ROSETTA NEED YOUR DOUGH TO MAKE A RECORD!
Fan donations are becoming an increasingly common fundraising tactic for bands to raise some dough following catastrophe; we’ve re-posted a handful of such calls on MetalSucks when bands found themselves in dire straight on the road due to van accidents, thefts or other shenanigans (Poison the Well, Periphery and The Ocean immediately come to mind). Philly-based post-metallers Rosetta are taking things to the next level, though, by not only asking for donations to cover costly van repairs bills incurred on their last tour but by promising to put some of that money towards a new recording. And by doing so in a much more organized manner than the usual “send donations to this PayPal address”-style drive.
Rosetta are using Kickstarter, a platform specifically designed for bands soliciting fan donations, to ask for money to help fund the recording of a new track for a split with MetalSucks fave atmospheric Cure-metallers Junius. Their goal of $900 has already been long surpassed (as of this writing they’ve raised $1,832) but perhaps the most striking figure is this: of the 47 people who have donated (“backers”), 9 people have pledged $100 or more to receive the “super-duper special package” (an LP of the Rosetta/Junius split from the most limited color pressing, signed by Rosetta, with your name in the album credits as a sponsoring partner). The band only made 9 of these packages available, meaning they’re sold out. Wow! Talk about fan loyalty and a new way of creating value in music in the Internet age.
Just because Rosetta have already passed their goal of $900 (they’re at $1,832 as of this writing… plus $5 now… chink!) doesn’t mean the band will spend the money frivolously; I have faith these dudes will put any extra money they earn from this drive back into the band. In addition to the track for the Junius split they’re also recording a yet-to-be-announced Soundgarden cover, which I can’t to wait to hear. And you know what? If these dudes did take all the leftover money and bought a pound of weed with it I think I’d be ok with that; dudes in metal bands go way under-appreciated and WAY WAY under-paid these days, and they deserve to treat themselves right from time to time. Support!
The concept of asking for donations to fund an album isn’t new; Kickstarter‘s been around for a minute. But to my knowledge this is the first time a prominent metal band has used the platform, which is pretty mind boggling considering metal’s place in the overall music socioeconomic totem pole and the notoriously poor and dirty lifestyles metal dudes live. I also really like that Kickstarter bridges the band to fan gap by making fans feel personally connected with and responsible for the finished product. You can bet your ass that anyone who donates will be following the band a lot more closely than they otherwise may have. And you can also rest assured that no middle-men are taking a cut, as many of them would with a CD purchased in a store; that money all goes directly to the band.
I’d love to see more bands using Kickstarter as a tool to raise funds; of course, if everyone starts using it then the fan-donation pie will be sliced into a million small pieces, thus defeating the purpose. But it’s nice to think about for now.
-VN
[via SMN News]
