Be Your Own Record Label, Buy Stock In A Band
A lot of people have talked about selling stock in bands as a means to help finance promising musicians. In Great Britain, a company called slicethepie.com is enabling fans to trade shares of music acts the way they would a publicly traded company. The Web start-up has financed 13 bands and generated the equivalent of nearly $80,000 for its 40,000 “scouts,” according to a story from Reuters. The company enables members to test their skills at evaluating talent and in this way they become mini music moguls.
“We effectively turn every music fan into a record label,” David Cortier-Dutton, the company’s CEO told Reuters. “Everyone can invest in new artists on an economically attractive basis.”
The good news for Americans is that you don’t need to live in Great Britain to invest This is the latest attempt to find an alternative business model for the ailing music industry and provide fans more direct interaction with entertainers.
A band would need to sell 100,000 albums for a major record label to break even. But at slicethepie.com, a band need sell only 1,000 units for the Web site’s members to make money. Investors receive $1.98 for every album sold. Artists are allowed to opt out and sign with a traditional label provided they pay a 50 percent premium.
Comments
Comment from Jason
Date: February 29, 2008, 1:10 pm
Sounds confusing.
Comment from Lucas
Date: February 29, 2008, 1:40 pm
Quite an interesting idea. Would be something if this actually became a popular way bands did business. I wonder where the promotion is going to come from then? Would the fans have to take care of that themselves? Not sure if this is a great idea…
Comment from Mikel
Date: February 29, 2008, 2:00 pm
http://www.slicethepie.com/About/FAQ.aspx
Maybe it says in there Luc, cause i’m interested too, but I’m at work and can’t read all that right now.
Comment from Deuce
Date: February 29, 2008, 2:04 pm
The last few lines make this sounds like a desperate attempt by the record industry to find new talent. It is cool though that they are paying people to do what most of us do already (unless Im misunderstanding this and its fantasy money or something).
Comment from pschrade
Date: February 29, 2008, 3:54 pm
there has been a site just like this around for a while… sellaband
Comment from Deuce
Date: February 29, 2008, 4:09 pm
Update: The trading thing is fantasy only in the US due to our laws. Thanks GW. Pretty cool site though, you can still make money through reviews and the bands Ive heard so far have some talent. Worth a look if you like finding new music.
Comment from twistedriffster
Date: March 1, 2008, 12:28 pm
sounds interesting. imagine if you discovered the next nickelback.
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