Chuck D has been one of the most influential rappers ever, acting as a spokesperson for the state of the urban black man through his powerful lyrics in Public Enemy. In a series of tweets, Chuck lays out his tips for music industry survival. These apply to everyone trying to make it in the business.
Rule #1: Don't let other people's money distort your goals. Their shit has nothing to do with you. Be thankful and work with what you got.
Rule #2: Don't spend more than you make.What you don't know you'll have to partner up or pay for. What you save is what you make.
Rule #3: Celebrity and artists are two different things. You can be a celeb, but that's like winning the lottery. Make yourself valuable to something.
Rule #4: It's easy to make recordings now but learn how to perform your art very well. So well that when people see you they undeniably have no words.
Rule #5: Always top yourself. Put the AWE in audience. If the crowd feels they can do better than you, why would they take the time and money to be bothered?
Sadly, Public Enemy seems to have fallen out of fashion these days, as boasting about how great you are seems to top social commentary. Still, Chuck's words about the music business are wise and worth taking heed.
The Sellaband website described in yesterday's post has been off-line for the last 3 days. Now it appears that the company has been declared insolvent, which is the Dutch equivalent to bankruptcy (Sellaband is a Dutch company).
There's no word on what will happen to the funds raised by Public Enemy and other bands through the site, which could spell bad news for both bands and investors. Sellaband now seems to be one of those great Internet ideas that just can't be monetized. Too bad.
In other news, Rolling Stone Magazine'swebsite has also been down for a few days, but speculation is that they let they're name registration lapse because of the error message that's displayed. Whether that's the case or not, it's a good lesson to every artist and band that owns their own website - always keep up with the name registration. Once it lapses, it may be tough to get back.
Fan funding a recording was a hot topic the past couple of years. So much so that a website called Sellaband was launched as a way of facilitating the funding and a number of acts actually met with some success as a result. Indeed, 43 bands reached their funding targets through the site, with 35 of them set at the $50k mark and another at $60k, although most have been in the $10 to 20k range.
While raising funds from your fans might be a wise strategy for financing your next album, not everyone is successful, mostly because there's insufficient incentive for the fans to open up their wallets. The once mega Public Enemy is a prime example. The group was trying to raise $250,000 for recording and marketing a new album, and in December was 28% of the way there with $71,000 pledged. Since then, however, the fund has actually slipped to $67,400 instead of increasing.
Even though PE has been far more successful than any other band on the site in terms of total money invested, they're still unlikely to hit their target and here's why.
1) Like similar offerings, PE has multiple investment levels. Here's what they call "exciting incentives":
"Believer" Level = 1 Part ($25) Incentive: Exclusive, numbered CD in Digipak 1
"Hype" Level - 4 Parts ($100) Incentive: Exclusive, numbered CD Digipak, opportunity to buy 2nd CD at 50% off, & Name in booklet 4
"Rebel" Level - 10 Parts ($250) Incentive: All of Above plus Exclusive Limited Edition Public Enemy T Shirt 10
"Posse" Level - 20 Parts ($500) Incentive: All of Above plus Autographed Copy of CD signed by Chuck D 20
"Terrordome" Level [Limited to 50 investors] - 40 Parts ($1,000) Incentive: All of Above plus Unlimited use backstage pass for 3 years 40
"Bring The Noise" Level [Limited to 15 Investors] - 200 Parts ($5,000) Incentive: All of Above plus Executive Producer Credit on Album 200
"PE Number One" Level [Limited to 5 Investors] - 400 Parts ($10,000) Incentive: All of Above plus Studio Visit during recording session 400
The problem here is that the "exciting incentives" aren't really that exciting. You pay a relatively high price for not a lot in return. Perhaps they think that they don't have to offer more because they're a well-known entity, but it appears their fans have spoken with their lack of participation (or an example of a campaign done well, check out Josh Freese).
2) The average investment per donor is pretty low at an average of about $75 per each of their 901 investors. Most other acts average well beyond 100 bucks, with some approaching 200. Again, there's not much of a benefit for the investor at almost any level so there's no enticement to throw a lot of money at it.
3) Sellaband doesn't have much in the way of tools to market much beyond their particular network, and PE hasn't had a good enough social networking campaign to continue to reach out to potential investors.
In fact, PE could've used their fame for a dynamite marketing campaign, but if the following video is an example of what they'e doing, it was doomed to fail.
How could you make a video trying to raise money without adding any details? There's no steak and no sizzle.
4) It's hard to be sympathetic to a band asking for money who has a member that's all over television in commercials and reality shows. If Flavor Flav is so famous, why doesn't he finance it?
The lesson here is that for fan financing to work, they must feel like their getting something special at any investment level. Bang for the buck is just as important in this arena as in any other.
