Opinion Piece on Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding, has made an apparent rise in the last five years, especially in the music industry. The way it works is by allowing people to pay for the making of a project before it is made. This allows small time artists to get funding and freedom that the executives in the major music industry may not provide, and thereby allowing their musical project to get out there when it may otherwise have not. With this opportunity of showcasing yourself for future release, it has been common in some cases for bonus products can be applied by the paying demand of the funders. When applied to the situation, it allows audiences to, for example; fund a record for a price and if it is funded further, receive products such as custom merchandise, art and even the ability to be heard on the album.

This doesn’t just appeal to musicians trying to get their product out in the market. An entrepreneur who has any creation can put it out there. Some of them have been obviously practical objects that serve a newly found purpose such as 3D Printers, others have a certain novelty to them such as a Pi-Shaped Pie Tin but others, like the Bug-A-Salt salt gun are too crazy to get your head around.

Much like any practical (or impractical) business product, the main reason that an artist would require a kickstarter is because they don’t have the money to do the album themselves. Regardless, the kickstarter allows a platform for them to achieve their goals providing they get enough donators.

On the surface it would seem that the risk of donators not collectively raising enough money would deter a pledge in the first place as to avoid giving an artist money for what could turn out to be nothing. It seems people are more eager to put more of their money towards these uncertain products. This is most likely because the added bonuses and their personal contribution to the making of the album allow them to get more out of being a musician’s fan. They are not only paying just for the bonuses, they are paying for the ability to prove their dedication.

With this dedication being directly to the artist, Crowdfunding in itself seems to be a middle finger to music’s major labels. Letting the people control what becomes a success and what doesn’t is completely against the major marketing strategists that make an acts hit song become popular by forcing it to be heard everywhere by everyone. Many music fans of any genre are against music being broadcast by a solely business standpoint and with that some musicians have gained popularity in their crowdfunding because of the fact that they are verbally going against this major label mentality.

Last year, Canadian metal band Protest The Hero gained roughly $200,000 more than their requirement when they allowed users to pledge to their fourth album on the site Indiegogo. They produced an explanatory video to go with their products explaining how the major labels left them with no money and didn’t focus their attention on them as a band. This mistreatment made them turn to crowdsourcing in spite of these labels and with that they were able to enable their fans to financially support their band through the process of creating of that album. There is no way of knowing exactly how much of the money pledged was done in part because of the fact that they went against a major label or with that. The fact that the fans would trust the band to do the right thing with their money as much or even more than any big label can be accounted for proves that the product is the most important thing in the end. These crowdfunders show that what matters is what the music sounds like, not where you heard it.

So how much has this put a crack in the previous sculpture of the mainstream music industry? So far only enough to bring attention to the possibility of a fan involved in an admired bands production. It’s uncertain at this stage whether crowfunding will be a flash in the pan or a sun blaring down on the major music executives but even if it somehow became unfashionable tomorrow, at least some decent musicians got a break the big labels wouldn’t have given them.