Where's My Money?
The SellaBand Tribune is not only a platform for exposure for Artists and Believers, but will also be used for different subjects that may be of importance for all users of SellaBand. In the past days and weeks a lot of people have reached out to us with questions that basically came down to this: Where do you guys keep 'our' money, and, what happens to that money in case SellaBand goes bankrupt? Because from the outset we have chosen to be as transparent as possible, here are some straight answers:
Escrow account
All the Believers money is kept on a so called escrow account. Escrow basically means that the account is trusted and executed by a third person, in our particular case, a notary-by-law from Bocholt in Germany (the city where our bank is and where we have registered the company). According to German law, the SellaBand GmbH & Co. KG owns the account, but cannot touch that money. Only our financial facilitator, Global Collect BV, an independent Dutch company, can use the money a/ for refunds and b/ when an artist has raised 50k, to transfer that sum to a different account. In the latter case, the full sum will be used to record the music and to manufacture and distribute the 5,000 digi-packs.
Titanic
So, what happens in the (unlikely) event that SellaBand stops to exist. Well, at the moment a potential bankruptcy is the furthest thing from our mind, but hypothetically it is still a possibility. If the company folds, all Believers will get their money back, minus the transaction costs for executing the administrative handling (usually a small percentage). So, to cut a long story short: your money is in safe hands, can be refunded at all times (until your artist of choice has officially raised 50k of course) and will be re-allocated to you in case this beautiful cruise-ship called SellaBand turns into a modern day Titanic.
I’m a Believer
“The only thing I don’t like about SellaBand is that I didn’t come up with it myself.”
Every week we invite another Believer to tell us who they are, which bands they like and why they’ve taken SellaBand to heart. This week it’s Stoyan Gaydarov, born in Bulgaria, but currently at home in the United States. He’s only 19 years old but sure knows what he likes and even predicts who will be the first band ever to raise the full 50k...
Tell us a little bit about yourself
“My name is Stoyan Gaydarov and I live in Glenview, IL (USA). I am 19 and I am a full time student and I am employed part time. I work for a bank as a web programmer and I am studying computer science. Most of my time is spent in class, at work, programming/gaming and my friend’s house. I was born in Bulgaria which is in Eastern Europe but I live in the US now. In high school two of my friends and I made a t-shirt design that made us a good amount of profit and we had a nice dinner just the three guys on the “company”.
How did you find out about SellaBand?
“I found out about SellaBand through TechCrunch, a blog about new and innovative startups as well as old but innovative companies. They did an article on SellaBand the day after it came out and after reading it I couldn’t leave the SellaBand website. I have been going back just about every day to check up on my bands and to see how others are doing; I also like checking some of the newly added bands to see if I like them.”
What attracts you to the concept?
“I think that the music industry is in need of reform and that this is a great new idea that could change the way people find new music. The fact that I as the consumer get to choose what I listen to and I get to decide which band I want to support and see succeed makes it so much better for me. The whole concept works like a stock market of bands and if you like a band and want to invest in them then you can do so and if they raise enough money, you get a return on your investment. You get a new CD from a band you like, as well as some money from the ad revenue. If the band doesn’t do as well in the future and nothing happens, you still only paid $10 for a nice CD that would have cost you more at the store. By believing in a band you are becoming part of their future and you will forever know that you helped them get where they are and that feeling is something you can’t get when buying a CD at the store.”
What would like to see added or changed to the website?
“The only thing I don’t like about SellaBand is that I didn’t come up with it myself. The thing that I would like to see added to the website is the addition of the Believer pages as well as a favorites section for the individual believers. That way if you really like a song but don’t or can’t invest in the band but still want to show you like them you should be able to add them to a small list in your profile. The addition of a playlist in the Believer profiles would also be a great thing to add.”
What do you look for in music?
“When I look at the song from the different bands I look for something that I wouldn’t mind listening to again. When I come to a band I want to check out I look at their songs and I pull up the stand alone player and let it play as I continue surfing the web. If it’s a good song I can tell because I like it more the second time around, and I know that if I had the song on my playlist I would be listening to it in the same manner and would enjoy it. I don’t have a particular style of music that I listen to, so anything I come across is fair game.”
Who are your favorite SellaBands?
“I like Nemesea, for their song ‘No More’ because it reminds me of Evanescence and their unique style. I also like the band Driven Under, although its not as popular as Nemesea it still has its perks. The band has some nice sound and I hope that they get out of their downhill slope. When I first believed in them they were doing ok, and then they started going up, but once Nemesea got to about 7 or 8 thousand people stopped believing in them. I didn’t and I still think that if people go back and listen to the songs again they might agree with me. The other artist I like is Cubworld, this guy is really great, I spoke to him through a couple of emails and he sent me the real CD for free. I received it in the mail about a week later, and it was just as good as the songs on his profile.”
