SellaBand

Just recently I've been involving myself in a little revolution known as Sellaband.
The idea is simple - throw the current Record Label model out of the window, and apply the business-world rules of Shareholding to the artistic world of Music.

For $10 you can buy a share in any of the artists registered on the site. Once the band has sold 5,000 of their shares, they then get a recording deal on the Sellaband label. Their 50k budget is spent on top-name producers, studios, A&R men and managers, who will ensure a high quality finished product. Each share-holder gets a limited edition copy of the album - one for each share they own - which the shareholders can then sell for $11, netting them a dollar instant return. On top of that, any further profits generated from download sales, sales of normal editions via the website, and advertising revenue generated from the site itself, is split equally between Sellaband, the artist, and the shareholders.

Now initially I was skeptical about the whole thing. It seems like a lot of money for very little return - but the more I looked into it, the more I could see that the risk-factor is extremely low. None of your money is actually spent until the moment one of your bands hits their 50k goal - and at any point before then, you are free to re-invest your shares in any band you want, or even sell up completely and get your money back (minus a small transaction fee). In simple terms, it means that you've got nothing to lose if these bands never make it big. You either get a CD at the end of it from a band you love (which for $10 is a bargain), or you keep your money. Sounds good to me!

I stumbled across Sellaband a good few months ago, after I saw it being advertising on some random MySpace friend requesters. At that time, it was little more than a pipe dream and a novel way of getting publicity. One year on since its inception, however, and already 3 bands have recorded and released their album to great fanfare, and another 5 are currently in the studio.

If you love your music, I would highly recommend checking out the talent available, and investing a little bit of cash if you're so inclined. I've already dumped my money in, and although I know it is going to take a long time for my artists to reach their goal, I'm confident in the ones I've picked. I'll be sure to share the best ones with you at some point in the future ;)

If you want to see who I've invested in, my profile is here.

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