SINGER FUNDS ALBUM ON FAN DONATIONS
If you are an avid TSF reader (all 2 of you), you may remember Jill Sobule from this post, where I accused Katy Perry of stealing Jill’s 1995 hit “I Kissed A Girl” – or you may just remember Jill from 1995. Either way, this is one of the more interesting stories I’ve heard in a while.
Jill Sobule is now 40-years-old, has been dropped from her label, and must personally fund any music she records from here on out. To help fund the price of a new studio album, she started jillsnextrecord.com, where she accepted donations via PayPal from her fans. But unlike most donations, this had incentives.
There were 12 total price points for the donations that included a gift:
$10 – Free digital download of the album
$100 – Free digital download, advance copy of the CD with a “Thank You” note, and a t-shirt that says you were a “Junior Executive Producer” on the album. (an exec. producer is a showbiz term for the dude/chick who helps fund the project)
$10,000 – You get to sing on a song on the CD.
[see the rest of the list]
She raised $75,000 in 53 DAYS towards the recording of her new album, California Years, and received donations as little as $5 from people who “like what she’s doing”, to the $10,000 donation, whom, as promised, was awarded a chance to sing vocals on the album. Calling this feat unbelievable would be an understatement. This is an unparalleled and successful attempt to keep an independent music career thriving.
There’s only one tiff I have with this: 75 grand is a helluva lot of cash to record an album. I’d like to see an itemized list, including studio, producers, and engineering costs. With the current, low cost of home studios, it wouldn’t be out of line to question the integrity of Jill Sobule during this process.
Check out the CNN interview below with Jill
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