Is crowdfunding the future for Filipino artists?
Veteran pop/rock band Color It Red recently invited all their followers to be part of their fifth studio album. That curious invitation was accompanied by a link to this page inviting visitors to pledge a certain amount to the band to help them in producing, distributing, and marketing their newest effort.
Crowdfunding—the approach to raising funds and capital for new businesses or projects by soliciting from various stakeholders—is nothing new. It's an approach usually employed by disaster relief operations and charity foundations.
With the rise of independently-released records from both popular and lesser-known acts, it has become an option for artists who want to put out new material but can't seem to find the funds to do so.
The rise of crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com has made this system more efficient: you can hook it up with online payment gateways, keep track of pledges automatically, and get funding from anyone, anywhere in the world. The likes of author Neil Gaiman and American Idol alumnus Anoop Desai have taken up such services.
Empowering fans
To make it easier for Filipino artists to get into crowdfunding (not everyone in the Philippines has PayPal or credit card accounts), ArtisteConnect.com, the website behind Color It Red's fundraising drive, aims to “take out the middle man in the album-making process (a.k.a. major labels),” said site co-founder Mark Laccay.
“It's about empowering artists, and empowering fans as well,” says co-founder Lezyl Ponce. “If you're a fan of a certain artist and the record label won't produce his album, you would want to see this person with an album out. It gives you the power to see your artist release his material.”
Here's how the setup works: The artist creates a project and posts it on the site. Fans are invited to support the project by pledging (similar to the Facebook “liking” system) a certain amount. Once the target amount or number of pledges has been reached, ArtisteConnect will contact the project owner and will work out the details and logistics of the project.
Pledge as low as P500
In Color It Red's case, fans can pledge predetermined amounts, from P500 all the way to P25,000. A P500 pledge means you’ll be credited on the Color It Red website and receive an ArtisteConnect postcard. For P25,000, you get a signed album, T-shirt and post card, VIP invite to the launch party, 100 CDs you can give away, and a return on your investment.
ArtisteConnect supports check, bank deposit, and cash payments for the moment.
Chief Technology Officer Jason Torres says that the site is still being tweaked; the payment gateway just recently opened.
In the meantime, the focus is on Color It Red's new album. Other projects include the film, “Old Man Fighting” by Henry Posadas, and “Madaling Araw, Mahabang Gabi” by Panoramanila Philippines.
So, is crowdfunding the future of the (ailing) local music industry?
Only you, the fan, will be able to answer that.
