Funding Your Album or Project? CrowdFunding May Be The Answer

by: UNKLE F7

The massive support that one can get online is some sort of power that can be harnessed to a specific movement to make (potentially lucrative) ideas into reality. Such is the concept behind crowdsourcing, or crowd outsourcing, also known as crowdfunding, which uses online mass support to fund a project up to its final stage of production, to produce a final marketable product that’s ready to go to the stores or store shelves, so to speak.

But in this case, the product or service package goes directly to the funders who already pre-ordered the item, and collectively all of their pre-orders have funded the complete project. They could be initial customers, investors, or distributors depending on the level of interest in the product/service/app/what have you.

Often, all initial participants get exclusive items, privileges, exclusive access, and first dibs, way before the public learns about it and catches up, and of course bragging rights for being among the first to own the product, app/software, or service and see the vision and good taste behind it before everyone else does.

Currently, we have sites such as Kickstarter, Crowdsource, Indiegogo or Appbackr that allow musicians, creators, and developers to post their projects for funding offers directly to interested buyers and investors and make them into reality. There are many benefits from using this business model, among them: direct, short-cut marketing and advertising, faster revenue generation, and more opportunities for development and expansion.

Mass sponsorship, with real-time funding

The actual concept isn’t new – many instances of public or mass-funded funded projects already happened in the past, it’s just that only in recent years that we formalised it, labeled the concept, and made into a legit movement. It’s also a better alternative to getting sponsors to fund a medium to large-scale project. Today it is a well-known avenue to traverse for getting something done and funded faster through the power of internet mass sponsorship.

Crowdsourcing is in many ways a shortcut to get the product out direct to the real customers and distributors and investors without any middlemen, and with much faster-integrated marketing and advertising from the beginning that generates advanced sales and pre-orders to fully fund the project until completion.

When the project is launched, the advertising and marketing aspects are much more direct – those who sign up to pre-order are already instant paying customers. Once the goal amount has been reached, it means everything has been paid for and covered. Those who are really interested in the final product “invest” in it and pay a bigger share, staying with the product and being involved in its bigger potential after it has successfully launched. They become partners along the way with its future growth and expansion.

Those who stayed with the initial phase, development, and final process of the product also often get more than what they paid for, usually with bonus items, credits on the product as well as exclusive items and perks not available to the general public. Usually, once the project has been successfully funded, the initial batch of products is already accounted for.

Any further demand from the bigger, general public will yield a new batch already initially funded but will be relegated to normal public sales without any of the “first dibs” exclusives.

Among some exclusive benefits to participants in crowdfunding by paying for price-range package deals: a guarantee to receive the final and completed version first before anyone else, exclusive items, bonuses, credits, and possibly others. The price range of package deals will be varying, with “deluxe” package deals that include other bigger benefits and additional perks and items.

There will also be a standard price package deal for just the standalone item. But they will all be exclusive pre-orders and will be different from the subsequent public offering, should there be demand after the project has sold out.

This is the same for distributors and investors, with added advantages for the latter as they have a bigger pay share and will be further involved in its further growth and development if the creators decide to push the funded project further.

Some of these investors will even purchase the whole company, operation, and the product/service/offering and develop it as a business on their own. On the part of the creators and developers, it also eliminates bogus buyers and guarantees sales needed to cover the cost from start to finish. And most important of them all, they realise their vision plus months or even years of hard work into a full, working, and money-making reality.

Great Success

Compared to traditional start-up projects, crowdsourcing has many great advantages over it as long as it is done right and the product or service offered is something of great interest to customers, distributors and investors. It lets developers and creators focus on the creation and development aspect of the product, ensuring a well-developed final product in the end to meet the quality control standards of the people behind it and those who supported the project and bought or preordered the item. It does away with ineffective marketing and advertising by bringing the product or item direct to paying customers, distributors and investors. It also offers a more realistic business model that has less financial risks and faster processing. The market is more exclusive, but potentially much bigger depending on the interest it generates online.

Obituary and Failure: Albums successfully funded by fans

Among those that have used crowdsourcing to great success are many; For some solid examples: old school death metal kings Obituary’s most recent album on Relapse Records, 90’s space rock power trio Failure’s comeback album and the reissue of one of the greatest rock albums of all time – Fantastic Planet; there’s also a device to help smokers quit the habit called Quitbit; There’s also the earlier version of The Oculus Rift and its Control VR accessory set; new, exciting, useful add-on gadgets that work with smartphones with an app, extending them into specialised devices beyond their original function.

There are also many independent projects for apps, games, and software of all kinds as there are custom and very specific-market items like advanced remote control drone/camera hybrid action device projects, specially crafted and illuminated bicycle sets for exclusive use for night biking, various indie films from different countries, from zombie horror apocalypse shockers to documentaries; a device like TrackR, is a stick-able chip that tracks anyone, anything from anywhere via a smartphone; a – get this – Robocop statue for Detroit (almost ready for launch, but not yet installed), specially made animated books for kids, and even a zombie-based geography class, among many others currently funding, and many others
about to start.

Tons of brilliant, fresh, new ideas, not enough time and money to check them out and fund them. There are quite many innovative ideas and products out there that deserve to be mass-funded and become real-life products and not just remain on many drawing boards, or dormant ideas from people who need just a little help online to come true.

The list of products and services are limitless as crowdsourcing goes on every year, fulfilling creators’ dreams and visions into working (and money-generating) reality, and offering ultra-first dibs and exclusives to early-bird supporters and participants everywhere.