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Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding, and Musicians: How You Can Fund Your Music

Kickstart Your Album to Music Success!



Today there are so many incredible opportunities for musicians to reach out to their fan base and collaborate, fund their projects, and create amazing art that is only possible through social media and the Internet. These four sites can get you started on using the Internet to reach your music dreams!

Gotta love how Amazon is experimenting all over the place with online collaboration. In this case, in the Amazon Mechanical Turk, you pay people a few cents to complete tasks (some may be free and others are a few dollars). How can a musician use this? You can use the AMT for massive online collaborations where each person contributes a few notes or a recording, try to promote a concert or album, get feedback through polls, and more. 
​Wreckamovie is an online site set up primarily for online film collaborations. However, there are sections for music videos and opera productions. You set up a free account, post up "tasks" (ex. write a short song) and then artists pitch the idea. Access musicians, artists, video editors, lighting techs, writers, and more. The one drawback is that the site has seen a decline in use, although the idea and platform are good. Definitely a site to check out.
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that has revolutionized the arts and sciences. Got a put an album together? Set up a Kickstarter campaign and offer presales and great music merch for your backers. The key is a good video, concise info, and awesome rewards. Be sure that you calculate how much your rewards will cost you. I had a successful Kickstarter campaign last year and didn't realize how much shipping would cost, which ate into my budget. A writer friend of mine just completed a campaign and raised almost $12,000 (see below). She took months designing the text and video (video has some adult content) and incredible jewelry rewards. Even big name musicians and celebrities have used the platform to sponsor pet projects.
Crowdfunding site for musicians, filmmakers, charities, and creative individuals. Think of this as Kickstarter for the artsy crowd. 
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Sabrina Pena Young is an award-winning composer and video artist whose latest work is the animated "groundbreaking" Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, a feature length film created entirely through online remote collaboration and crowdfunding. Young is currently working on the new Vox Novus 60x60 Latin Mix, the work Destiny: Eondwyr for percussionist Kurt Gartner at Kansas State University, and new music courses for her new online academy. Young is a sought after lecturer on music technology and contemporary composer. Find out more and contact her about your next event or commission her for a new exciting work at her official website.



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