D.I.Y.

Major Label Atlantic Asks Fan To Help Fund New Natty Release Via Pledge Music

image from img.thesun.co.uk Things must be tough over at Atlantic Records and its parent WMG. First label group president Lyor Cohen is selling his $28 million NYC townhouse and now Atlantic is asking fans to help fund an artist's second recording for the company.

 While working on his sophomore album for Atlantic Records, trip-hop artiimage from userserve-ak.last.fmst Natty is recording a separate stripped down collection of original songs. But rather than pay for the project, Atlantic has teamed up with fan-funding platform Pledge Music to ask Natty's fans to throw down the cash. 

image from www.hypebot.com To encourage fans to invest, Natty's offerings offerings include £8 for the EP, introducing Natty from stage for £70, a private acoustic concert in your own home for £600 – £5,000 (not sure why there's such a wide price range), all the way up to Natty remixing your track for for £1,200. Atlantic hasn't announced if they'll be taking their  normal full royalty from Natty on the EP. We only know that they won't be sharing the money with the fans that paid for it.

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19 Comments

  1. And for £1.05 Atlantic records will ruin Natty’s career and further embarrass a once stellar brand and label. Did ya read the rolling stone article on “40 reason to love pop music”. The piece they did on Atlantic smacked of 360 degrees of desperation.

  2. I don’t get it. I understand an independent going this route,but can’t the guys at WEA give up some of their multi-million dollar salaries if they think they have something commercially viable? Are they still giving the same bullshit contracts where ALL the expenses come out of the artists’ royalties? How about going back to the days when Atlantic started,and recording the hits in the offices at night? They used to move the furniture,set up the band and record! There’s just no sense to any of this. The majors are so out of touch.Thank God for the internet.

  3. if you’re a major label, its like “do your job”.. pay for this dude’s record or drop his azz. otherwise, what good are you? natty- i’m sorry bro, but the fact that you have to use pledge while still being sign to Atlantic is not only embarrassing for you, but for any other self respecting artist stuck on a major. i hope you get what you need on that website and you can tell ATL to bounce out the back door.

  4. I’d be curious what the whole deal is. If I’m reading the article right, this seems like a separate side project while the label supports his second album.
    I’m wondering if there’s any chance he negotiated this option himself as a way to get the label to put at least some PR support behind a side project they might consider non-commercial and normally even prohibit him from releasing?

  5. My guess – and its just a guess – is that this is outside of his Atlantic deal. But if so, why? And why would they even want or expect their name on it?

  6. Asking the fans for money to produce a new album has worked for quite a few artists by now, e.g. Jill Sobule, but it’s at least a bit dubious when a major label does it.
    Fans better beware before investing in this scheme because all of the major labels have debts that the banks want to get paid back rather now than later. The labels could always just take the money and drop the artist anyway since these are donations. It’s likely the artist won’t see anything of this money, but has to “recoup” first until he gets anything.

  7. This is actually a brilliant tactic by Atlantic. It keeps Natty in the news, it allows him to do some promotion that he probably couldn’t do without the fan funding, and gives him another set of songs to release to keep the buzz going.
    It’s a no lose situation. Atlantic could give a crap about the money – it’s the publicity they’re after. See my post on this for more:
    http://music3point0.blogspot.com/2010/04/nattys-fan-funding-brilliant-or-scam.html

  8. WHAT ?!?! So they are no longer putting up the money so WHAT GOOD are they distribution ?? and still take 80% of profits ? Jeez guys go blow your brains out !!

  9. As cheap as it is nowadays to make an album, why do they need tons of money to do so?
    Idea…why don’t they host a competition for aspiring producers, songwriter, engineers…and the winner(s) can work with Natty and get placement on the album. I’m sure it will cost a lot less to try something like this…they probably don’t want to spend the time in doing so.

  10. Did anyone actually click on the link? I was hoping to find details on Pledge about how Atlantic would not – or could not fund the record, requiring alternatives for funding… none found. I think there’s more to this story. The page on Pledge narrates a different tale behind why this artist decided to fund his record this way and indicates that he’s donating an unspecified percentage of the proceeds from the album to a charity for Sarcoma cancer research, as the producer of his debut album passed away from this last year.

  11. Record labels as they existed in the 80’s are simply unnecessary and even detrimental now. What needs to happen is a change from turnkey hit-making factory to a simple marketing/promotion agency for artists. The label must no longer the focus (since the label isn’t a sign of any quality anymore), they must be as invisible to the consumer as the booking agent and the management.

  12. Interesting that this media outlet chose NOT to tell the whole story….which would include the fact that this album is being fund and promoted this way at the ARTIST’S request because a portion of proceeds go to a charity of HIS choice.

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