Back in October we told you how Public Enemy was using the Sellaband fan donation model to raise money for their next album. Out of the starting gates, the band raised over $50,000 towards their goal of $250,000 and everything looked to be a startling and sparkling success.
But now what seemed like a championship thoroughbred has gone seriously lame. Almost two months after the initial kick-off, the band are stalled at just under $72,000 in funds raised, only 28 percent of their total goal. And donations seem to be slowing by the day.
Sellaband, which regularly teams with musicians to have their recordings funded by fans in a pre-order capacity, is using Public Enemy as their flagship band, but some are questioning the effectiveness of the service, according to Techdirt.
Public Enemy's campaign through Sellaband asks fans to donate between $25 and $10,000 towards different investment packages for the band's new album, a planned follow-up to 2007's How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?
A donation of $25 gets "believers" an exclusive, numbered CD in digipack format, while a "PE Number One" level endorsement of $10,000 gets five lucky sods exclusive merchandise and a visit to the recording studio while the band is working on the record. A number of other incentive packages are available at varying amounts.
Some artists, such as alt-pop chanteuse Jill Sobule, have had success with Sellaband, funding their whole albums via fan investments/donations, but it's fine balance between what fans have to pay and what they get back in return. The idea of paying now and getting music later has also been a significant hurdle, one that fans of Public Enemy appear to be quite hesitant about.
So, unless a lot of hip-hop/rap fans have "invest in new Public Enemy album through Sellaband" on their Christmas lists this year, it should be interesting to see if the rap group jumps the Sellaband ship in the new year.
But now what seemed like a championship thoroughbred has gone seriously lame. Almost two months after the initial kick-off, the band are stalled at just under $72,000 in funds raised, only 28 percent of their total goal. And donations seem to be slowing by the day.
Sellaband, which regularly teams with musicians to have their recordings funded by fans in a pre-order capacity, is using Public Enemy as their flagship band, but some are questioning the effectiveness of the service, according to Techdirt.
Public Enemy's campaign through Sellaband asks fans to donate between $25 and $10,000 towards different investment packages for the band's new album, a planned follow-up to 2007's How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?
A donation of $25 gets "believers" an exclusive, numbered CD in digipack format, while a "PE Number One" level endorsement of $10,000 gets five lucky sods exclusive merchandise and a visit to the recording studio while the band is working on the record. A number of other incentive packages are available at varying amounts.
Some artists, such as alt-pop chanteuse Jill Sobule, have had success with Sellaband, funding their whole albums via fan investments/donations, but it's fine balance between what fans have to pay and what they get back in return. The idea of paying now and getting music later has also been a significant hurdle, one that fans of Public Enemy appear to be quite hesitant about.
So, unless a lot of hip-hop/rap fans have "invest in new Public Enemy album through Sellaband" on their Christmas lists this year, it should be interesting to see if the rap group jumps the Sellaband ship in the new year.