Name: Toad The Wet Sprocket
Project: New album
Current Status: 3,871 pledges, 325% ($162,642) of $50,000 goal achieved, 26 days remaining.
It kinda seems like crowdfunding is becoming something of a haven for artists whose most popular days are perhaps a little behind them. We've had the likes of Alien Ant Farm, Fountains Of Wayne and so on making new records and now another lame commercial rock group are utilising crowdfunding to make their first LP in 16 years.
Do you remember Toad The Wet Sprocket? Plenty do, apparently, and plenty want them to make a new record. So many that the band have smashed the bejesus out of their crowdfunding goal and they still have almost a month left to raise funds.
People have actually paid their own hard-earned money to buy a series of perks from the band, including meet and greets or music lessons ($1,500), handwritten lyrics ($500), tickets to a listening party ($250) and records, merch and all that stuff. Seriously, almost 4,000 people are pledging close to $40 a pop to keep this band going.
Name: Sports Fan
Project: Film clip
Current Status: 23 pledges, 127.5% ($1,020) of $800 goal achieved, 17 days remaining.
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Another local band who are actually putting some effort and creativity into their crowdfunding campaign – much like Marlow did recently – is Brisbane's Sports Fan; and it has paid off (despite the lameness of their crowdfunding video).
The band have offered perks like going out to eat chicken wings with the band ($25), going on a bike tour of Brisbane with their drummer ($40), going on a tour of the band's favourite coffee haunts ($30), a three course Mexican meal ($60), a personalised song ($70) and a private show at your house ($200).
By keeping the perks affordable and interesting, they've surpassed their goal and still have plenty time to earn more money to help them make their video clip looks as amazing as it possibly can be. Well done.
Name: Dendino LLC.
Project: Buckle Charger
Current Status: 21 pledges, 2.86% ($2,152) of $75,000 goal achieved, 39 days remaining.
One of the most annoying things about covering festivals and gigs in the modern day is that you're constantly expected to be contactable – but the kinda shitty battery capabilities of iPhones means that you've always got editors, girlfriends and twitter followers hassling you for updates on what is happening.
So Buckle Charger has us pretty interested; you wear the charger as a piece of clothing so you're not forced to carry a charger around with you and it seems like it'd be nice and secure. To pre-order one of these suckers you're looking at around $90 plus $20 shipping if you're among the first to pledge, this goes up to $90 if you're late. Can you put a price on phone battery?
They reckon it'll be shipped out around December, just in time for the summer festivals.
Also in crowdfunding this week:
The Cosmic Psychos have released footage of what happened to the poor bastard who pledged $2,500 for their Blokes You Can Trust documentary. They cooked a three course meal, as promised, but we think we'd have preferred they just keep the money. It has made for a great video though and has us awfully excited for the doco.
Sydney's Pugsley Buzzard has added a few new perks to his crowdfunding campaign as his new album gets closer and closer to completion. He's about halfway through, with six songs left to record in September, and has offered the some perks for anyone who can help him out.
A $75 pledge will get you postcards from Pugsley from around the Europe and the US, $250 gets a special request made specifically for you, $300 plus expenses will get him to your kitchen where he'll cook and play some tunes, $850 gets you a limo ride to his CD launch as well as a meet and greet and for $2,000 you can have a day of thrills and spills; he has suggested something along the lines of parachuting, pistol shooting, fencing or shark wrestling...
Want money? We will try and help.
