Warner Music Goes To Kickstarter

If you've never read music insider Bob Lefsetz' newsletter, then you really should. Love him or hate him (he gets equal parts of both), he comes up with both an interesting global perspective of the music world as well as some breaking news or commentary on breaking news.

One of the bigger stories that he's let us in on is the fact that Warner Music has just tied in with Kickstarter to offer a recording contract to any act that raises $100,000 or more, or if they get 1,000 people or more to contribute.

First of all, I don't know why anyone would want such a deal under those circumstances, since if you've raised that amount or have that many fans willing to support you, you probably don't need a major label, at least under their terms.

What this offer does go to show you is how well an old adage really applies. It goes something like this - "A record label doesn't sign you for your music, they sign you for your audience." This means that they generally don't give a crap about you or your songs, but if you have a line around the block waiting to see you when you gig, they're interested big time.

Another Lefsetz piece of news is that Warners has also hired Amanda Palmer to teach their acts how to self-promote. I don't know much about her music, but I do know that she's great at getting people to passionately care about her, so this is probably a good thing. Will her methods translate to other artists? I don't think we can be sure, since she has such a strong personality, which is part of her allure with her fans.

If all this is true (and there's no reason to think it's not), you have to hand it to Warners for at least trying to stay relevant and trying something new. It's long been held that they've been the major label leaders when it came to understanding our new digital world, now they're trying harder than ever to prove it.

PLEASE NOTE: This news might be a product of April Fools day. I'm still checking out the validity. It's not like Lefsetz to do this sort of thing, but you never know.

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