Before I take a look at this month's post, let's just take a quick follow up on last month.
As I start writing this, the Sellaband site should be down for maintenance. With only about 24 hrs to go, a series of news articles appeared about the changes during this maintenance, highlighting a very highly disturbing set of changes for both artists and believers. It's also interesting to note that none of the changes seem to have been communicated direct to artists or believers prior to them coming into force (no e-mail has landed in my direction at least) i.e if you hadn't visited the site and read the articles, then you're likely to be getting a shock next time you visit. Here's a quick summary of the main changes.
- The 2-week refund clause in the T&C is being removed completely. That's right.. no refunds from the Sellaband system EVER. The only money you will be able to get out of the site is the money Sellaband credits to you as part of revenue share (and then only if you haven't tried to buy a part with it).
-instead of using USD, the system is switching to Euros. That means every budget and every balance will be going through a one-time currency conversion, and the new part price will be 10 Euros for all new projects (existing projects are likely to have a figure around 7.8 Euros depending on exact exchange rate at the time). Given the current exchange rate, this means albums have effectively received another price hike to go on top of the one introduced with the previously increased fees. Whilst it does appears fees for deposits may be reduced again under the new system, this increase of more than 25% on part price will likely more than make up for that reduction.
-projects have 12 months to get their funding or be deleted, Whilst this should be one very good way for clearing out the inactives, when combined with the no-refund policy, the increased chance of locking money into the system is likely to scare people off completely. I can't see any self-respecting artist wanting to risk the money of their hard-earned fans (and hence their own reputation and likelihood to retain those fans) in this way, so I'm expecting most if not all of the new artists signing up to be there for the promotion rather than seriously trying to raise a budget (no real change there then, except that it might become even more pronounced). I can also forsee a number of artists with fans trapped in the system reducing their budgets over the next few weeks in an attempt to get out intact before the 12 month deadline strikes as a result.
-if you are a believer who hasn't logged into the site in a while and you have money in there, there is a good chance Sellaband will move your money into an artist of their own choosing. Yes, that's correct - so much for "Your music, your choice" (one of the original slogans of Sellaband). You'll still be entitled to the incentives etc. of the artist your money is moved into should you later turn up, but don't be surprised to see you bought a hip-hop CD even if you were only into classical piano, or some other unlikely/unexpected combinations happening if you don't keep dropping by the place regularly.
-Sellaband themselves will put 5% of the 15% money they receive (i.e. one third of what they receive) from completed projects into new projects. IMO, yet another blow for the "your music, your choice" ideal of the original Sellaband which was designed to let the music lovers choose which projects they wanted to hear, rather than have the choices forced upon them by record companies. To find that 5% of the money you pay for projects you like is going into projects you may not like is something that is not likely to go down well with people who came to the site to support a particular artist - I'm sure they'd much rather that money went to "their" artist than someone else. Rather than new music industry, this feels more like a return to the old, where successful albums were used to finance the less successful ones.
Here's hoping they get all the inconsistencies in the T&C ironed out as well, so that it stops looking like it was written by a 5 year old! (or younger, if that's the way you feel about the current set), but I think for me at least, these changes are probably the final nail in the Sellaband story due to being too disrespectful towards those who have been (and are) willing to put more into music than just buying a finished product from a shop. For sure, no new money will be going in from my end under the incoming set of Terms and Conditions, and unless someone whose music I like comes within completion distance on funding within the next couple of months, you can pretty much guarantee the little money I have remaining on my revenue balance (currently just over an "old" part) will be coming out before Christmas. (I did try to remove it the day before the site maintenance in fact, but surprise surprise, withdrawals were "temporarily unavailable" for the whole day and there was no response to my support request either)
Slim Void albums finally arrive for believers, however the corresponding incentives are seemingly missing. I know this, because with 5 parts I should have been receiving some discount vouchers and there were certainly none in the envelope. Apart from this issue, outstanding CDs are (so far at least) slowly coming through, but there's still a distinct feeling that backlog needs to be caught up with before anyone would start looking seriously at the site, even if we ignore the other gripes around. To give you some idea of the scale of the backlog of projects, of the 36 artists I bought parts in who completed funding, I'm still waiting on 11 for the results (this includes the one I mentioned last month that I was chasing), some of which are already over 12 months since completing funding ,and I certainly don't have parts in everyone who completed funding prior to the bankruptcy.
And so onto the topic for this blog post.
