The first $50,000 are in!
Things that happened in the last 7 days
Quite a few things have happened in the past week, so here is a little update on where we stand with www.sellaband.com and, more importantly, what has happened to some of the bands on our website.
First of all, it’s official; 5,000 Parts have now been sold on SellaBand. In the words of our Music Director Dagmar Heijmans: “Virtually we could now be in business; if all Believers would decide to put all their Parts on the same Artist, we’d be uncorking a bottle of champagne and could be off to the studio recording our first CD.” While there is truth in this assumption, the fact of the matter is that the money is currently shared between over 100 Artists, while a lot of Believers have bought Parts but apparently have yet to decide which artist(s) will get their money. But, all in all, after exactly 8 weeks online, we feel that this landmark is quite an achievement and is an indication of the faith that people seem to have in both the music and the concept of SellaBand.
Nemesea is in control
This Sunday (October 8), Nemesea were the first act to surpass the 12,500 mark. This means that the Dutch band now have raised 25% of the required budget. They added a second track to their profile page and within 24hours, ‘In Control’ received over 1,000 spins. In other words, people clearly have been waiting for this songs and to be honest it reminded us of the online listening parties that we used to organize in our record company days. Well done Nemesea and judging by the Believers reactions, ‘In Control will certainly help you on your way to the 50% mark.
Fakes are doing fine
We think of them as long time friends already, but it’s actually only two weeks ago that The Fakes from France joined SellaBand. In that short period of time they have raised $5,000, or 10% of the required budget. We’re equally thrilled by the beautiful and exotic names of some of their Believers. In fact, although France is quite close to SellaBand HQ, Emmanuel .... and his Band & Believers gave us a real feeling of global appreciation of our concept. Says Emmanuel: “I am really glad The Fakes hit the 10% milestone. It is a great signal for us, for our believers and for SellaBand. I hope we will be able to continue on this track with the new songs we will soon be posting.”
The French are coming! 
Speaking of French music, we’ve experienced a huge increase in French music on SellaBand. Lots of new acts and many new Believers from France (and other French speaking territories) have joined in the last couple of days. An article by French press agency AFP, with the headline ‘Fans investisseurs et musiciens se retrouvent sur Internet’. The English translation of the article said: ‘Website challenges music fans to put their money where their mouth is’. Nice to see that this is exactly what many French Believers are currently doing. Merci beaucoup! Zenyth
We received a nice note from Welsh band Zenyth, a SellaBand almost from day one, who informed us that “We have been nominated by the voting public and are in the Last 4 for the BEST LIVE
UNSIGNED ACT in the Vodafone Live Music Awards. We are going to the Awards on Wednesday (October 11)and it will be Televised on E4 and Channel 4 (in the UK). We will be rubbing shoulders with some mosters in the industry, such as; The Who, Coldplay, U2, Raxorlight and many many more.”
www.sellaband.com/zenythmusic
If more bands want to inform the Tribune of there whereabouts and newsworthy achievement, please feel free to so so at: info@sellaband.com
Free CD
And finally a reminder, that October 15 is less than a week away, which means that our sweet competition is entering its final stsges. Competition? To all newbies: yes, SellaBand is about to release a free promo-CD and, being true democrats, it is up to you to decide which 10 Bands will have a track on this compilation. At 6PM Central European Time on October 15, we will take a picture frame of page 1 of our Artist section, and whover is in the Top 10 at that moment will be on that CD. This album (meant to be wrapped in a nice digi-pack) will be sent to media, radio-stations and advertising companies all around the world. Also, all Believers that own Parts from any of these Top 10 Bands, can order a copy of this CD, free of charge.
Pick of the Week
As you may have noticed, the Charts are now live and will be updated daily. Every week we’ll add the independent opinion of one of our Experts. This week it’s Germany’s Lars Grewe, who, in a previous life worked with global superstars at Universal Music, He now manages his own music-company in Berlin, and was kind enough to take time out and tell you which 3 SellaBand acts could become the next global superstars...
Man, there is already so much great music to find on sellaband, it's really a f..... hard job to decide! ok. here are 3 acts I really like - but believe me: there are many, many more who should be mentioned..........
1 An Nedolas
Finest german songwriting. An is a great singer with a fantastic voice. Very deep, emotional lyrics.
2 Totem Spectre
If you like Kraftwerk, Chameleons, The Mission.........you'll love Totem Spectre.I really like the sounds they're using!
3 Sweet Suzi
Great band, great singer! Very powerful punk/pop/rock from UK. Would love to see them live!!
Q + A HEADPHONE
“We will let our Believers choose the right song!”
Residing in SellaBand’s Top 10 since day one is Belgium’s Headphone. Sophisticated popsongs with soothing melodies and a sharp edge are their trademark. Who is/are hiding behind that intriguing black and white image on their profile page? Hightime for a further introduction.
