SellaBand Debuts New Online Distribution Model for Developing Artists

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 23, 2006 - 1:12pm.

Amsterdam - SellaBand on Wednesday announced the launch of its community music site that offers a new distribution model for developing artists. The site lets bands upload their self-recorded songs, and "Believers" in the online community can purchase "Parts" of the band in $10 increments. Once 5,000 Parts have been sold, the band gets to put the $50,000 raised toward recording an album with a good studio and production team, with the resulting 5,000 limited edition CDs shipped to each Believer who bought a Part of the band. Before a band's 5,000 Parts have been sold, Believers may switch their investment to another band, invest additional money, or withdraw their investment altogether. The songs from each CD produced on SellaBand will also be offered as free downloads on the site, with ad revenue split equally between artists, Believers and the company. All the while, acts using SellaBand are free to sign a record deal, and retain ownership of their master recordings after one year. "We want the legal commitments for musicians to be as light-weight as possible," said former Sony Music exec and SellaBand managing director Johan Vosmeijer. "Basically, we see SellaBand as a sort of trampoline for bands to use. Ultimately it is up to the artist to see how high they can jump, but we won't hold them back in any way or form."

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060823/sfw005.html?.v=61
http://www.sellaband.com