Any other acts you are keeping an eye on?
“Second Person might be one of the next big hits to look out for. They have a very refined sound and I think they might be getting a strong following soon if it hasn’t started yet. I think that they might even be the second band to get a CD out, but that’s just my thoughts. I also think that Cubworld could pick up some fame if he keeps up what he is doing, and the addition of his video will surely attract even more people to him and to SellaBand as a whole. There is another band called “Off Elm Street” but they haven’t yet finished their band page, this is a local group that one of my friends is part of, and I told him about SellaBand and he created the profile on the spot, I think that once it’s done, it might be worth checking it out.”
Artists on SellaBand
"Sellaband is fantastic for artists who just want a platform to get their music out there and to actu
ally build relationships with their supporters. To actual have people who buy into you is pretty incredible and it just gives you the drive to keep pushing on! What's different about Sellaband is that everyone has the chance to make it and proves there is room for everybody. It totally breaks down that misconception that only the lucky few will even have a sniff at success. At last, it's all about the music"
www.sellaband.com/MitraDjalili
"I heard about Sellaband on French national radio
so i visited the site just after arriving at my home, and my songs were online only five minutes after.
It's a great feeling to know that people from all over the world can hear and "believe" in my songs. Now i'm waiting for some of these believers..."
www.sellaband.com/KidFrancescoli
Q + A KANE SOLE
He just missed out on making the cut for the first SellaBand Presents... CD, so the least we could do was give him a big feature in this weeks’ Tribune. And besides that, over here at SellaBand HQ, we’ve all been true Believers in this talented young man from New Zealand, since the day he accepted the challenge and uploaded his music on our website. Currently based in the Republic of Korea, Kane Sole is a man with a story to tell...
How are you doing? Many people have expressed their disappointment, after you didn't make it to the first SellaBand CD.
”Initially I was pretty bummed out about not making the CD, it would have been a great vehicle to further promote my music, and an amazing chance to expose my music directly to many people in the industry. I also felt a sense of disappointment for my Believers, they have been awesome…I really wanted them to have that CD. It's all good though, I understand that the road ahead is not always going to be a bed of roses, and after all, that's what makes life interesting. The silver lining to this cloud is the support and concern I have been shown by a lot of people, thanks everyone!”
Why did you join SellaBand?
”I heard about the concept of Sellaband from one of Nemesea's Believers, this happened not long after I arrived in South Korea. It sounded like such a good idea and the ideal opportunity to start
gaining some interest while anticipating my planned move to London; it was one thing I could do right away in a country where I had no idea of where to start.”
What's your overall feeling after being an artist on SellaBand for almost 2 months now?
”To be honest the two months have flown by. The whole Sellaband experience began pretty much at the same time as my Korean culture shock, and so it's been a double dose of excitement. On the one side I am immersed in this foreign environment -which has been incredibly eye opening. Experiencing the kinetics of a different culture is helping me grow a lot as a person; it has put into perspective the need for a greater cultural awareness by all. On the other side there's Sellaband. Being involved with Sellaband has also been an enlightening experience, the generosity and support I've been shown by so many people is a very humbling thing, I am eternally grateful to everyone who has believed. Sellaband has proven itself to be a great avenue for me to gain support and exposure, it is also the ideal place for artists to network and communicate with each other. So as you can see, both these two new, exciting things have made for a hectic couple of months.”
Do you have a realistic view on when you want your 50k to be in your account?
”I would love to have the target reached by the time I get to London, but the end of 2007 would still be nice! There are a lot of variables; the key is definitely going to be continually introducing new people to my music.”
How do you try to find/convince new Believers?
”So far the Internet has been my main the source of marketing, I'm in the awkward position of being in here with no band, it's very frustrating. I have been promoting myself at open mic venues, and in the process, meeting other musicians with the intent of doing some bigger gigs. In the interim though my email address book, Myspace, and of course Sellaband are my primary tools for networking and promotion.”
Any idea/preferences on who you'd like to work with, when you get to record your album?
”Someone with a good background in acoustic music, I would Love to work with someone like JP Plunier. The production aesthetics of Jack Johnson's 'Brushfire Fairytales', and Ben Harper's 'Fight For Your Mind' are awesome. Working with someone of that caliber would do wonders for my sound, the production quality of the songs I've posted here on sellaband are a long way from where I want them to be, I'm really excited about getting into the studio with my new material.?
