Sellaband was a
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
that allowed artists to raise the money from their fans and the SellaBand community in order to record a professional
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
. Sellaband used the mechanisms of
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
and was to be seen as a
Direct-to-Fan/
fan-funded music
Fan-funded music is crowdfunding for music. Often, fan-funded music occurs in conjunction with direct-to-fan marketing. Fans of music have the option to donate and collectively raise money with the goal of jump-starting the career of a given musica ...
platform utilising a
Threshold Pledge System
The threshold pledge or fund and release system is a way of making a fundraising pledge as a group of individuals, often involving charitable goals or financing the provision of a public good. An amount of money is set as the goal or ''threshold ...
/
Provision Point Mechanism. It was set up by Johan Vosmeijer (ex
Sony/BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...
), Pim Betist (ex
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
), and Dagmar Heijmans (ex Sony/BMG) in August 2006. Its offices used to be located in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, but it was originally incorporated in
Bocholt,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
On April 8, 2008, Sellaband raised
EU€3.5 million (
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5 million) in their
Series A round
A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...
led by Prime Technology Ventures.
In early 2009, Pim Betist left Sellaband to set up Africa Unsigned, using Sellaband technology as a base and supported by the Dutch government.
In January 2010, Sellaband filed for Bankruptcy. It relaunched days later, after an investor stepped forward. The office was relocated to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Germany. On August 28, 2015, the Sellaband GmbH filed for Bancrupty, too. This was rejected because of lack of mass by the District Court Charlottenburg on January 12, 2016.
For three years, Sellaband supported the sharing of revenue, a form of equity crowdfunding. Research from the ''Journal of Economics & Management Strategy'' examined investment data on the Sellaband platform during this time period. The data shows that, while investments can come from funders around the world, distance continues to affect the flow of funding and information.
Events
Sellaband conducted three official concerts in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
* "New Years Party" (January 2007), the Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
* "London Calling" (June 2007), Gibson Studios,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
UK
* "Sellabration - Birthday Party" (August 15, 2007 & 2008), the Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
Artists who reached their goal
86 artists reached their fundraising goal. In December 2009
Cubworld was the first artist, closing his second budget. Less than two weeks after
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
,
Aryn Michelle[(Press Release)]
Aryn Michelle_LAST ONE... - album is being pressed and packaged!!
Sellaband. Retrieved on 2013-09-21. was the first artist, closing her budget under the new SellaBand-management. In October 2010
Epyllion
A sleeping Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis">Theseus.html" ;"title="Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus">Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis in Catullus 64, the most famous e ...
closed the first budget on Sellaband that was not used for recording new but for promoting of already released music.
Upon closure of the site, there were over 700 artists registered on Sellaband raising funds.
The following table shows the most notable artists that reached their funding goal on SellaBand:
See also
*
Comparison of crowd funding services
Crowdfunding is a process in which individuals or groups pool money and other resources to fund projects initiated by other people or organizations "without standard financial intermediaries." Mollick, E. (2014). ''The dynamics of crowdfunding: A ...
*
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...
*
Music 2.0
*
Netlabel
A netlabel (also online label, web label, digi label, MP3 label or download label) is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats (such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, or WAV) over the Internet. While similar to tradition ...
*
Social commerce
Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves social media and online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services.
More succinctly, social commerce ...
*
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
References
*
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
Interview (The Weekender with Matthew Wright - 3 November 2006)
* ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' (UK): Knowledge Section (26 November 2006)
External links
Official website(offline)
{{Authority control
Companies established in 2006
Crowdfunding platforms of the Netherlands
German independent record labels
Netlabels
Online music stores of the Netherlands