SellaBand, an online platform that allows fans to contribute seed money to aspiring bands, has just taken its service to a whole new level. It announced today that it will partner with ArenaWorks Entertainment to take bands that are able to raise $10,000 in micropayments of $10, or rack up the most weekly votes or more than 200 pledged fans, on the live national ArenaFest tour of 91 major venues. Starting now, artists can upload their music, and fans can contribute funds at arenafest.sellaband.com.
For a quick overview of how the SellaBand system usually operates, see past coverage from VentureBeat reporter Eric Eldon. This new contest is significant because it takes down the divide between viral online music and live performance. The site, which has seen 28 bands rack up the usual requisite of $50,000 for a professional recording, customarily distributes the albums it produces online and takes a cut of the proceeds until one year after its release. The fans, or "believers" as they're called, also get a refund on their investment, or a free CD. The ArenaFest initiative radically alters the dynamic, giving participating artists more exposure and an even greater opportunity to launch a career.
2009 will be the first year for the tour itself, comprised of unique events that blend the real and virtual worlds with game shows, sports competitions, as well as modeling and dating contests. SellaBand alone will be responsible for filling 180 live entertainment slots. The others will go to big name headliners, which couldn't be disclosed. Each of the 91 shows, to be hosted at stadiums like the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the Toyota Center in Cleveland, and The Palance in Detroit, is expected to draw thousands of attendees, according to ArenaWorks chief executive John Ossenmacher. Admission will cost $27.50 per adult.
"We're going to do some really unique things with technology," he says of ArenaFest. "People will be able to interact with sporting events through their wireless devices, vote in contests, etc." The target audience for the tour is 16 to 28 year olds.
SellaBand chief executive Johan Vosmeijer said he jumped at the chance to get the German company's name circulating among American fans. Despite its unique-sounding premise, it actually does face some pretty steep competition. Amie Street, OurStage, Slicethepie and Bandstocks each offer identical or similar services, but SellaBand's new live component could blow them out of the water.
Vosmeijer, who has worked as a recording executive in the past, said he got the idea for the SellaBand online label when he heard the same Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears tracks repeating on the radio during a business trip to the States.
"I saw that there needed to be a shift in power toward the consumers deciding who gets to release an album," he says. "Why not let them put their money where their mouth is by letting them invest in the music they like?"
So far, $3 million has been invested in bands by believers on the site. Earlier this year, SellaBand itself raised $5 million in venture backing from Prime Technology Ventures.