1. Can you gives us a bit of background on Headphone?
Sure. In the winter of 2002 Ian started to record his own songs in his home studio - and you should take this literally; we're talking about his bedroom here - he started experimenting with sound, trying not to anger my family and neighbors. The latter isn't easy when your wife is trying to get some sleep in the same room and when your house is in the centre of the city (Ghent/Belgium). Most of the time he worked wearing headphones. That's why we picked up the name HEADPHONE in the first place. Encouraged by friends Headphone left this bedroom studio for the first time Mid 2003. Ian put up the HEADPHONE website, got noticed and received some invitations to play live. One demo song even got to appear in an American movie (Townies). So Ian definitely needed to put together a band. It took some time to find the right people but today headphone`s creative side consists of Ian and Nico who complete their dedicated band with 3 more musicians. This allows us to perfectly build up a live show preserving the tension and atmosphere already present in currently recorded songs. We did a lot of gigs with the band from 2003 onwards, won some national contests and did a Scottish tour.... We decided to record / pre-produce the debut album in January this year and decided to join Sellaband in August....
2. Why did you join SellaBand?
Because today it is so difficult for any new band to get noticed or supported by the traditional music
industry. And even if you get some attention, the chances of getting a fair record deal are pretty small. So Sellaband was that chance we were looking for. A great forum to promote our music. Actually be able to reach out to fans on a worldwide scale and with a fair chance they`ll also support us. These are the things that will really make a difference! And Sellaband has a unique way of doing this. From the start we felt that this was the way to go. We are pretty determined and enthusiastic about the concept and will really go for it.
3. How well known is Headphone in Belgium?
As we have currently won a national contest which got a lot of media coverage and have in the past played at some considerably nice venues, it is fair to say that we`ve not gone unnoticed. But we still have to get that chance to reach out to a big audience. Getting your songs played on the national radio is not that easy over here... but we are working on it. Therefore having Sellaband, which does not shut out or favor any bands whatsoever, surely seems to us like a better way of providing everyone with a fair chance of being exposed to bigger audiences....
4. If you are in the Top 10 on October 15, which song would you like to include on the free SellaBand promo-CD?
Good question. But we currenlty haven`t thought about it yet. If we come to think of it, maybe we will leave it up to our believers and fans to decide via some online voting thing. After all, they will be receiving the CD....
5. If you raise the 50k, who would you like to work with and what kind of CD would you be making?
If we have one goal when actually putting any headphone songs on a CD, it would be to really not let anyone touch the atmosphere and intensity we like so much in each song. This doesn`t mean that our current recordings cannot be improved or changed in any way. We just need that one person to really dig in and really intensify what headphone is all about. Several names come to mind but just to name a few: Nigel Godrich or Ben Hillier would be nice and we`re pretty sure Mitchell Froom would do a fine job.... We also recently worked with Gilles Martin and Phil Vinall and were pretty pleased with the results.
6. People ask us what the band looks like. Why is there no picture on your profile page?
The "Little sad guy" currently on our profile page is the band logo. We think it perfectly illustrates what the music stands for. And we like to keep the focus on the music. But we are real people though. No martian spaceship that dropped us here. If you really want to know who`s behind the band, we have some nice pictures on our bandwebsite (www.headphone-music.com). And hey, I think we are in this Sellaband Tribune with a revealing picture... enjoy!
7. Are there any other artists on SellaBand that you like?
Yep. Cubworld drew our attention. We like the sound and the way he builds up an atmosphere...
8. Why should people Believe in Headphone?
"Authentic and genuine songs with an unmistakable dark side to them... " : that`s how we’ve described our music on our profile page. If a Believer`s musical taste, in any way, can fit the description above, we are sure headphone will not disappoint them. So hurry up, check our profile and give us a listen!
www.myspace.com/listentoheadphonemusic
Artists about SellaBand
It's not difficult to figure out how we feel about SellaBand, but what do the Artist think? Every now and then we'll ask some of them to say something nice...
"I think that SellaBand's strength lies in its simplicity, giving bands the the opportunity to become a functional entity without the obvious 'cons' of being involved with a major label. SellaBand, I believe has the potential to take over, where Myspace Music has fallen short as the place where new bands can meet not only fans, but potential business partners. I love the fact that artists are given the opportunity to contact their 'believers' and thank them for their support."
Agentx, United Kingdom
"Sellaband is a wonderful opportunity for musicians and songwriters to reach a worldwide audience. Without a doubt the inventors of Sellaband have the potential to benefit greatly from any listed artist who reaches the $50,000 goal, but given the exposure to believers, industry figures, and music lovers, I think it's a pretty good deal for artists too! From this artist's perspective, the immediate interest generated in my music is already an inspiration and motivation to continue with my creative pursuits."
GD Allan, Australia
"I first heard about Sellaband from my sister in London 2 months ago, and when I first saw the site I thought “This is going to be good”. I signed my band up on the spot and people have been listening to our music and buying shares ever since “What a concept”."
Muaw Dibe & The Awakening, Ireland
www.sellaband.com/muaw-dibe-and-the-awakening
"It is an incredible idea, and part of what makes the idea so great is that it is born out of real love for music. We love Sellaband!"
