THE LOVE FOR THIS RESOUNDS A MUSICIANS LIFE UPON THE MOUND
A.C. DARBY 2009
Curtis Darby
for more information:
http://www.curtisdarby and/or myspace.com/acdarby
I ASKING FOR HELP, BUT THAT IN NO WAY MEANS’ IAM WEAK OR NEEDY.
Wow, this is ingenious! Too bad the current music industry is not looking at this.
That’s a brilliant idea.
YES, I love this idea.. good job to who ever did it
I AM NEXT FOOLS!!
my site launches next month.
wow, good idea…
Nice entry, thanks :”)
Awesome idea! Very original, very impressive!
Sellaband is a great project. Just today I received my first cd from them
“We predicted early last year that this model seemed to be working quite well.”
You predicted that something seemed to be working quite well?
I predicted earlier today that the writing on TechCrunch seemed to be subpar.
congrats, sellaband!!!
hope that will be helpful for our industry.
@8: Hilarious. But it’s bad writing, not bad grammar. It doesn’t even make sense.
Wow, that’s a great idea.
-Please check out my website for ways to make moeny online
http://mikesmoneyclub.blogspot.com
so the fans who pitched in can get the limited edition CD for free. does it incur any additional charges like shipping?
it say’s
You are the record company
should it read.
You’re the record company
?
which is proper?
reading the comments above, i must say that i am wondering about how many people still do not know p2p financing sites like sellaband.
anyway: congratulations and good luck sellaband!
This is a great idea! What a good opportunity for bands to really get in the driver’s seat.
Sellaband is one of the better ideas in the digital music realm. It’s an innovative way for artists to remain artists and produce wonderful music in the process. Congrats on the funding!
Sellaband is an awesome idea and it will change the music industry. I’ve been on this site for awhile now. I’m glad it’s getting the publicity on TechCrunch. Everyone should check it out! There’s a new site out there called IndieGoGo that does crowdfunding for movies too.
It’s pretty much the same concept as Sellaband- filmmakers can post their projects online, ask fans to contribute money, and fans will get perks (like free DVDs or VIP passes) in return. IndieGoGo is to the movie industry what Sellaband is to the music industry- it will change Hollywood. Check it out– http://www.indiegogo.com.
what if people could buy shares in the bands at X$ per share. then as the bands got more popular the price/share increased? that’d be sweet.
http://collegemogul.com
German though, and not Dutch!
How does SellaBand address distribution and marketing? Bands sign with labels to make connections and move the press machine in their favour. Even $50,000 is nothing unless the right taste makers listen to and like the music. Unless SellaBand can figure out who those tastemakers are and get *them* to invest, I don’t see how this will take off.
I heard about IndieGoGo as well. Recently got one of their emails about the $10,000 fundraising success story for a movie called the Lilliput. It seems like crowdsourcing funds is starting to get pretty hot with companies like Prosper, Kiva, IndieGoGo, and Sellaband.
Congrats to all changing their industries one dollar at a time.
@10: I am a grammar snob but that is not the full extent of my services. You incorrectly inferred that my name was making a statement about the error in the post, which it was not.
Interesting, I never knew startups won venture capital. Was it a competition?
sorry guys, but this model will fail, destination : deadpool.
the problem with it is that when you’re a newcomer, chances that your music will be heard is close to zero. their UI is not helping displaying new entries, but instead the popular bands (the one people already invested in, sometimes over 6 months course). last time i logged in there was 11,000 bands. only a few are listened to, and from that, they signed only 18 bands. Less than 1 million dollars in a year. sorry guys, but the model will fail.
it would work if there was some sort of pre-screening like in american idol. otherwise you have no chance being heard.
Agree w/previous. 18 albums in 1.5 years, strange convoluted trickledown biz model that divides a small (currently 18 piece) pie into even smaller pieces. On top of this enough current (amie st) and unsuccessful (weedshare) models trying to get a piece of the market for music that no one’s heard of.
