Bands, fans find new ways to reach each other


Lily Vasquez, a marketing manager from Clifton, New
Jersey, spent nearly eight years trying to break into
the music business as a singer before she stumbled
across SellaBand.com.

The Web site is one of several where artists can have
their albums funded by fans -- a proposition that
takes advantage of digital technology, online social
networking and the current uncertainty in the
established music industry.

The sites are reinventing the relationship between
artists and their fans, upsetting the traditional role
of the record label as the tastemaker, promoter and
distributor of music.

"I didn't really understand the site when I joined; I
thought it was just like MySpace," said Vasquez. "But
after I uploaded a few of my songs, I noticed people
started adding money to my page; it was a nice
surprise," she said.

SellaBand, founded in 2006, works by allowing fans who
believe in an artist's music to buy "parts" of the
work at a minimum of $10 each with a view to funding
the professional recording of an album.

Once the total amount funded by fans reaches $50,000,
SellaBand will help the artist choose a recording
studio and producers. The manufacturing and
distribution of the album will be paid for by the
money raised by fans. In 18 months, 13 bands have
raised $50,000 each.

Vasquez passed the $50,000 mark in nine months and to
date has 543 "believers," including one from Austria
who bought his part for $5,000. She even had enough
left over after spending on her album to make a music
video.

"It's a dream come true for me," said Vasquez, whose
debut album will soon be available through retail
outlets like Amazon.com Inc.

The idea of allowing fans to become part of the A&R
(artist & repertoire) process has been around since
the early days of the Internet. A number of start-up
sites claimed they would up-end the established
labels, but few survived the dotcom crash in 2001, and
the labels appeared to prevail.

But more recently the music industry has been going
through some tough times. CD sales have plunged and
big name artists like Radiohead and Madonna have
shunned established major labels to do their own thing
online or with non-label partners.

These factors have given impetus to establishing a new
relationship between fans and the artists.

ArtistShare.com has been so successful at bringing
fans and artists together that it can claim three
Grammy award-winning records from its stable since it
was founded in 2002.

While ArtistShare's philosophy of fans as A&R
executives is similar to SellaBand's, it has focused
on more established artists in mature genres like jazz
and country & western. Its artists include Maria
Schneider and Chris Potter.

For a minimum of $9.99 to buy a "participant offer,"
fans get access to the artists' creative process
through regular uploaded videos discussing their
albums' production. The offers can go as high as
$10,000, coming with extra perks such as a fan sitting
in on recording sessions.

"This breaks down the wall between the artists and the
fans," said ArtistShare founder Brian Camelio. "It
really inspires the artists as well," he added.

As well ArtistShare and SellaBand albums sold as
downloads on their sites, as well as through
established retailers.

SellaBand's co-founder Johan Vosmeijer, a 20-year
veteran of major music companies, said an artist's
destiny is no longer in the hands of the music
companies -- or even a Web site like his.

"SellaBand started out as an incubator and
facilitator," he said. "We don't make the decisions;
the whole A&R process has been outsourced."