[Okgrantsmanship] MUSIC Entrepreneurship Grant

[Mason, Linda]

Please forward this to the music department or person at your school. It
is a fundraising program for music in higher education. 

 

You Be the VC 10.2
PLEDGEMUSIC
Web: www.pledgemusic.com
Twitter: PledgeMusic
Facebook: PledgeMusic

 

Business Idea: Provide musicians a platform to reach out to their fan
base to financially contribute to upcoming recordings or other musical
projects.  

 

Pitch: Musicians often have creative ideas for recordings or similar
projects but can't raise the money to move forward.  When their fans
hear that they've passed on an album or a creative new approach to
offering their music, they often react by saying or thinking to
themselves "Man-I wish there had been a way that I could have helped." 

 

Now there is.  Pledgemusic is a Kickstarter type Web site that allows
musicians to design fundraising campaigns to raise money for their next
projects.  Each fundraising campaign is accompanied by a video pitch
from the artist, explaining the project they have in mind.  The page for
the campaign includes a running tally of the amount of money that's been
raised and how much is needed to complete the campaign. A campaign must
reach its goal before any money is collected.  In exchange for their
contributions, the artists provide pledgers gifts or amenities rather
than any ownership interest in the initiative.  Gifts vary based on the
amount of the pledge.  For example, in early 2011 a campaign was
launched by the Monarchs, an alternative-rock and blues-rock band, to
produce their first album.  The video appeal was made by Celeste
Griffin, the band's folksy lead vocalist.  The following is a sample of
the amenities or prizes the band offered its pledgers, based on the
amount of their pledge: $10-project download; $30-signed CD; $100-two
backstage passes; $250-your name in album credits; $750-day in recording
studio; $1,000-write a song for you.  In the written appeal, Celeste
explained that the band planned to record its first album in July 2011
under the supervision of Mike McCarthy, the producer of artists such as
Spoon and Patty Griffin.  Celeste emphasized how much she's grown as an
artist, and how much the ability to cut an album would mean to the band
and its future.  She also mentioned that the band has committed to
donating a percentage of the money raised to Laps for Cystic Fibrosis, a
non-profit organization dedicated to Cystic Fibrosis research.  Donating
a portion of the money raised from pledgers to charity is a practice
that Pledgemusic strongly encourages.

 

When Monarchs' campaign reached its goal, its PledgeMusic page read
"Monarchs:---it's a record!!! All pledgers will now receive exclusive
periodic updates on how the record is made and will be the first to
receive a complementary download of the album.   

 

For its part, Pledgemusic does not take any ownership interest in the
projects that are funded through its Web site.  It charges a flat 15%
fee for all money raised.     

 

Linda Mason, Ed.D.

Coordinator for Grant Writing Assistance

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

655 Research Parkway, Suite 200

Oklahoma City OK 73104

405-225-9486 voice

405-225-9230 fax

lmason at osrhe.edu

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.onenet.net/pipermail/okgrantsmanship/attachments/20110210/7848d04d/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: You Be the VC 10_2.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 25088 bytes
Desc: You Be the VC 10_2.doc
Url : http://lists.onenet.net/pipermail/okgrantsmanship/attachments/20110210/7848d04d/attachment-0001.doc