On top of this, enough vc money invested to make anyone feel bloated.
Most new unnoticed music gains traction, contracts and sales these days from these kinds of avenues:
1.Myspace etc.
2.YouTube
3.The Blogosphere
4.music recc engines
4. Discovery in an iTunes ad.
The commonality is that none rely primarily on music sales for revenue.
Small startups offering a widely available commodity, regardless of the sales gimmick, don’t have alot of chance…
The key is that the music/artists have been funded by the fans, who each receive a limited edition cd for every ‘part’ they invested in (and that included postage), as well as shares of the ad revenue and regular cd sales in the shops.
Free mp3’s for everyone to taste: http://www.sellaband.com/shop/
Including from my wife, Mandyleigh Storm (Fire & Snow), who recorded with Mick Glossop (producer of Van Morrison, Frank Zappa etc) and musicians from Van Morrison, Frank Zappa and Steeleye Span.
Ultimately success rests on the marketing/promotion of those recorded artists. You could have the greatest album in the world, but if no-one hears about it……
Music chosen by fans is much better than music chosen by the accountants at trad record labels.
btw any money invested can be refunded at any time before the artist reaches the target. Only when they reach the target is the money locked in.
MagNet is coming….
I’m actually doing research for a project at MIT on the digital music industry. We’re giving away $5 in free Amie Street credit for everyone who completes the survey. Please click the link below.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s......GHNg_3d_3d
Dutch site tweakers.net reports that Sellaband now wants to “cross the ocean” to the States. I wonder if that will also mean moving to the valley.
ps: As i understand it, Sellaband is founded by Dutch people, but registered in Germany because its main investor was German.
Don’t know if the main investors were German, but they definitely registered in Germany for some legal reasons (cheaper maybe? more robust laws?).
This sounds like a good idea on paper. But it really seems like a scam. Let me see, “fans” put up 50,000 dollars and then the website dictates to whom and where the money gets distributed. You CANT choose whom you record it with, you have to choose from their producers. You cant choose who gets to manufacture the CD, they seem to do that for you. Not only that, but nowhere in that 50,000 is there a budget for marketing. Plus THEY keep your masters for a year! It sounds to me like a very bad record deal. Be smart and raise the money yourself and YOU decide on what to spend it on.
I find it hard to see why some people are calling it a “scam”. The terms and conditions are very clearly set out for both artists and their ‘believers’ and can be readily compared against other options such as a DIY approach or getting a ‘traditional’ recording contract.
Personally I think that Sellaband is a reasonably good idea, fairly well executed, but perhaps not a good ‘business’ idea.
I worry about the amount of revenue that can be raised by Sellaband artist CD sales, online music sales, licencing, advertising and interest on believer funds being held in escrow. For example, the amount of money raised from believers to date is very low and the interest on the uncommitted funds seems nowhere near enough to even pay for the Sellaband infrastructure overheads.
SAB assigns an A/R rep who works with the band to stay within the budget. It is the band who decides on producer, studio, etc.
Bad record deal??????? SAB owns the masters for 12 months compare that to how long your record label owns the masters (forever unless you buy them from the label) Granted in the Indie Label arena there are more lenient contracts, though I have yet to hear of one where the band gets their masters back I am sure one may exist.
There are good reasons to DIY without SAB, and there are great reasons to do it with Sellaband. In the end it boils down to 1 simple rule of todays music industry.
EACH AND EVERY ARTISTS NEEDS TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES AND CUSTOMIZE BASED ON THOSE DECISIONS WHAT DIRECTION TO TAKE THEIR CAREER.
With soooooo many options out there it really is a job just making those customization decisions. Is web 3.0 right for you (3d worlds like second life)? Do you feel your fans deserve the option of an affiliate program while spreading the word of your music? Through a site like Sellaband do your fans deserve to help finance your next album? and those are only 3 questions to think about.