Finding funding for your next CD project

Are you trying to finish a creative project – but your savings, credit cards, or cash flow are leaving you short? Creative financing might be worth considering. Oasis Potato Tray™ Digipak Interior --Ian C. Anderson Oasis client Ian C. Anderson posted a project on Kickstarter.com recently for a CD he was working on, called Perennials. The money came in more quickly than he expected – he actually exceeded his goal – so he used the extra funds to upgrade his packaging from CDs in jewel cases to the packaging he calls “the ultimate in eye-catching eco-hipness,” the Oasis Potato Tray Digipak.“The Potato Tray Digipak was the package I envisioned when I first startedthis process,” explains Ian, “but I couldn’t be sure just how efficient the Kickstarter crowd-funding would be. When I went over my target, I saw it as an opportunity to ‘think outside the jewel box’ and make my project more memorable with this unique package.”“I would recommend involving friends – friends you know in person and friends you haven’t yet met – in the funding of your project through a site like Kickstarter. It was a successful and encouraging process for me, and fulfilling for the people who chipped in and got involved in the project as well.” Involving Your Family and Fans Stumped for enough funds to complete your CD project? Maybe you need a few Executive Producers. The concept of a patron is time honored, going back to Mozart’s day and beyond. But you don’t need to rely on one single, seriously wealthy patron to fund your entire project. You can alternatively find a variety of friends and fans and offer different levels of sponsorship in return for “naming rights.” Maybe $200 buys a patron 10 CDs (once complete) and Gold Patron status (listed in the liner notes, of course!); $100 brings a supporter 5 CDs and Silver Sponsor status, and so forth. It shouldn’t take you long to have your CD prepaid at that rate, and you’ll be surprised how happy your friends may be to involve themselves in your artistic endeavor. The Power of Crowds If you want to bring the power of the web to bear on financing your project, you can make use of sites like Pledge Music and Kickstarter, which bring together strangers who want to donate/invest in the projects of creative people (such as yourself). To see a phenomenal example of the “naming rights”/multiple patron concept, check out Oasis client Julie Geller and how she offered this in her newsletter. And while you’re getting all the pieces together for your project, make sure you’ve got the latest Oasis catalog on hand! Click here to request your catalog and we’ll also send you our Radio Broadcast CD, along with other great stuff you won’t find anywhere else! Sincerely, Micah Solomon President & Founder Oasis Disc Manufacturing