Peter Gabriel Crowdsources A New "Sledgehammer"

I'm not sure why crowdsourcing isn't used more. There are so many talented people in the world, and if they're a fan, they're willing to do almost anything to help an artist. Peter Gabriel, who has always tried to stay on the cutting edge, is now giving crowdsourcing a shot by asking his fans for help in remaking his big hit "Sledgehammer" for it's 25th anniversary and the reissue of the So album.

Like with most video and film crowdsourcing projects, he's asking the fan to just pick a single scene to animate, and the best will be picked from the entries by both Peter and the fans via posts on YouTube. The song will eventually be released in 3 different versions, and the winner of the best clip submission will receive a TDK wireless boombox autographed by Peter, while the runner-ups will receive posters (I think they're being a little light on the prizes myself).

"Sledgehammer" was one of the most played clips ever on MTV since 1986 when it came out, mostly because it was pretty cutting-edge for it's time. It should be interesting to see how creative the fans are this time around. Here's the original video below.

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Crowdsourced A&R

Everyone knows about crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, but now there's a new way to use the power of the crowd when it comes to music - crowd A&R.  Hard rock and metal label Roadrunner Records has just launched SignMeTo Roadrunner Records, which they call a "fun and functional way for fans and unsigned bands to participate in the music industry's A&R process."

The way it works is that fans sign up as "scouts" and unsigned bands that add profiles and songs are rated by them. The site currently has about 6,000 active band profiles and about 10,000 scouts.

Tagging is a critical element of the process, as it classifies the artists in Roadrunner's genre-specific charts. and applied tags help to drive genre-specific charts (see the chart on the left for an example).  The top-charting artists are the ones that have a chance of getting signed.

This is a brilliant move by Roadrunner for a couple of reasons:

1) Their risk is significantly lowered by signing an artist or band that the "scouts" already like.

2) The artist or band already has built a significant following as a result of the process.

This is a great example of a record label that gets the essence of Music 3.0.

You can sign up as a band or scout here.

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Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.