Crowdfunding has been growing in popularity over the past few years as artists are discovering new ways to engage directly with their audiences through online networks, and drawing on these fanbases to support a work not only on its completion but during the creative process. Websites such as Pledge Music, Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have attracted large numbers of artists and organisations overseas, and now Irish equivalents are growing through word of mouth of artists and their supporters.
Just six months ago, the crowdfunding platform, Fund It, was launched by Business to Arts, a not-for-profit organisation working to support resilience and transformation in the cultural sector in Ireland. Already, the platform has attracted pledges from the general public of over €215,000 and has seen 50 creative projects successfully funded.
Fund It allows creative ideas and projects with a specific fundraising target to be promoted on site for a defined period of time. The creators behind the approved projects promote the idea to their own network, online and through traditional media with a view to attracting pledges in return for creative rewards. With artists finding it more and more difficult to raise funds for recording, distribution and touring, the platform has been welcomed by a number of Irish songwriters and ensembles who have used Fund It not only to help finance their projects, but to raise awareness of their work and give something back to their supporters. The platform is being used not just by up and coming artists, such as Cork songwriter Sí who used Fund It to put the finishing touches to her debut album, “Great Expectations”, but also by those who have experienced both life as a signed and unsigned artist, such as Peter O´Toole, formerly of the Hothouse Flowers, who is currently running a campaign to help his first solo recording come to fruition.
Having your project approved and launched on Fund It is just the first step. With a tight deadline and an all-or-nothing approach, the artist or organisation is under pressure from the beginning to raise awareness of their project and meet the target they have set. “This forces applicants to be realistic about the money and budget they need in order to plan out and execute their project,”, says Emma O´Halloran, co-director of SoundSet, a string and vocal ensemble currently running a campaign on Fund It to bring some of the best string players in the country together for a special performance of Schoenberg´s groundbreaking “Verklärte Nacht” (Transfigured Night). “Groups that submit projects should have already worked on building up networks on various social media as that´s your main potential funders.” This equates to a lot of hard work for artists trying to promote their project and get people to back it financially before the Fund It deadline. “It is a lot of work, but the payoff is definitely worth it,” says Eamon Brett who was able to finish his collection songs, “Wires”, after running a successful campaign.
To help with the huge task of raising funds and awareness for projects, the rewards system allows the artist to be creative and offer something unique to a fan that would not usually be available when purchasing an album or concert ticket in a traditional way. Rewards include anything from your name on the album sleeve to a live gig in your living room. Nina Hynes, who ran a successful campaign earlier this year for her recording, “Goldmine”, currently in the making, had a whole range of unique rewards from a song played live by Nina for supporters via Skype to a personal singing lesson with Nina. Nina has been engaging with her funders throughout the whole process, acknowledging her supporters´ fundamental role in the creation of her album. The rewards also help to remove any misconceptions that crowdfunding is charity. As Candice Gordon, who used Fund It for the manufacture of her album, “Before the Sunset Ends”, puts it, “The album was worth the financing, and it just made economic sense to take pre-orders before incurring the cost of printing, leaving me to spend my savings elsewhere in the release.”
Aside from financial backing, artists are discovering crowdfunding is bringing them support in a whole range of ways, and introducing a brand new fanbase to their work. Artists are breaking down barriers with their audiences and in doing so, building a strong network of supporters who will help build their profile. To know that you have a team of fans behind you from the beginning is particularly valuable for independent artists working solo on a project. “The feedback and words of encouragement and help I received from funders as well as them actually purchasing was really overwhelming and positive” says Cormac O´Caoimh, who has just reached his Fund It target for the recording of his forthcoming album, “A New Season for Love”. Cormac sees crowdfunding as a viable option for artists and for future funding of the arts in general. “The more people who use it, the more common place it becomes, the more accepted it will become as a way to finance some great projects. I think when people get used to the idea and see how popular and valid a means it is of funding the arts, more people will fund other projects.”
Elavator, Soundset, Peter O´Toole, Rubashov and Morgan La Faye are all currently running campaigns on the Music page of Fund It. Check out www.fundit.ie to learn more about their projects and help them reach their goals.
