This presentation was first presented at Sam Ash Music in Manhattan in June 2012 by Greg Remillard, the founder of TuneFund, a crowdfunding site for musicians and independent labels. The presentation covers every aspect of creating and running a successful crowdfunding campaign from setting a funding goal to promoting a campaign with social media. http://www.tunefund.com @tunefund

1. 
Crowdfunding for Musicians
What You Need to Know to Set Up and Manage a Successful Campaign
Presented by Greg Remillard
Founder, TuneFund.com
Sponsored by:
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2. Table of Contents
 The New Music Business  Video Examples
 What is Crowdfunding?  DescripMon, Updates, Music, Images
 How Can Crowdfunding Help Me?  Typical Campaign “U” Curve
 General Interest Sites  Commit!
 Music Focused Sites  Time SensiMve Offers
 Anatomy of a Campaign  Email MarkeMng
 SeLng a Funding Goal  Social Media MarkeMng
 Sample Budget  PR
 ContribuMon Levels and Rewards  TuneFund Features
 Reward Ideas  Thank You!!
 About Asking for Money  Addendum: MarkeMng Tools
 The Pitch Video

3. The New Music Business
 "The basic tenets of success in music are sMll true:
have good songs, touch people, work hard. But as
far as geLng around from place to place...
musicians are no longer traveling by limo with one‐
way glass protecMng them from view. Now we're all
going on foot, door to door, in the open sunshine...
with the internet as our magical, Mme‐space
defeaMng sidewalk.”
‐ Amanda Palmer, Independent Musician
Raised $1,192,793. Funding target: $100,000

4. What is Crowdfunding?
 Crowdfunding is a new form of patronage facilitated by
online funding sites that make it easy for people to raise
money in the form of “micro‐donaMons” from their own
networks of contacts as well as their broader
communiMes.
FRIEND
FAN ARTIST FAMILY
COMMUNITY

5. How Can Crowdfunding Help Me?
 Crowdfunding is available for nearly every type of
project or need
 For musicians crowdfunding can help cover basic
costs like:
 Recording
 Touring
 MarkeMng
 Video
 Web development
 Merchandise ProducMon

6. General Interest Sites
 General Project Based Sites
 Kickstarter
 Largest, most well known general interest site
 All or nothing model
 5% fee for successful projects
 Indiegogo
 IniMally film focused, now general interest site
 Keep what you raise or all or nothing models
 4% / 9% or 4%
 Rockethub
 General interest site
 Keep what you raise with more opMons for hiLng goal
 4% / 8%
All sites charge between 3% ‐ 5% cc processing fee

7. Music Focused Sites
 TuneFund  SellaBand
 Keep what you raise  Keep what you raise
 10% fee  15% fee
 Will build campaign for  ArMst / fan revenue share
musician opMon
 PledgeMusic  Feed the Muse
 All or nothing  Arts focused, mostly music
 15% fee  10% fee
 Charity Me‐in
All sites charge between 3% ‐ 5% cc processing fee

8. Anatomy of a Campaign
 Funding Goal
 ContribuMon Levels and Rewards
 Credit Card Processing
 Pitch Video
 Wriken DescripMon / Bio
 Music Player
 Social Media IntegraMon
 Updates / Comments
 Image Gallery

9. Setting a Funding Goal
 Create a budget for your project
 Determine all costs
 Itemize in a spreadsheet (or whatever works)
 Add at least 10% conMngency
 Factor in cost of rewards
 Factor in crowdfunding site’s fee and credit card
processing fee
 Taxes: Funds raised are typically considered income and
are not tax deducMble unless you have 501(c)(3) status.
Be sure to speak to your accountant to determine the
best way to handle the funds raised for that tax year.

