If you've ever wanted to really do some to preserve a vital part of musical history, then you can help. This is the beauty of crowdfunding.
Name: Dan Riedemann
Project: Rebuilding Woody Guthrie's home
Current Status: 14 pledges, 0.14% ($961) of $644,000 goal achieved. 25 days remaining.
Preservationist expert Dan Riedemann has the opportunity to restore the house of folk legend Woody Guthrie to its former glory, which he intends on doing over the next few months. When it's complete, he'll donate to the Okemah Community Improvement Association and they will run it as a museum from there on. They need lots of money for this to happen, but you can help.
We're not going to sit here and tell you who Woody Guthrie was and why he remains one of the most important musicians in history – if you don't know already then you should go and fix that – but we will tell you that this is a project that will help preserve the music and the memory of one of the most important figures in music.
You might want to have a plaque with your name on it at the house ($250), or a piece of the house itself ($1,000). Or, if you're skint, the team behind it are happy if you'll just share the project with your friends to generate some discussion and interest about this historical undertaking.
Name: Ben Ottewell
Project: New solo album
Current Status: 137 pledges, 52.84% (£8,455) of £16,000 goal achieved. 38 days remaining.
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If you've ever heard the band Gomez, then you know Ben Ottewell's voice. His is the insanely powerful, gritty, rough and soulful voice that has acted as an unmistakable part of the Gomez sound for so many years. He released his first solo record Shapes & Shadows back in 2011 and now he wants to release his next one, but wants your help to get it out.
He's offering all manner of perks for those who chip in with some cash. You can get the record for £8 digitally, £15 on CD or £40 on vinyl, a t-shirt for £30, a credit on the album sleeve for £300 or a private show, in Australia, for £2,800.
Name: At Last – The Etta James Story
Project: CD release
Current Status: 79 pledges, 44.88% ($5,835) of $13,000 goal achieved. Five days remaining.
Over the past couple of years, audiences around the country have enjoyed seeing Vika Bull in the leading role as Etta James as At Last – The Etta James Story has toured the nation's theatres. The producers now want people to be able to take the show home with them on CD, as there has been huge demand for that since the show started.
They're looking for support from the public to assist with the costs such as studio and equipment hire, mastering and manufacturing costs and are offering some pretty good deals to those who lend a hand. You can pre-purchase two tickets to one of their forthcoming performances for just $100 – a fair bit cheaper than they'll cost at the box office. If you just want the CD then you can buy that for $30 or get a signed copy plus a poster for $50.
Also in crowdfunding this week:
If you wanted further proof that just about everybody is crowdfunding, then the news that Sir David Attenborough is getting onboard will surely convince you a little further. He isn't looking for money for himself, though, he's using his IndieGoGo page to help save the mountain gorilla.
While we're talking high profile crowdfunding celebrities, Donald Trump has announced that he is going to donate one million dollars to a project that breaks the current crowdfunding record of $10,266,845. His site FundAnything has all the details.
There are so many crowdfunding platforms launching just about every week. A new speciailised service is Plum Alley, which is specifically set up for women only. The site's goal is to help women raise money, hire experts and provide a way to sell their product while telling their story. Check it out here.