Second Person, United Kingdom
In their own words...
Lenaluiz
SellaBand is currently invaded by artists from France, a country with a rich and diverse musical heritage. Among the first French bands who joined us was Lenaluiz and they immediately struck a friendship with their Believers, with their fine blend of pop, latin and salsa. Here’s an introduction in their own words...
“When a friend told us about SellaBand everything seemed obvious, this was the perfect idea, the first really strong Internet alternative to the regular circuit of record companies and their incomprehensible rules on ‘what is sellable and what is not’. Well, isn’t the best way to find out by asking the people themselves? If they’re ready to put money on an unknown artist it’s because they want to hear him on the radios, simple! Plus, it’s like a giant (5,000 Believers) market inquiry, a direct link between people making music and their potential public.”
Alternative strategies
“Lenaluiz have been working on their project for two years now. Getting everything together around the two original founders Sonia Sala and André Margail. Quickly they teamed up with longtime friend Yann le Ker who helped on production and getting a band and management involved. Now everything is ready. Lenaluiz is a 5 piece band, with strong experience and a goal: get that project as far they can and start touring as soon as possible. For the last year, the band has been recording, and as of today, 12 songs have been achieved, waiting for that last spice that would make it our debut album. The music is a unique blend of Latin influences (Salsa, Bossa, Flamenco, anything Latin in fact…) and the music we grew up listening : Pop, Rock, Electro, Reggae , Power Pop... Like we mentioned in our profile, Lenaluiz influences are to wide to start dropping names, but you can always check our page on : myspace.com/lenaluiz where you will get more info on the band, pictures and videos.
Our goal today is to give our music as much exposure as we can and find the best partners for the years to come. We just started giving out CD’s to record companies in France and we’re looking for connections in Spain (which seems quite logical listening to our project !) and now that new alternative : Sellaband, crossed our path. As up to now it seems to be moving nicely and we’re taking it very seriously and like Martijn Groeneveld of Mailmen Studios is saying: ‘We believe in alternative strategies’. So, with your help, Believers, let’s make it to the 50 000$. Be curious, listen to Lenaluiz and if you believe it should be out there, get some parts and let’s start a partnership in that big adventure : is that going to make it ?! . Love and Peace!”
Sonia Sala: vocals
André Margail: guitar, bass
Yann le Ker: guitar, cuatro, tres
Vincent Guibert: keyboards, loops, bass
Juan "Pop" Beirieu: drums, percs
http://www.sellaband.com/lenaluiz
http://www.myspace.com/lenaluiz
I’m A Believer
That’s right. “I’m A Believer”, Neil Diamond’s classic pop-gem is now the final name under which we’ll publish a weekly portrait of a SellaBand Believer. You can volunteer for this once in a lifetime opportunity, by dropping us an e-mail at info@sellaband.com, or by leaving interesting comments on the artist pages. In the latter case, we will contact you and that is exactly what happened to Evrard Harris, a 26 year old doctor from Birmingham England, who tells us that “I attend lots of live shows and attend one of the big music festivals in England most years. I love any music that makes me stop and listen.” Evrard is active on SellaBand under his online monicker ‘campuslegend’.
Please tell us what is so special about this music site compared to others! How did you find it ?
I first heard about SellaBand from a website springwise.com that highlights new innovative business ideas from around the world. This was 2 days after the web site was launched. I had a look thought at it was brilliant because of the simplicity of the idea. I wish I thought of it first and wondered why no one thought of it sooner. You help an artist to make an album that you would have bought if it were in a record shop and in addition to helping an artist to fulfill their dream but you can also get paid for doing so. The idea works on so many levels. It is like pre-booking an album and possibly getting paid to do so. Buying one part will cost you less than it would cost to buy an album in England. Also as a group of Believers we could influence which songs are on the album by commenting on what we think of the songs both good and bad and it is refreshing when a band reply on the board and acknowledges a Believers’ comments.What attracted you to the concept?
I am a huge music fan and listen to lots of live gigs especially of new bands that are just starting out. I guess I love the feeling of being able to say I saw this band a long time ago when they were only playing in a small venue and I was there from the start. The beauty of this is that the artists are much more accessible before they get caught up in the whole fame and fortune machine, when they just wanted to play music they love. It is early days, but I genuinely believe that it can turn bands into celebraties. Nemesea, The Fakes and Cubworld are all well on their way to be the first to make it to 50 000. The site provides its own in built rating system, the better your sounds the more people believe and the higher up you are on the site. The first band to make it to 50000 will be always be able to say that they were their first and that in themselves will make them celebrities. I also take this process seriously as an investment. I would believe in bands that I think could make the 50 000 in the medium term and even make you a profit in that time frame. It is risky but it also very exciting. SellaBand makes you put your money where your mouth is. If you are willing to part with your money it shows that you truly believe and you therefore take ownership. The quality of most artists is astounding. I believe there are lots of bands with potential to make it. I tell everyone I know about the site and the songs I like.
