Bandstocks Brings Investing to Fans

Posted by Netzley in Music on 08 29th, 2008 | 3 responses |

Fans, have you ever wanted to promote the bands you like? Bands, have you ever wanted to be sure you were going to be able to pay for that expensive recording studio? Bandstocks finally found a way to bring you together.

Working like a Grameen Bank for bands, Bandstocks allows you to invest money into your favorite bands so they can record their albums. First you have to vote the band into the investment stage. Then invest 10₤ into the band of your choice. After the band has enough money they can record their album. In return you get special access to shows, news, special band releases, and a free download of the album. Best yet you and the other investors share a percentage of the profits that the band makes from CDs.

This may be one of the best ideas we have seen in music to date. It takes the risk out of those pricey studio costs for bands. Also it gives pre-release buzz. It’s a great thing for bands.

But it’s also a great thing for music in general. With profits plummeting for record labels bands will still need a guarantee for their production costs and this site finally found a way to make it happen.

The site and the idea is new so there are some problems, like guarantees that the bands will get through the recording process, but as long as bands can stay honest and generate sales, investors could find money in their pockets after the album is made or at least some of the investment cost returned. And with backing from bands like Kaiser Chiefs it might just work. Also right now it’s limited to UK residents only but hopefully we’ll see an American version coming soon.

This can only be a good thing for bands as they search for new ways to navigate the ever increasing difficulty of making money in a collapsing music world.

Check out the article by The Guardian for more.

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3 Comments »

  1. avatar Allen Taylor Says:
    August 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road.

    Allen Taylor

  2. avatar Links for 8.30.08: Metallica ages, criticism busts, more music crowdsourcing « the listenerd Says:
    August 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    [...] *Crowdsourcing: Bandstocks allows fans to invest in bands, funding production of their music. One of a host of services aimed at crowdsourcing all aspects of the music biz, from A&R to distribution. [chasing lions] [...]

  3. avatar Netvalar Says:
    August 31st, 2008 at 2:42 am

    Actually Sellaband.com has been around for 2 years and is already available on a global basis. I see bandstocks as more a copycat of Sellaband myself.

    CEO Johan came from running the Benelux branch of Sony/BMG. Bringing with him Dagmar both have been working within the traditional industry for over 20 years. I think this shows tons of old school experience. Pim the creative genius behind the idea actually comes from the oil industry.

    In this last year they have brought on board Rey and Roy both of whom are web style genius’. With a strong community and a HQ who listens most of the time I think Sellaband will be able to evolve faster then the competitors such as Bandstocks.

    I agree taking the surety of album production and moving it to the crowd gives aritst more control over their careers and can only be good for the industry as a whole.

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