Crowdfunding for Musicians

Crowdfund your music career! Use Kickstarter, Patreon, Indiegogo, and other crowdfunding tools to connect to your fan base and run a successful fundraising campaign. Mobilize your fans to support your next album, tour, video, or other music project, or to create a steady fan-sourced income stream to support your career as a musician. Develop effective strategies for successful campaigns, including timing, networking, press relations, reward levels, and more. You will learn not only how to increase your income, but generally to optimize your career and art while connecting with your fanbase. Interviews with artists and industry insiders offer real-world stories and practical advice.

Whether you have a label, manager and large fanbase, or just want to record your very first music, this book will help you achieve success as an independent artist.

You will learn to:

• Choose a crowdfunding site that support your needs, whether it is to support a specific project (e.g., Kickstarter) and your ongoing career (e.g., Patreon).
• Develop your fan base and mobilize them to support your projects.
• Structure reward levels that inspire fan participation—without creating too much work for yourself!
• Promote your campaign through social media and effective press strategies.
• Avoid the common mistakes of crowdfunding, such as setting unrealistic financial targets, running into hidden campaign costs, and failing to draw people to your page.
• Build the online infrastructure you need to make it easy for your fans to find and support your campaign, integrating your website, social media, and campaign project page.
• Understand the business considerations for these campaigns, such as budgeting and taxes.
• Create your own DIY music videos and make them go viral.

Laser Malena-Webber is a musician (half of the Doubleclicks), record label owner, producer, and crowdfunding consultant. They have crowdfunded hundreds of thousands of dollars for indie-artist music projects.

“Laser Malena-Webber has compiled a veritable Hitchhiker’s Guide for independent musicians hoping to harness the benefits of crowdfunding. Comprehensive enough to help anyone from rank novice to nascent mogul, Laser dishes practical info and wisdom using clear language and easy humor. You’ll still need to do the work yourself, but Laser’s guide will be your companion for crowdfunding success.”

—Storm DiCostanzo, Singer-Songwriter, Paul and Storm

“I’ve done a few crowdfunding projects, and I’ve probably made every possible mistake. Wouldn’t it be great if I’d had some kind of a guide, perhaps in book form, something that started with the basics, clarified the dizzying array of possibilities, and then connected my dream with the practical steps I needed to take to make it happen? This is that book. Crowdfunding is a powerful magic spell, and Laser is the Hogwarts professor who can teach you how to cast it in a way that works for you.”

—Jonathan Coulton, Independent Musician, Emmy and Tony-Nominated Songwriter, Co-Host of NPR’s Ask Me Another

“Crowdfunding for Musicians is a thoughtful and thorough how-to guide that walks you through everything you need to be set up for success. Whether you’re a new artist just starting to demo songs or a seasoned road warrior with a music catalog under your belt, Laser Malena-Webber has got you covered with practical advice to help you build your crowd and fundraise your music.”

—Hayley Rosenblum, Patreon Manager for Amanda Palmer and Former Music Outreach Lead at Kickstarter

“Laser has a gift for clarity and focus, shining a light on the murky ecosystem of crowdfunding. Artists often have to cloak their career infrastructure in a fog of mystique, but Laser boldly details the ins and outs of building a fanbase, planning, fundraising, budgeting, and delivering new art. The tasks and challenges are spelled out, and the vague ‘do what you love’ sort of advice is deconstructed and converted to a concrete plan of action. This is a generous, encouraging, and helpful book for any working artist.”

—Marian Call, Singer-Songwriter