During my time on Sellaband,I've bought parts in a large number of different artists, some of whom raised a budget, some of whom left the site, and some of whom I landed up removing parts from due to the restrictive terms and conditions on the site. As promised in my last installment, this post is going to be about my own personal "pick of the bunch" that I'm keeping a particular eye on. Irrespective of whether Sellaband survives, at the end of the day I'm still a music lover and that means there are artists I will follow for one reason or another that little bit more actively than leaving it to chance encounter at some future date to remind me they exist.
1. Brad Cox/Skitzo Calypso
Although I've been struggling a bit with the Skitzo Calypso back catalog in particular, as quite a bit of it is that bit too far off the mainstream compared to what I listen to, I still consider Brad as a very interesting songwriter. Somewhat obscure lyrically, it makes for a refreshing (and more interesting) change from the large number of artists who seem to have a very limited vocabulary where songwriting is concerned. He's certainly capable of writing stuff I like a lot (as his solo projects Niki Thunders and We Love The Underground have proved) and will remain as one of the top three I'll be lurking around after on a very regular basis as a result.
2. Matthew Ebel
As regular readers of this blog know, I'm actually one of Matthew's 5 Entourage members, having snapped up the last spot a few days into 2010. This has proved to be a great call on my part - as I suspected and stated in a previous blog post, I can't find a song of his that I don't like. Of all the artists I've ever encountered, this makes him only the third for which this statement currently holds true (and he has a fairly decent sized back catalog to have a go at). In songwriting terms, he's clearly at his strongest when he has an emotional connection with his subject matter, whether that be the result of personal experience or his storytelling imagination, and that seems to reflect through on the most popular songs with his fans too.
If you're wondering about the incentives that come as part of my subscription level - well I've got no complaints - the goody bag (including framed/signed CD) arrived OK this past month. In addition, he's already written my custom song and it's actually the last song that's been released as part of his "2 songs a month" subscription. You see, he's now taking on the likes of Sellaband, Slicethepie, Pledge music et al. at their own game. That's right - he's fan funding his next album without using a fan funding site, so the only middleman involved is Paypal (and then only for the fees to transfer the money from you to him).
The project itself basically replaces his 2 free songs a month - instead you get access to the project "as it happens" - written drafts, sketches, rough songs, behind the scenes etc. as well as the finished article, which so far is seemingly going to consist of a book, CD and graphic novel. Add to this the fact he's only started off on this in August and the whole lot is due to be done in 12 months, and I find myself staring at the potential for a very interesting lesson in fan funding. I hope he pulls it off (I have faith that he will at least come close to that 12 month deadline), because it will throw down the gauntlet to ANY fan funding site to explain why they are needed (i.e. you've probably only got until July/August next year to show why you're not an obsolete idea and therefore why artists should use you, rather than pulling in the funding direct themselves). After all, what makes for the more interesting story? - the fact that the monetary and publicity power of a "household name" such as Public Enemy, combined with a company such as Sellaband can't pull off BOTH the funding AND delivery of an album project (with incentives) within 12 months, or a guy who (basically) nobody has ever heard of can on his own. You can be sure I'll keep you up to date on whether or not Matthew Ebel looks like making the grade on this one, unless you want to sign up over here and find out first-hand.
3. Bulletproof Messenger
The first artist on Sellaband that grabbed my attention enough to "want to buy a part now", they actually appeared during one of the competitions on the site and so far look to be the only artist I see definitely heading towards some kind of success. All of their recent gigs have seen them as support to an artist I've actually heard of and who gets regular airplay on one of the UK music TV channels. In many cases the name in question is one I more usually hear as a support name for someone else - but to get to support the support of the well known is clearly getting pretty close towards the top of the pile. I may not be seen to be around these guys - rather consider that I'm lurking heavily in the shadows, ready to reappear (probably when least expected).
4. Phil Tweed
I'm actually still playing chess against my long time favourite from Sellaband. Unlike Brian Taylor, Phil has actually managed to beat me on a few occasions now - I think we're currently running at a rate of him winning one for every three or four I do. Whilst a very slow musical creator in general (think of it as creating a masterpiece rather than a song), I actually prefer his original music to his covers - and believe me I've heard quite a few jazz standard covers in my time. I'm pretty sure I'll be lurking back around in his direction with some money next time he manages to get an album together.
5. Francis Rodino
When I removed my money from Sellaband after the bankruptcy, Francis was one of the artists who got some of it. Whilst believers are left waiting around on Sellaband for CDs of artists who completed their funding back in 2008, Francis has so far managed to raise the funding and release the digital copy for his EP this year via Pledge music. With the album release party scheduled for October and the physical copies currently being duplicated and packaged, it seems likely that Sellaband believers will still be waiting for 2008 albums from some artists when Francis' Pledge supporters have already received their 2010 ones. Pledge shows only just over 100 supporters compared to the more than 650 that are listed for his Sellaband album, so it would be interesting to know whether the price, site or length (i.e. EP vs album) put people off. Or indeed whether the length of time after funding completed for his Sellaband album to be released was the deciding factor (more than 12 months at a time when the contracts were supposedly significantly less).
