Fan Funding

Over the past couple weeks there have been quite the heated debates sparking up about Kickstarter type projects and the role they have in this scene and music at large.  There are clearly two camps…one that is pro artists asking for money to fund recording projects and another staunchly against such a thing.

I first noticed it when Jason Eady tweeted that he needed some help finishing his upcoming album, AM Country Heaven, and had set-up various funding options for interested fans.  We re-tweeted that tweet and were immediately questioned by a fan that thought it was a) wrong for Eady to ask for money, mainly because he played a Gibson guitar, and who can argue with logic like that…and b) wrong for Galleywinter to use our platform to promote such a dastardly request from an artist.

Then, yesterday, Rita Ballou posted a link from Nick Verzosa making a similar case to his fans.  Just as swiftly as Eady had been questioned on Twitter a couple weeks prior, Verzosa was called to the carpet in the comments section at Rita Ballou.

My question to you is…what’s your take on this situation?

Personally, I see nothing wrong with an artist asking for donations to help fund a project.  We are in uncharted territory in the music business these days.  Why not think outside the box and try new ways of doing things?  If a fan feels compelled to donate money to an artist, that’s their business.  Nearly all recordings have a benefactor or person(s) that have invested the money up front for a return on investment.

One of our mottos is “Support music you love.”  That generally means going to shows, telling your friends about the bands etc.  But, there’s nothing that says it can’t be lending them a few bucks to record their next record.  In fact, I think that’s pretty cool.  It connects them to the project on a whole different level. Whether that connection comes from buying a couple t-shirts at gigs or giving $50 to get your name in the liner notes, it shouldn’t matter.

What’s your take?