10 Crowdfunding Platforms Every Artists Should Explore!
Crowdfunding has successfully bridged the gap between entrepreneurship and philanthropy, helping investors, business startups and musicians build long-term relationship for both purpose and profits. Below are ten crowdfunding websites that every artist/band should study to help them in sustaining their music careers.
Instead of giving rewards to contributors, project owners in PledgeMusic gives merchandise such as written music, albums, or audio files. The platform can connect you to third-parties that handle the fulfillment or manufacturing of your goods if necessary.
Advantage: exclusively built for musical projects, making it easier for artists to run successful campaigns.
Disadvantage: commission is quite expensive.
Fees: it takes 15% of the total funds earned.
There are only four major categories allowed on RocketHub including science, art, social good, and business projects, but the subcategories cover a wide range of projects. It has LaunchPad and FuelPad programs with which project owners and marketing partners can work together.
Advantage: the platform works with A&E, so you can expect more exposure. Funding from A&E is also possible.
Disadvantage: not the same reach as larger platforms.
Fees: signing up is free. There is a 4% fee on the funds earned if the project meets its funding goal or 8% if it does not. The credit card processing fee is 4%.
This allows donation-based fundraising for almost everything, including those that are prohibited by Kickstarter. Similar to Kickstarter, however, Indiegogo does not allow contributors to become shareholders or investors.
Advantages: two funding options including flexible where you can keep the earned funds regardless of whether the funding goal is met, and fixed where you can only receive the funds earned if your project reaches the goal. You also get recommendations, a handbook, and how-to advice.
Disadvantages: automated review process, meaning low-quality projects easily get through.
Fees: signing up is free. The fixed funding option carries a 4% fee, whereas flexible funding takes a 9% fee. There is also a $25 wire fee for campaigns from outside the U.S. and a 3% credit card processing fee.
Presumably the most popular platform of them all, Kickstarter enables donation-based funding for various projects including creative products, music albums, watches, art, etc. It is not for personal financing, charities, or reselling businesses.
Advantages: easy access to statistics regarding where the investors/backers are from. It is possible to stay in communication with your fans even after the campaign is over.
Disadvantages: only permanent U.S. citizens with Social Security numbers are allowed.
Fees: signing up is free, but the platform takes 5% of the total funds raised and there is an additional Amazon Payments processing fee.
Patreon is for artists of all kinds including musicians, cartoonists, photographers, and more. It encourages people to donate a steady amount of money on a monthly basis. This is mainly for artists who create regular content.
Advantage: there is a good chance of securing steady monthly income if you create content on a regular basis.
Disadvantage: it is more like a destination platform to earn money rather than a promotional tool.
Fees: it has a 4.9% platform fee and 2% + 30 cents payment processing. A non-profit project allows contributors to give 100% of the donation.
This has been around since 2003, so technically even before the term crowdfunding existed at all. ArtistShare has a good track record and has been used by some award-winning artists.
Advantage: great history of successful projects.
Disadvantage: not for everyone; every project is reviewed carefully before it gets through.
Fees: project owner keeps all the funds earned, but ArtistShare takes 15% royalties. It can even release music through its own label.
Another simple crowdfunding platform is Feed The Muse; it also has samples of profiles. You can link your page on this website to social media.
Advantage: free access to tutorials and tips. It has phone support and real-time statistics.
Disadvantage: there is no browse-able directory of projects. It gives a random assortment of projects with the search function.
Fees: for every $100 you earn, Feed The Muse uses 10% of it to keep the website running.
Instead of emphasizing project types, Sellaband focuses on profile creation. Everyone starts by creating a profile filled with bio, videos, song, and gigs. After that, you can create a project and do your fundraising campaign.
Advantage: profile is easy to create just like on a social media website.
Disadvantage: quite expensive.
Fees: 15% commission on all funds earned.
A crowdfunding platform based in Manila, Philippines. Most projects currently on the site are in the areas of music and films, but it also supports product testing.
Advantage: you can copy your ArtisteConnect URL and post it on social media websites such as Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.
Disadvantage: currently it is only available to those who live in Philippines.
Fees: 10% fee on all funds earned.
Unlike other platforms, Crowdfunder is for raising investments. This platform is a major participant in the JOBS Act Legislation in the USA.
Advantages: the campaign plans come with many perks such as investor analytics, confidential document protection, live support, and access to investors’ networks.
Disadvantages: it requires official documents, for examples Executive Summary, Term Sheet, and Investor Pitch Deck.
Fees: approximately 6% of the funds raised plus Stripe charges of 1.9%.
