Bad news for the folks over at Sellaband: the company that allows bands to get fan-funding for albums filed for bankruptcy on Monday (February 23).
The company, which was registered in Germany in 2006 and operated out of the Netherlands, has raised more than $3 million for its musicians to date, but lately, the company showed signs of coming to a financial halt, Billboard reports.
The company's worries were reflected in the project of Sellaband's poster boys, Public Enemy. The band's proposed fan-funded album started terrifically and reached $50,000 in late October 2009, just two weeks after it started towards its ultimate goal of $250,000, but by December, had slowed drastically and seemed to be getting slower by the day.
According to Digital Music News [via The Daily Swarm], "Pim Betist, the original site founder and still a shareholder, noticed warning signs years ago and urged cost and quality controls." The warnings appear to have went unheeded.
When Sellaband launched, it seemed the perfect way to get bands and their fans in direct communication, but the late 2000s trend of pay-what-you-want albums and tours has made the company, which in many cases charged fans too much for too little, near obsolete.
No decision regarding how the funds of bands such as Public Enemy, who are midway through raising money, will be handled.
The company, which was registered in Germany in 2006 and operated out of the Netherlands, has raised more than $3 million for its musicians to date, but lately, the company showed signs of coming to a financial halt, Billboard reports.
The company's worries were reflected in the project of Sellaband's poster boys, Public Enemy. The band's proposed fan-funded album started terrifically and reached $50,000 in late October 2009, just two weeks after it started towards its ultimate goal of $250,000, but by December, had slowed drastically and seemed to be getting slower by the day.
According to Digital Music News [via The Daily Swarm], "Pim Betist, the original site founder and still a shareholder, noticed warning signs years ago and urged cost and quality controls." The warnings appear to have went unheeded.
When Sellaband launched, it seemed the perfect way to get bands and their fans in direct communication, but the late 2000s trend of pay-what-you-want albums and tours has made the company, which in many cases charged fans too much for too little, near obsolete.
No decision regarding how the funds of bands such as Public Enemy, who are midway through raising money, will be handled.
