Fans not yet believing the Public Enemy / SellaBand hype
In October, Public Enemy announced plans to fan-fund their next studio album, using SellaBand’s platform to raise $250,000 in individual donations of $25. It was big news for SellaBand at the time, and renewed proof of Chuck D’s eagerness to explore new music business models. So how’s it doing?
Er… not so well, to be honest. So far, Public Enemy have attracted 916 ‘believers’ on the site, donating a total of $71,625. They reached $50,000 from 700 fans on 21st October just a couple of weeks after the announcement, so the fundraising has slowed down considerably since then. With more than $178,000 to go, that new album may not be on the way anytime soon.
Proof that the fan-funded model doesn’t work? It’s a bit early to say that. Maybe the $25 minimum donation is too high, maybe the band’s fanbase has dwindled more than we thought since their heyday, or maybe people are looking at the huge amount still to be raised and deciding not to bother.
It’s to SellaBand’s credit that we can see this data openly, of course, and to Public Enemy’s credit that they’re trying this model. But it will be interesting to see how they try to reinvigorate demand from their fanbase to get the record made.
Tags: public enemy, sellaband
December 11th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
[...] 1 votes vote Fans not yet believing the Public Enemy / SellaBand hype In October, Public Enemy announced plans to fan-fund their next studio album, using [...]
December 11th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stuart Dredge, indienation. indienation said: RT @DIY_Musicians: Fans not yet believing the Public Enemy / SellaBand hype: http://bit.ly/7hjVib via @MusicAlly [...]
December 11th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
[...] Public Enemy sind das ganze alles ein wenig größer angegangen. Statt den üblichen 10,00 Dollar pro Part, haben die Rapper 25 Dollar angesetzt und wollen auch satte 250.000 US-Dollar sehen, um mit dem Album in Produktion zu gehen. Erstaunlicherweise ging das Konzept auch anfangs auf: Dank intensiver Medienberichterstattung erhielten die Jungs um Flava Flav wenige Wochen nach der Ankündigung durch 700 Fans eine Investition von 50.000 US-Dollar. Doch seitdem hat sich der Prozess verlangsamt. Bislang steht man bei 71.625 Dollar. [...]
December 15th, 2009 at 6:50 am
The target of 250K may be the main problem. Who will ever recover any money from sales with that kind of investment. And $25 for an album we have not heard may be a little steep too. PE were counting on their (former) fanbase to supply the money needed. Looks like not enough of them are interested to take part in their venture based on these figures.
Hind, a more recent Dutch artist who joined SellaBand seems to have had the better plan. Her first 40K was raised in just 12 days. And then she came back for another 30K (5K reached so far in just a week)Hind has been in the national news and on national TV with this, got a lot of media coverage, with a new surge of investment after every appearance.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
For me it shows how great expectations of fans are when musicians use crowdfunding to finance an album.
But I think SellaBand shows proof how true fans (believers) can be, if they are really involved from minute one.
And I think it simply takes time to raise 250k and the SellaBand concept will also work for PE finally. But you can’t force it.
December 21st, 2009 at 3:11 am
I am an independent artist who has used the sellaband model to raise funds to finish an album my modest budget of $20k US was reached in 4 months and 6 days .. I think when you read this article its clearly in the nutshell that the writer doesnt understand at all, how the model works. Its not a “donation” .. its a shareholding for a share of the PE Album. Infact a 33% share .. I know Im a shareholder.. or believer as its called .. Once people understand they “Own” a part of the project then the model works well (they replace the funding part of the record company)You still of course need your marketing set up . As merchant eyes writes above Dutch artist Hind made waves on the site and those waves affected me as in people saw her on Dutch TV came in bought a part of per project, then saw me on the charts and purchased a part in me as well ..
Im now about to record my album with http://www.alanjansson.com here in NZ and I plan on bringing my investors a ROI. I do not consider their investment a “donation”
December 21st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Hi Aly,
Thanks for your comment. The fault is mine in choosing ‘donation’ as a shorthand word to describe the SellaBand model – as you say, it’s an investment – something I am aware of, but didn’t explain in the piece.
I’d be interested to get your views on why you and Hind did well, and Public Enemy haven’t done so well though – do you think the model still suits artists looking for less cash? Or do you have any tips based on what you did that might apply to PE?
December 21st, 2009 at 10:16 pm
So far , Sellaband has been all about wishfull thinking and burning money . A Believer may get a few cents back for his/her investment , and in some cases a CD . So till now it has always been charity , though this was never the intention
.
. Ooops , I forgot to mention the “Fawlty Towers” kinda customer service from the Sellaband staff to both Artists and Believers . I think that the main reason things don’t work at Sellaband is the totaly autistic management . It must be possible to get such a model working … but not with these clowns 
.
The history of Sellaband is a history of mis-management and incidents like ; credit card fraud , a buggy website on wich it was possible to hijack any profle , a BIG U.S. tour in BIG Arenas ( Arenafest ) that never happened … and of course all Artists promised full return of investment , because their CD would be the best you could imagine . And some good CD’s have been released on the Sellaband label … but even that few good ones didn’t sell
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:55 pm
[...] Either way, it’s not good news for the company – and the impact remains to be seen on bands who’ve been raising money on its site, as well as fans who’ve stumped up cash. Most recently, SellaBand worked with Public Enemy, although recent days have seen media coverage of the band failing to reach its target – something Music Ally pointed out in December. [...]