As my own "pick of the bunch" of the UK artists I've encountered on Sellaband based on his ability to entertain a crowd, it's good to see this release out in a timely fashion whilst at the same time making me wonder what the real story of his Sellaband album taking so long in comparison was. One interesting thing for you though - it may be a little early to make a proper comparison, given the Pledge 192kb mp3 vs Sellaband 320kb mp3 and the fact I don't have the CD yet, but for all you music purists out there, the production on the Pledge EP certainly feels lower that the Sellaband album from what I've had available to me so far. Will be interested to hear what the genuine article (i.e. the disc itself) sounds like.
6. Best of the rest
In addition to the above, there are a few artists I am likely to drop in on occasionally. These are generally ones I've seen perform live and/or who have managed to do something in particular to impress me to the extent that while I may not be the biggest fan of their music, they are certainly someone I'd recommend to others based on my own experiences, and who knows, I may well be caught around their site buying music at a later date if I find something I like.
Aly Cook
At the end of the day, being female, I tend to fit the stereotype that my major likes are more likely to be male. There are a few ladies who have particularly managed to impress though. As the only female in the list that I can claim as one I haven't seen perform live in person, rather it's Aly's approach to music as a business and towards new model music methods of promotion etc. that earns her most of this recommendation. After Matthew Ebel, this is probably the artist I'd be most comfortable to trust with money for direct funding rather than using a middleman of those I've encountered on Sellaband. And as I haven't met her, or even had much direct contact with her (whereas I have with a number of other artists mentioned in this post), I think you'd have to agree that has to be quite some statement.
Daniel Ward-Murphy
Probably my biggest regret here is the fact I don't like his music more. I think the nearest I came to kicking myself that I hadn't bought more parts in his Sellaband album was when he put up the video for "The Queen of Something New" as it managed to grab me in a way that none of his previous stuff had quite managed. (Un)fortunately (depending on your point of view) the rest of the album didn't have quite the same impact when it appeared. A solid performer, the opportunity I had to see him soundcheck is probably the thing that opened me most up to him musically. But I suppose the real thing here is that if I had to choose an underdog I'd like to see kick the traditional music industry in the nuts and achieve success, then I think I'd be making my choice here, purely on the basis that Dan is one of the good guys who prefers to stay out of controversy and just do his thing. Given the adage about where nice guys are supposed to finish, this is one person I think deserves to prove that adage wrong.
Lily
If ever there were an example candidate for the 1000 true fans model, Lily would be it. Whilst I'd say she's currently missing some of the business side to get it to work, in person she has exactly the right personality and approach towards fans that is required. Trust me, if you fall in love with Lily's music, you'll fall in love with her as well. I'm looking at the whole issue of fan funding and 1000 true fans in my next blog post, so hopefully after that you'll get a better understanding of what I'm on about here.
Trail
Hands up who remembers Trail? The ones that got away from Sellaband back in the 50K budget days (after raising something like half that amount) and went to Slicethepie to raise a budget instead. I didn't help fund them over there because I don't like the way the site works, but I still keep a passing eye on them because they have several great tunes. Interestingly when Daniel Ward-Murphy was asking for people to vote for him in the Pepsi Max-IT Legends competition recently, Trail's video for City was one of the videos he was up against. Wonder how many of you noticed that? (They finished 9th to DWM's 3rd in the 3rd round if you were interested)
Nemesea
The first artist to raise 50K on Sellaband and the first artist I went "guardian angel" on (ah... but you don't know that story), I feel they've got a lot of untapped potential they haven't quite managed to release. Hopefully their third studio album will be out soon, but there's very little information about it on their website to date.
So that's my list for you. Like I said earlier, I'll be looking at the idea of 1000 true fans and its relationship to fan funding in the next post. There are plenty of lessons to be learnt from Sellaband (add to that quite a few BY Sellaband) in this area, not least of which is the differences and motivations between the different types of people making up potential sales. So far, I haven't seen a single funding site that understands this and even artists themselves seem to be struggling when it comes to truly understanding why something they do works (or not). So discover 1000 true fans from the fan point of view next time which is going to lead us nicely onto where I'm looking at heading with this blog now that I no longer have the "Sellaband" in the title.