You live in South Korea now. What's the musical climate like, over there?
”From what I have been exposed to so far, South Korea wouldn't be my first choice of destination to start a career in music. The 'grass roots' level music scene for western acts has been quite limiting. There are only a few select regions in Seoul around the American Army bases that cater for original western music. Outside these areas western music is understandably fairly scarce. As much as it feels quite detached from the outside musical sphere South Korea does get its share of big acts coming through. The Black Eyed Peas recently toured, so did Jason Mraz, and Tommy Emmanuel is currently on tour here, as is Jay Z. A lot of Korean bands have really embraced the punk and metal genres, I went to a music festival the other week and there was some really well crafted music on display. The language barrier can also be problematic at times, but you deal with what you've got and get on with it. While my partner and I are here ‘getting back on our feet' I'll be keeping as busy musically as I can.”
Any other artists on SellaBand you particularly like?
”There are heaps of great musicians/bands on sellaband, but the stand out artists for me are Daniel Ward-Murphy - I love his string arrangements and very warm sound, Cubworld's acoustic/electronic mix is great- Its something I'd like to experiment with in the future, and Second Person-their sound is very slick, I'm a big fan of Portishead and Massive Attack; I hope they don't mind the comparison… Emily's Playground are also another very talented group, the songs they've posted are intelligently intriguing and at times a twisted experience…Also if you're a fan of hardcore metal you should go and check out Blacktooth..…I'll stop there...”
In her own words... Vicky Failure
Scandinavia has always been a fertile ground for great pop acts. In the near future we hope to welcome a whole lot of Northern European future popstars. One of these great talents has already joined us; it’s 19 year old Vicky Failure from Sweden.
”It was actually a friend of mine who told me about SellaBand and he thought it sounded like a really good concept for bands and artists, so I decided to join. Well, first off I thought it sounded like a great opportunity for me as an artist to make myself heard and let other people listen to the stuff I make on my own. I really like the idea of people getting to support the ones they like and actually get a share of the whole thing. That's what I thought was great about it. Not only do they get to see their favorite artist/band make it, but they also get something. It's great!”
Personal episodes
”The whole "Vicky Failure" thing started out like two years ago. When I decided I wanted to actually try and write my own stuff and everything. After playing for almost nine years now and listening to all my favorite stuff (and als influences) like, Tegan and Sara, Michelle Branch and Anna Ternheim. That's when I decided to write on my own, for real. I want people to be able to relate to my music, and maybe even help them. Since I only write about my own personal "episodes" of my life. Then maybe I can help someone out by letting them know about my experiences. I guess it's a mix of different styles, but mostly pop/rock acoustic. But maybe not that radio sound. I just write whatever I think sounds good and I'm happy with and would want to listen to.”Making a difference
”I would love to be able to travel all around the world and just sing and play guitar. So I guess touring and maybe making a difference. That kind where maybe one day someone will tell me that my music have helped them get through something. That would mean the world to me to hear. But I guess mostly I just want to keep making music, since music is my life. I'm hoping that people will give me a chance to make an album, and I promise that I would really give it my all. I would do the very best I could. But I know there's a lot of other talented musicians out there, and I do wish them all the best. I'd just love to get the chance to be able to make something out of all my songs.”www.sellaband.com/vickyfailure
Introducing... Emily’s Playground
Not only do we have a whole bunch of professional A&R Experts on SellaBand, but it’s also the artists themselves who are keeping an eye on new arrivals. Within days of uploading their music, France’s Emily’s Playground received ‘fanmail’ from Cubworld and Kane Sole. Their mainly instrumental songs are like a 21st Century take on Pink Floyd. Even the band name seems to refer to one of the mighty Floyds’ songs: See Emily Play. Having said that, Emily’s Playground mesmerizing electronic attacks are firmly rooted in the current Parisian music-scene, made famous by the likes of Air and St. Germain. Emily’s Playground joined SellaBand when they heard about the concept on French radio.
A revolution
“We were immediately taken by the originality of the concept”, say bi-D and viNz, who together make up Emily’s Playground. “Perhaps we were a little bit jealous not to have created it ourselves. We love the creativity of the marketing concept and the fact that both artists and Believers are much more linked. Of course, this model could become a revolution versus the industrialization of art and especially music. As we are bored to hear sterilized music, we really hope this model will perpetuate and explode to propose to the public new bands, new kind of music.”
