The Internet is an amazing place, most times. Sometimes it is a horrible pit of human despair and devastation, but other times it helps you make your dreams come true. Read on for some tips and tricks on how to successfully crowdfund your music needs.

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is basically magic wrapped in a blanket of generosity and mutual benefit. It is a method for collecting small (or large, if you are lucky) donations from a group of people through an online platform as a way to finance a particular project or product. It all started back in 2003 when Brian Camelio, a musician and programmer, set up the website ArtistShare where his fellow musicians could seek donations from generous strangers and fans to fund their projects. Actually, the first campaign on the website was for Maria Schneider’s “Concert in a Garden” jazz album that managed to get $130 000, which covered all expenses. Later, the album even won a Grammy in 2005 for best large jazz ensemble album.

All you need to get started is a dream and no money to make it happen. Afterwards, you choose one of the numerous crowdfunding websites as your platform, share your project with the world, think of various perks people will get for their money and watch it rain. Hopefully.

Why do a crowdfund?

Apart from the obvious which is getting money to realise your music project, crowdfunding is actually an amаzing tool to create a good connection with fans. How? Well, for starters some crowdfunding sites let you see the name and email addresses of your contributors, providing you with a list of people who have deemed your music worthy enough to give money for. That is a big deal. You can further build up that relationship through special gifts, exclusive information, heartfelt messages or anything else juicy you might think of so as to solidify that bond. You can also use this database of fans with cash to inform them of future opportunities to support your music.

Crowdfunding, if done right, can also give you great exposure and connect you with a whole new fanbase you wouldn’t have previously been able to reach.

What can you crowdfund?

If you are fresh out of ideas, here are some suggestions what to campaign for:

● Studio time – gather funds to help you record your next album or EP – if fans love your music, they will likely want to hear more of it

● Music video – acquire some money to get the team and resources needed for a better quality video

● Touring expenses – cover basic costs of touring and offer people tickets for your concerts in their area in exchange

Some tips and tricks

● Be reasonable and realistic about your asking price. Yes, we would all love to get $30 000 from strangers to follow our dreams, but how likely is that to happen? If you have a massive fan base that adores you and can’t wait to give you its money – great, go for it. Just be aware of your current situation and what amount would be reasonable.

● If you literally just started your band and came up with a name yesterday, perhaps you should wait a bit before launching a crowdfunding campaign. After all, with zero fans you are unlikely to reach a lot of people willing to invest in you. Start off by building а core fan base, as you should expect them to be able to fund around 30% of your goal. If you do not think that that is likely to happen, perhaps work a bit more on reaching new people with your music before starting the campaign.

● Let’s be frank here – your mom is your best ally. Her, as well as all you friends who have supported you throughout all your awkward or perhaps amazing musical endeavours. So, rely on them to spread the word. Utilize your contacts to reach as many people as possible. Use platforms such as thunderclap.com to rally your crowd together and effectively spread the news about your campaign.

● Ask you friends and family to contribute early on as a way for your campaign to get a much needed initial boost, as well as to appear like a project that is getting attention and will likely be successful. People love to back up winners.

● Don’t rely that just by building the campaign page that will be enough to attract countless contributors by itself. Promote, promote, promote. Reach out to local media channels, try to organize a few interviews in which to talk about your work and the campaign. Pester friends to contribute and spread the message. Use social media to the max – announce the upcoming campaign, think of running ads in Facebook or other appropriate channels, urge people to support you, come up with an interesting and engaging posting plan to tease and intrigue fans, give them behind the scenes moments and updates. Be creative and brave (mandatory requirement in any list of tips and tricks, so it had to be said).

● Put your creative thinking cap on and come up with some fun rewards. Yes, of course, digital copy of the album and signed group photos are great, but also boring. What else are you good at? Are you an amazing baker? How about a reward that offers a personalized cake baked by the band’s drummer?

● Be sure to have a variety of price options in order to allow everyone no matter their budget an opportunity to support you. Have $1, $5, $10 rewards! Every little bit counts.

● Come up with a good video overview of who you are and what you need money for. An awesome example is this video by A House for Lions:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB7fIxdZ5Lw

Crowdfunding sites to choose from

Here is a list of some of the most popular crowdfunding sites for musicians out there. Pick the best for your goals:

Kickstarter
Indiegogo
Pledgemusic
ArtistShare
Patreon
GigFunder
FeedTheMuse
ArtisteConnect
MusicRaiser

At Drooble we wish you all the best in your current or future crowdfunding initiatives. Share you music and aspirations with Drooble’s network of musicians and music fans for even better results!