Sellaband – A Truly Distributed Music Business
Today Johan Vosmeijer and Pim Betist of Sellaband.com will start writing about the goals and background of a real innovation in running a music business based on profit sharing and bringing together artists and music lovers directly. This is the start of a series by OpenBusiness.cc featuring cutting edge entrepenuers and thinkers.
While “big music” is in crisis and their business model seems increasingly outdated innovation is happening at the edges. Sellaband is an extremly inspiring example of how the disintermediation pf old music models by the internet produces new immediate platforms where artists, marketing, distribution (of the music and profit) become a combined package (for film see: Revver.com).
Sellaband is the idea of the Dutch entrepreneur Pim Betist, and has been managed by Johan Vosmeijer, a former Sony BMG executive who left the industry to start something new.
On www.sellaband.com Artists and fans have one goal. Make music and profit together. Artists load up their music and profile. Fans look for Artists they like and believe in. With $10, they become Believers by buying a piece of an Artist’s future income on SellaBand. Once an Artist has reached the goal of $50,000, SellaBand uses this amount to record a CD. Then they provide the Artist with a high end studio, an experienced A&R manager and a top producer. After that they send the music in exclusive digipacks to the Believers.
Both Believers and Artist are now in business together. The music is given away for free on our website. The generated advertising revenues are being split evenly between the artist, the believers and SellaBand.
And the concept works. The Times recently wrote “visit this web page — www.sellaband.com/danielwm — and “believe”. So far 134 people, including strangers from as far away as Hong Kong, have taken him at his word, gone to his web page and “believed” by investing spare cash to a current total of $5,430.”
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8 Responses to “Sellaband – A Truly Distributed Music Business”
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Here is another write of of Sellaband I have run across:
http://www.digitalproductions.co.uk/index.php?id=39
all the best,
drew
I like Sellaband on one level, but this is very ‘safe’ innovation, they’re not pushing the envelope any. Small steps are fine, but big steps (yes, my project A Swarm of Angels counts here) are more exciting and challenging.
There’s various ways I think Sellaband could push the model. And it’s also easier to do with music. But maybe we’ll see this in their next stage (with the first successful band album launch).
Saying this, the more successes in the space I think the better for all of us.
matthanson
I would like A Swarm of Angels a lot more if the things produced were under a Free license. The model could still work that way. I encourage participants to try BY-SA for the next project.
Same funding model, just all footage, sound, everything put under a copyleft license.
all the best,
drew
Swarm of Angels is a very creative project, but to call it a ‘big step’compared to SellaBand is not something I would have expected from its creator (or so it seems). It’s a bit like the “mine is bigger than yours” thing we used to do in Highschool;-)
Judging from the reactions we have been getting from both artists and fans, we are currently pushing the envelope far enough and the fact that even a lot of people from major record-companies are watching us and have reached out to us to compliment us with the concept and the execution of it is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m not ashamed to say that while we give a clear picture of what the future of recorded music may look like, we still hold on to some proven (traditional if you will) values as well. It’s the combination of different views and angles that will make it work.
Johan, I think I can see what Matt Hanson is saying here. It’s the same thing that I posted to this blog, basically. I would say that you are pushing one type of “envelope”, and that “envelope” is getting fans more involved in the decision making process, by offering them incentives. And the other envelope you’re pushing is open the door to more people, to make it possible for more artists to have a go at trying to succeed in the music business. So, you are pushing some envelopes.
But, the envelope that you are not (yet) pushing is in the realm of musical innovation and creativity. It’s not surprising that major record companies are watching you, and they will probably be very interested in the product that comes out of Sellaband process. They’ll be interested because the musical product is guided and shaped to appeal to major record company templates, and commercial radio formats (judging by the current top 30 on Sellaband jukebox). There are undoubtedly millions of people who like this kind of music. But there is no way to pretend that the much of the music is anything but bland and derivative. The music itself is not cutting edge, it is not groundbreaking or innovative. That is because the music is shaped and designed to appeal to commercial radio and major record label A&R people.
But, what if artists were allowed to have more control over their music production, image, etc? What would the music be like then? What kind of music would rise to the top? What if independent studio emgineers were allowed to take a copy of the studio tracks, and mix and master them in different ways, and then upload the result and have the fans vote on that? What if artists (or even fans) were given tools to collaborate with each other more, to co-create multitrack recordings by sharing on the internet, to let artists control the rights to their music, to give artists access to tools that allow them to experiment with new technologies? What kind of music would emerge from something like that?
Hi Sam,
Fair comment. I will not be the judge of the quality/creativity of the music on SellaBand (although there are dozens of bands/artists that I think are really talented), because that was precisely my role at major record companies and it’s something I’ve done. look back on with pleasure, but I have moved on, and perhaps so should the music-industry.
There is one important aspect of SellaBand that I want to put straight, though and that is creative freedom. Anyone who signs on to SellaBand will be in control of their own creativity. Artwork, number of songs, producer, studio, engineer: it’s the artist’s decision. What we (traditionally) call an A&R on SellaBand, is much more a person who guides the whole process and will be there for the artist if and when they need him/her. It is also to make sure that something productive comes out of the whole process, something that the Believers are likely to be happy with. But, the way you want to record, what you want to record, where you want to record and who you want to record with is YOUR decision. We just make sure it fits into the budget. The give you some proof of this, let me tell you that Nemesea, the first band to have raised the full 50k on SellaBand have submitted their wishlist and we are in touch with all these people to see if they are willing and available. Also, the band have explained to us what they wany, how and where they want to record and SellaBand is going to make this happen. Utimately the creativity lies in their own hands, so I would say that we are ‘pushing the envelope’ in that area as well!
Well, I think it’s great that it’s the artist’s decision. I wasn’t really able to discern this from the agreement or general information on the website. It might not be important for everyone, but it could be key for certain types of bands and artists on their decision whether or not use Sellaband. I’d like to suggest that the Sellaband site FAQ describe what you say above, because right now, it reads:
“What influence do I, as an artist, have on the recording process?
It’s your music, it’s your choice. So yes you have influence on the recording process. You are responsible for the end result of the recording process. But the A&R Manager is there to help you to get the most out of you, to get the best producer and studio and to make sure that you stay within your budget.”
Which leads me to believe, as an artist, that I would have some A&R guy standing over my shoulder. What is the exact decision making role of the A&R manager?
Of course, if I look at the other side of the coin, I suppose I can see why an A&R person need to be there for bands or artists who are not very hands-on with recording and overall decision making.
Anyway, the bottom line is that it’s good thing in my eyes that you are letting the artists have some creative control. Thanks for the clarification.
Hi Sam,
Sorry for the late reply, I was out for business yesterday. Thank you for your post. There are lots of new features and applications to be added to http://www.sellaband.com. The website is far from finished and we still see it as a ‘work in progress’. That is not a lame excuse for any flaws in the concept on or the platform, but it’s simply the reality for many startups. SellaBand is no exception to this rule. We’ve only been going for a little over 100 days and we are simply overwhelmed by the positive feedback we’ve been getting and by the many bands and countless Believers who are spreading the word on our behalf.
I also want to take the opportunity to thank the people behind openbusiness to invite us for this blog. It was fun to do and useful for us to comment on things that were apparently not totally clear to some people until now.
If there are any questions left, please do not hesitate to ask them here, or post them at: info@sellaband.com and I’ll get straight back to.
All the Best,
Johan V