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August 03, 2014 | Nick Payne

Is there more to help than money?

Crowdfunding is all the rage these days. As the traditional music industry business model continues to collapse artists are self-funding albums directly from fans with the help of platforms such as Pozzible and Kickstarter. Is this the age of empowerment for independent artists or are we being locked into a single, narrow option and missing out on broader opportunities to bring great art into the world?

As I've kicked off my project to record this solo album I've had to struggle with the inevitable questions - how the hell do I pay for this? Making an album is not cheap and even when you self-produce and record at home using your own gear you still need to pay for mastering and manufacturing at the very least. If you don't go on to invest any money in publicising the album, then the whole exercise is somewhat of a waste if people never hear your hard work.

Many of my friends have run crowdfunding campaigns to fund part of their albums (I don't know of anyone where the campaign has paid for the whole project, although I'm sure that does happen). I've happily supported them by donating and I've also given money to artists I don't know and been totally blown away by the amazing records they've delivered. Raising capital for business projects has been done for thousands of years and it's great there's a way for independent artists to easily do this now.

On the flipside of this, running a campaign to raise money involves, well, campaigning. I've experienced times where artists have ceased all creative activity to focus on raising money and the only messsages that come from them for a month or more is "give me money". In that circumstance the feeling of generosity I've had contributing has been eroded and I've been left feeling a little used and dirty.

Whilst I strongly support the concept of crowdfunding there are a couple of things about the current models that I don't like.

Money vs. help

The current models of crowdfunding are all about money. But what about other sorts of help? What about being lent a piece of equipment, having some extra hands at a recording session or having someone help out by shooting video footage? What about ideas and feedback on what you've done so far? What about a floor to sleep on or a meal?

Thinking more widely about how fans could contribute to a project takes you out of the realm of crowdfunding and into crowdsourcing. None of the current platforms I've found support the supply of help other than money.

All or nothing vs. incremental

A major feature of the current crowdfunding platforms is the up front, all or nothing approach. That is, before you begin your project you establish how much you plan to spend and then you launch a campaign to raise that amount of money. The crowdfunding platform releases that money to you at the end of the campaign if you reach that goal. If you don't reach the goal then the campaign was a failure and no money changes hands. Presumably, in this circumstance, the project is abandoned or it's back to the drawing board.

From a marketing point of view this is sheer brilliance. The all or nothing approach creates a sense of urgency and encourages fans to give more than they otherwise might in order to ensure the project goes ahead. For the artist this drives the focus on campaigning to head off the fear that the campaign may fail.

There's a few things I don't like about this. But the most important is this: the up front, all or nothing approach doesn't easily support experimentation and discovery.

The future is unpredictable

When it comes to any project the fundamental fact is that you can't predict the future. No matter what you do projects cost more than you expect, can take longer and sometimes fail. Sometimes your original vision is replaced by something better that you discover along the way and this new destination generates a new set of needs that you couldn't have envisaged at the start.

You may embark on a journey to record a six track EP and end up doing a full album. Sometimes you may aim to record an album, but discover you've bitten off more than you can chew and end up releasing an EP. Maybe this EP is of far greater quality than a mediocre sounding twelve track album anyway!

The up front model defines a set outcome with a set budget. The up front model doesn't easily absorb change and allow you to adjust what you're doing to potentially create something even better than what you first ideated.

Incremental response to specific needs

An alternative approach to funding an album could be to incrementally call for help as needs come up. That is, you get started and as you identify needs you call for help. As the direction of the project adjusts over time and you discover new things you can call for specific help on those things too.

As well as responding to change this approach has another feature. When you call out a small, specific need rather than asking for people to fill a large, generic bucket, you give people the power to choose how they meet that need. For instance, later in my project I'll need a drummer to play on some tracks. If I call out the need for a drummer then that need could be met by a drummer offering to play or a non-drummer donating some money to pay for a session drummer. This creates the possibility that someone could supply something to the project in a way you never dreamed of and make the result even better than you thought.

It's all about engagement

At the end of the day a large part of crowdfunding is about engagement. That is, people want to help out and want to feel like they've contributed in some way in enabling something new to come into the world and donating money is a way of doing that.

But I ask you, what could be more satisfying than receiving an album in the mail, opening it up and seeing on the inside cover a photograph that you took for the band during one of the recording sessions? Or listening back and knowing that the drummer on a particular song was there because you'd paid their session fees? Or reading the order of songs and knowing that you'd provided feedback on what song you thought should open the album?

Lending a hand

To my knowledge, no platform out there supports this incremental type of crowdsourcing. So for this project I've decided to try the following.

I've created a list of needs on the website Trello. It's called the "Lend a hand" board and it lists the things I currently know of that you can lend a hand with. If you'd like to help out, then have a look round and follow the instructions on the specific item to put your hand up.

Already in my journey I've had people recommend albums I should listen to as inspiration for what mine could sound like. I've had people suggest venues I could use to record some of the songs in. I've had people offer to come to recording sessions and help operate equipment. I've had some amazing musicians give their time and skills for free.

Later on in the journey I suspect I will ask for help with funding for things like mastering and manufacturing. Like the current crowdfunding models I'll do this as a type of pre-order. But all in good time.

For now you can check out the Lend A Hand list here:

https://trello.com/b/OqLEP0L6/lend-a-hand-nick-payne-s-solo-album

Right now I'm looking for some traditional Irish musos to play on a song. So if you know any or are one and are interested then please check out the Trello board and reach out to me.

Nick

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