Public Enemy Trying To Get A Little Help From Its Friends

from the holding-songs-hostage dept

SellaBand is known for funding musicians' albums with contributions from fans -- contributions that not only help to record the music but also entitle the paying fans to a share of the revenues from the album after it's released. Up until now, the artists using SellaBand have not exactly been household names, making it susceptible to Masnick's law where critics could say SellaBand is only good for small bands. However, Chuck D and Public Enemy are aiming to prove that a big-name act can solicit $250,000 from fans to finance their next album. It's actually not all that surprising that Chuck D would go this route. You may not remember, but when Lars Ulrich from Metallica first freaked out about Napster, it was Chuck D who publicly debated him, and said that file sharing was "the new radio" and it was time to embrace it. Chuck D also testified before the Senate about how file sharing was a great distribution mechanism, and the recording industry was making a mistake trying to stop it. So you had to figure he'd be a fan of trying out smarter, fan-focused business models.

Similar to efforts by Trent Reznor, Jill Sobule, Kickstarter and many others, SellaBand also has a system of fan-fundable tiers for its artists. For Public Enemy, supporters can buy into the project in $25 shares in order for Public Enemy to reach its ultimate quarter million dollar goal. And the more shares you buy, the more you get.

• 1 Part ($25) = "Believer" Level Incentive: Exclusive, numbered CD in Digipak
• 4 Parts ($100) = "Hype" Level Incentive: "Believer" Level, plus the opportunity to buy 2nd CD at 50% off, & Name in booklet
• 10 Parts ($250) = "Rebel" Level Incentive: All of Above plus Exclusive Limited Edition Public Enemy T Shirt
• 20 Parts ($500) = "Posse" Level Incentive: All of Above plus Autographed Copy of CD signed by Chuck D
• 40 Parts ($1,000) = "Terrordome" Level Incentive: All of Above plus Unlimited backstage pass for 3 years [Limited to 50]
• 200 Parts ($5,000) = "Bring The Noise" Level Incentive: All of Above plus Executive Producer Credit on Album [Limited to 15]
• 400 Parts ($10,000) = "PE Number One" Level Incentive: All of Above plus Studio Visit during recording session [Limited to 5]

But unlike Josh Freese, Public Enemy's tiers are missing a certain je ne sais quoi that could connect with fans or give them a compelling reason to buy a 3-year backstage pass for $1,000. These tiers lack some authenticity to me, though I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Public Enemy. But honestly, I can't really tell if Public Enemy came up with these levels -- because they sound so standard (especially if you look at other SellaBand artist tiers). Not to knock Public Enemy too hard, but they really should put a bit more effort into something like this. And SellaBand might also benefit from looking into floundering Kickstarter projects to perhaps get a better grasp of how to promote artists that aren't quite reaching their fund goals. One of the lessons learned is that contributing fans want to see some involvement and interactions -- you can't just set it and forget it -- if you're asking fans to part with a few thousand dollars. But on the other hand, SellaBand doesn't seem to have goal deadlines, so Public Enemy might have the fame and patience to attract 10,000 fans willing to fork over $25 each.

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Sellaband CDs To Be Available On Amazon; Not As Big A Deal As You Think

from the step-in-the-right-direction dept

For all the awful stories we have around here concerning the record labels making dumb mistakes in dealing with the modern market, we've always been optimistic that others will figure out the new business models eventually (and what's left of the record labels will either co-opt those models or die). There are certainly a few interesting companies out there, experimenting with a variety of models -- and one of the most interesting has been Sellaband. The Amsterdam-based company has put in place a more formalized version of a model that's been discussed for years: getting a wide variety of fans to pony up small amounts of money into a pool, which the band can then use to record, press and distribute its album. Sellaband has done a few nice things on top of that. Everyone who ponies up for a "share" has the potential of getting some money back from sales of the albums or from ad revenue from the band's page. The music is still given away for free for promotional purposes, and there are a number of other nice features as well -- including letting the band (rather than the company) retain the rights to the music after a certain time period. While some folks may never get their money back, they're still supporting the music, and at least there's a chance they'd get their money back, rather than shipping it off to an RIAA label.

Of course, the big trick for an outfit like Sellaband is getting that critical mass of users, and certainly a deal with Amazon.com could help, which is why it was exciting to see a bunch of headlines indicating that Amazon has now partnered with Sellaband. However, the details suggest this may not be as big a deal as various blogs and press outlets are making it out to be. It doesn't sound like this is really Amazon supporting the Sellaband process -- just selling the completed CDs that Sellaband releases. That's really not such a big deal, as it's not all that hard to get your CDs sold via Amazon. In fact, while the announcements keep saying that Amazon "announced a partnership" with Sellaband, the details suggest that Sellaband simply secured distribution through Amazon via Digital Orchard -- who helps lots of musicians sell their stuff on Amazon. Amazon doesn't seem to have a press release up or anything -- so it may just be Sellaband "announcing" things and the press misinterpreting it (though, Sellaband did get a quote from someone at Amazon). It would be a lot more powerful if the rest of the Sellaband process was available via Amazon and if Amazon were really bought into the process, rather than just offering a simple retail outlet that almost anyone can sign up for. Also, while many are saying that this covers all of Amazon, it appears that it's really only for Amazon UK. Overall, this isn't a bad thing, but it may not be as big a deal as some think it is.

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