D.I.Y.

Kickstarter Hits Crowdfunding Milestones but Successful Music Projects Lag

image from i.pcworld.frFive million backers have successfully funded more than 50,000 projects on Kickstarter, the company has announced, cementing their place as the world’s top crowdfunding platform.  Projects on Kickstarter have a 43.8% success rate and $720 million has been passed on to fully funded campaigns. Music projects, however, did not always raise impressive sums. 

Just over 45% of the 24,500+ music projects on Kickstarter have been successfully funded.  Almost 11,000 of the music projects, however, raised under $10,000 ($1000 – $10,000); and only 27 have raised $100,000 or more. 565 projects raised between $20,000  and $100,000; and another 1555 raised only $10,000 to $20,000.

For all of the hoopla, music projects on Kickstarter are successful for a select few; but not the masses of musicians that the press often implies.

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3 Comments

  1. Kinda reassuring to see this. I was a non-believer in KS for a long time, but it has become so mainstream i finally decided to give it a try.

    http://kck.st/1bC61eI

    I hit 9% on day 1, then dead silence ever since. I have continued to promo but it has not budged. So it seems my fan base, which is not huge, is more in tune with my own original feelings about it: The artist has to make something first before they put money down.

    If you have AFP numbers, 1000 “true fans”….etc I think it can be done. But going forward, with my small size DIY venture, I will probably just ask fans to hit the donate button on my site.

  2. Justice. I checked out your project and I need to give you some tough love here.
    Your goal is only $3000. It’s a very rare case that we find a solo artist who’s not able to raise this amount (even with zero fans).
    To your defense, it’s not like it’s easy to find information on how, exactly, to crowdfund your music, but it IS out there (shameless plug http://launchandrelease.com).
    I really hate seeing artists give it a shot, fail, and then spread bad information about how “you have to have fans” or “the fans want x or y but they don’t support crowdfunding”.
    Music crowdfunding is the best way for new and existing artists to perpetuate their career without going into debt, but your fans need to see and feel your Purpose. They’re not buying your CD, they’re supporting YOU.
    If this Purpose isn’t baked into your video, your description, your one-on-one communication with those most likely to back you, then your fans, friends and family have nothing to “support”.
    Dude, you can do it. Maybe you need to start over or maybe there’s still a chance (you have 12 days left as I write this) but do yourself a favor and do some reading on launchandrelease.com before making wild declarations about what the fans want.
    One example and then I’ll shut up:
    We worked directly with Tony Polecastro who had zero fans, zero mailing list and didn’t believe in Facebook (no personal page, no fan page). He’s an instrumentalist and this project was for his debut CD.
    He raised $9446.
    That seems like a miracle, but it’s been done time and time again. Check out Kevin Burtram’s Kickstarter – no fans – $7585.
    Rob Harris raised $8291 on Indiegogo with no fan base. The dude had 186 Facebook friends at the time.
    The evidence is all around us. Get rid of the excuses and do your research. Seems to work awfully well for thousands of musicians with little to no fanbase.
    Cheers!
    Levi James

  3. WARNING: do not fall for the above sales pitch.
    This industry is full of vultures who want to steal your money by offering you fake opportunities (Sonicbids, Reverbnation, MusicXray…etc). The success of crowd-funding has ushered in a new pack of vultures that are now doing the exact same thing. And unfortunately these music-tech-startups always get lots of promo here on Hypebot. Trust me, I’ve been in this game for a long time and have built a following through hard work and integrity, the fruits of which can be seen here: metaformonline.com
    Levi James, here is your tough love: get a job. Get a job that does not prey on the naiveté of artists. It`s bad enough that all these crowd funding sites are now making millions in passive income while we artists toil away at our craft in poverty, and now you come along and ask for: “…$750 up front then $2500 + 3% of the total amount raised.” http://launchandrelease.com/work-with-us-one-on-one/ Shameless plug is right, get a job. And while you’re at it, try to get your “book” on Amazon to build credibility.
    Anybody in this game worth his salt knows that the only REAL opportunities ARE NOT “pay-to-play”.
    Levi, I am calling you out, and I offer you a chance to prove me wrong: take me on as a client with ZERO upfront payment, help me to run a successful crowd-funding campaign of which you can then keep any percentage you like.
    My stats: 2000 emails with average 20-30% open rate / 8000 facebook fans.
    Get at me: metaformATmetaformonline.com
    Metaformonline.com
    facebook.com/meta4m

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