Fan Funding Choices for the D.I.Y. Musician

Fig.1

Fan funding has proven itself as a method for a musician to gain support for their projects directly from their fan base. Bruce Houghton wrote an article on Hypebot titled Music On Kickstarter By The Numbers [Stats], which highlights that the music category on Kickstarter.com has ranked number two in total funding, with over 38 million dollars raised. Houghton highlights on artist, Amanda Palmer, who as of this post has broke the record in raising funds for here current project by raising $360,000 in 48 hours. Palmer’s record breaking Kickstarter project was noted in another post by Houghton. A personal friend, mentor and fellow musician Lon Milo Duquette restarted his music career recently. Duquette used Kickstarter to help fund his latest album and far exceeded his goal of $4,350 raising a total of $7,345.

While this shows the good side of fan funding, one must remember that it requires some creative marketing, fans willing to open their wallets, and solid plan that can be followed through. Another area of concern is the ability to scam individuals using these funding sites. Peter Smith in his blog writes about one such incident involving a video game project on Kickstarter. His advise in the end is to be vigilant as an investor and research the projects before making a fund commitment and as users help police the site in order to keep it a viable source for all to use.

Beyond Kickstarter there are other fan funding sites that can be used by a musician. Gofundme.com is one such site with an advantage over using Kickstarter. This advantage is that the fundraiser can access the money raised to date without having reached the funding goal. This can allow the musician to begin a project as the funds flow in and not wait until a goal has been reached.

Either site can be useful to a D.I.Y. musician, take time to research and find the site that best meets the needs of the project.


Fig. 1 (n.d.). Kickstarter.com logo [digital image]. Retrieved from: http://www.hypebot.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2016765f8fecd970b-popup