Bands should sell stock in themselves to their fans. It probably wouldn’t allow for the shareholders to take part in any decision making, but there could be potential for dividends down the road. A couple of shares could be included with every cd purchase to alert people of the opportunity.

This would probably work best for smaller bands that do not have a contract with a big label name. Such bands often struggle with issues such as distribution and merchandising due to lack of funds. Allowing their fans to invest in them would be a nice source of funding.

This would also help with the “I knew of them before they made it big. You guys aren’t real fans, you’re all just jumping on the bandwagon” complex that strikes some people. By investing in a local band, these fans would not only have a piece of physical evidence to back their claim, but they could also potentially reap the monetary benefits down the road.
-- luecke, Aug 11 2004

Bowie Bonds http://news.bbc.co....t/music/3561781.stm
about as sound an investment as techstocks. [calum, Oct 05 2004]

Interactive Music Exchange http://fuse.tv/imx/announcement.php
Sort of baked: The money didn't go to the artists, and the premise died recently. [Acme, Oct 05 2004]

New Stocks http://www.halfbake...m/idea/new_20stocks
cryptically titled idea from [nomadic_wonderer], which is *extremely* similar. [calum, Oct 05 2004]

My name appears on the insert of an album by 'November Project' because I, along with others, helped to fund its production. I got two free CDs, a T-shirt, and other little presents out of it. After the manner of theatrical entrepreneurs, the band termed such sponsors 'angels', hence my nom de bake.
-- angel, Aug 11 2004


Not sure that giving money to a band constitutes a shareholding-like investment, angel.
For this to be worth anybody's while, the shares would have to be tradeable - how else are you going to make money out of it - and probably pay out some dividend. Being that investing in creative media is a virtually guaranteed way to lose, I can't see this being massively popular.

Also, Dayayvid Bowie sold some bonds, based on his back catalogue, I think. As I recall, they have been successively downgraded to the point where they are now one level above junk.
-- calum, Aug 11 2004


//Not sure that giving money to a band constitutes a shareholding-like investment//
On reflection, you're right. Scratch the word 'Baked' from my comment (done) and leave the rest as an observation.
-- angel, Aug 11 2004


the list of bands that make money in any significant quantity is pretty short.

might be better to have a not-for-profit to support up-and-coming bands through grants and take the tax write-off, a guaranteed gain. sort of like a private NEA.

puts the focus on good art, not art that sells (not that they are mutually exclusive).
-- xclamp, Aug 11 2004


Some good points have been raised about this being a shoddy investment plan, and I agree. It shouldn’t so much be aimed at the general public as a way to plan for retirement, but as [angel] shows, there are those of us who get so excited about a band and wanting to see it succeed that we are willing to invest some money into them regardless of payoff. This idea should at least have some appeal to those people.

And I think the bit about receiving shares with the purchase of a cd could be expanded to go along with concert tickets as well. Most of the bands I go see could charge twice what they already do to see a show and I would still go, so I certainly wouldn’t have any problems with paying an extra 5 bucks and knowing that I am getting some sort of an investment out of it.

I think this would be comparable to selling T-shirts at a concert. It doesn’t raise a massive amount of money for the band, but every little bit helps.
-- luecke, Aug 11 2004


Great idea, as there are a lot of bands I would like to support. But I don't need a hard copy of a CD, and I don't need to pay a record company to produce the CD, or pay a T-shirt company to print a T-shirt. I just want to give the band some cash for producing good music!
-- eulachon, Aug 11 2004


Then just give the band the money. If you start with the shares and the bonds and whatnot, banks and underwriters and registrars will get involved and with them come a plethora of administrative charges. It is quite possible that this would, proportionately, generate less money for a small band than a DIY tshirt operation.
-- calum, Aug 12 2004


//It probably wouldn’t allow for the shareholders to take part in any decision making//

Maybe not in the creative side of things, but I think that there's definitely scope for some control over things like tours. Some bands just can't be bothered to come to certain cities when they make it big. Must. Supress. Rant.
-- Detly, Aug 13 2004


The shares could be called "notes."
-- bristolz, Aug 13 2004



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