Tortured and imaged
The concept of Emily’s Playground is quite intriguing. Explains bi-D: “Emily's Playground is 2 guys inspired by an electronic woman named e-MILY. we narrate her life, translating the image of her life from our heads to our instruments. Our stuff is a strange mixture of ElectroPop and acoustic instruments. We're inspired by British music of the 70's and film music and enjoy reproducing this kind of atmosphere with nowadays sound. Our music is most often tortured and imaged.” This French duo (or should we say threesome?) are quite clear about their ambitions: ”Making you having the creeps when listening our music.” Their music is what you would call an ‘acquired taste’. However, the first Believers have called in and the band is convinced that soon other people will follow: “Right now, based on the time we are registered on SellaBand, and the parts we sold: mathematically it would take about 10 years, hahaha. But, seriously, we hope it will be quicker because we have so much to propose...”
www.sellaband.com/emilyplayground/
Weekly update
SellaBand is now exactly 10 weeks old and we are about to welcome our 500th Band on the site. Also we are heading towards 75,000 Parts being sold, as well as 3,000 registered Believers. We’ve had over 1,000,000 pageviews and our minds still boggle if we look at those numbers. But, the best is probably yet to come, with more and more news articles coming in the next few weeks.
First day of Believing
Some may have noticed that until recently, if you decided to buy more Parts, the date of Believing would change as well. Several Believers have pointed out to us that this is in fact quite unfair, because it might seem like jumping on the bandwagon, whereas in fact they were among the first pioneers. So, we’ve now changed that process. From now on, your ‘First day of Believing’ will always show on the band’s profile, no matter how many extra Parts you decide to buy at a later stage.
Video
A repetition of last weeks’ message, but Artists, please do use the option to add videos to your profile, and Believers, if you notice the video-tab on an Artists’ page, then you can take time out to watch some moving pictures of your favorite acts(s).
Believer profiles
It’s coming, it’s coming, we’re only asking for a couple of more days of your patience. The creation of the Believers profile is now in its final stage and will be up there in the next day or two. You will be able to upload a picture, blog, show your Believements and post comments. The designs are being tweaked at this very moment and we should be ready to go anytime now. Watch the newsticker for exact details.
Pick Of The Week
Adam Sieff (center) with producer Tony Platt and artist Ana Silvera
This week we’ve include some free advice for SellaBand artists (see below). It’s written by our resident A&R man Adam Sieff, who’s already worked with tons of great artists, including James Brown
To give you and idea where Adam’s coming from, we start off with letting him choose his favorite artists on SellaBand. Here’s his Pick of the Week:
1. Daniel-Ward Murphy
Plenty has already been written about Daniel in the Tribune but his talent deserves it. I’ve seen him perform live and he puts on an excellent show – and that voice is something else.
2. Kane Sole
Kane’s a truly great artist and was really unlucky to miss out on making the top ten for the Sellaband promo CD. But he’ll make it in the end – his songs are just so appealing.
3. Roland Perrin
Roland is one of the best Cuban and jazz pianists I’ve heard and writes terrific music for your head and feet. Now if he’d only get off his ass and make people listen he’d be a star!
How To Make Sellaband Work For You
or…. if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
So, here you are. You’ve signed up to Sellaband, uploaded some of your music, written a biography and posted your tour dates.
Now what? Well, you have a choice. You can either…
A) Do nothing and hope somebody stumbles over your music and becomes a Believer or…
B) Get active, take control and make SellaBand work for you.
As Julia from Second Person said, “Sell(otape) and (Rubber)Band – SellaBand is about doing it yourself”. And although that wasn’t exactly where the idea of the name came from there’s something in what she says. It’s your music and your choice after all. And it’s largely your choice whether you succeed or not – just like life!
Step One: Believe in yourself and get Believers believing in you.
You must take yourself and your music seriously. It’s up to you to start the ball rolling as no one is likely to invest in a band that has no Believers. So start small and build big – your friends, family and core fanbase are the obvious places. And never feel shy about asking people to get involved – most will be delighted you’ve asked them.
Step Two: Tell all the people
Send all your MySpace friends a personal note why they should believe in you and not just post an impersonal bulletin and expect people to react. Why should they – would you?
Put Sellaband logos and page details on your posters and gig flyers.
Add logos and info to CDs you sell at gigs.
Plug your SellaBand page in all your press, radio and online promotion.
Use the free tools ‘Tell A Friend’ email and ‘Promote’ link that you’ll find on your Artist page.
Step Three: Once you’ve got them treat them well and keep them
Respond to your Believers and thank them for investing in you.
Add new music or remixes – keep your site fresh. By the way, did you know you can add videos too?
Ask your Believers to drop by and meet you at gigs – you can even save them good seats.
Good luck and make Sellaband work for you. Hope you get to that recording studio soon!