10. Sample Budget

11. Contribution Levels and Rewards
 Have a wide range of contribuMon levels within these parameters: small
($20 ‐ $100) • medium ($150 ‐ $500) • large ($600 ‐ $1000) • over $1000
 80 / 20 rule: 80% of your contribuMons will be in the
< $25 ‐ $50 range while 20% will be big contribuMons
 Every contribuMon is matched with a reward that should be
commensurate in value with the contribuMon e.g. a reward for a
contribuMon of $50 is a tee shirt that cost you $12 to make
 Rewards should provide the contributor with a sense of inclusion or
shared experience – it’s why they’re funding you!
 Study your network to determine the overall “wealth curve” and set
contribuMon levels accordingly
 Have FUN with your rewards

12. Reward Ideas
 Pre‐release CD or download  Signed instrument
 Signed CD (DVD, etc.)  “One of a kind” giu (clothes,
art, etc.)
 Show Mckets
 Backstage visit
 Handwriken lyric sheets
 House concert
 Email / Phone interview
 Credit (ExecuMve Producer,
 Skype conversaMon / concert etc.)
 Mix tape  Music lessons
 Custom song or cover song  Dinner or drinks with the band
request

13. About Asking for Money
 Don’t be shy!
 Accept that you are asking people close to you for
focused financial assistance (for your career) and be
comfortable with it.
 “This is business. Not personal.”
 This effort is for a predetermined amount of Mme
e.g. the length of your campaign. Don’t freak out.

14. The Pitch Video
“Success rates of projects without a video are much lower than those with.
Video is the best opportunity to make an emoMonal connecMon with potenMal
backers.”
– Yancey Strickler, Kickstarter Co‐Founder
 Key concept: “EmoMonal ConnecMon” Video allows you to make that
connecMon and is the most powerful fundraising tool at your disposal
 Don’t sweat producMon values, a basic point‐and‐shoot digital camera (or
iPhone camera!) then edited in iMovie is how most pitch videos are
made
 Make it creaMve and fun – this is entertainment with a purpose!
 Keep it short – 3 minutes MAX!
 Describe your band and/or music, your project, how much you need to
raise and how the money will be used

15. Video Examples
 Video examples
 Lucius;
hkp://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/
carmenvandiego
 Amanda Palmer;
hkp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/
amandapalmer/amanda‐palmer‐the‐new‐record‐
art‐book‐and‐tour
 Nataly Dawn;
hkp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/555488012/
nataly‐dawns‐first‐solo‐album

16. Description, Updates, Music, Images
 The Campaign DescripMon is your pitch and bio in wriken form
and should include:
 Anything that will make your campaign stand out – working with
Steve Albini? Talk about his credenMals and how working with him
has always been your dream
 A bio of yourself or band and any highlights from your career
 Use the campaign update feature early and ouen. Keep the
momentum going with frequent updates.
 Images are just another type of update. Post images of your
sessions, rehearsals, performances, fans. Post a lot, all the Mme.
 If possible upload demos of the songs you’ll be recording
 Whenever you post any kind of media to your campaign be sure
to men;on the updates on all your social media profiles.

17. Typical Campaign “U” Curve
 Campaigns typically have a big spike at the
beginning then dip down as Mme goes on. There is
typically another big spike at the end of the
campaign as the campaign owner cranks up the
markeMng to close the campaign.
 Avoid the dip with regular updates on your
campaign page and social media.
 Constantly work your network! Send reminders on
a regular frequency to your friends and family to
post to their networks on your behalf.

18. Commit!
“I understood this commitment going in from reading about how
others handled their campaign…but I sMll wasn’t prepared for the
realiMes of it. Working on gaining exposure and new eyes every
day was extremely Mme consuming. Think of it like placing a
media ad and having it in heavy rotaMon — but you’re doing it
yourself and not relying on an agency. I spent at least 4‐6 hours
every day on the campaign — if not more.”
‐ Gary King, Independent Filmmaker

19. Use Special Offers or ‘Blitzes’
 “My most successful day of fundraising (where I raised about
33% of my funds in 24 hours) was when I did a digital push
that simply said: ‘I need $27 more dollars to clear the $2,000
mark. Anyone who donates $27 or more in the next 24 hours
will get a free download for ALL of my previous albums.’ By
naming a SPECIFIC AMOUNT, in a SPECIFIC TIME‐FRAME, with
a SPECIFIC REWARD, tons and tons of people stepped up then
and there. Like I said, 33% of my total was raised in that 24
hours.”
‐Folk singer/songwriter Tyler Stenson

20. Email Marketing
The majority of your contribu;ons will come from
your friends and family. You’ll want to market to this
group first to get some contribu;ons rolling in so your
campaign has ac;vity before you go wide.
 Target this group first with a campaign
announcement
 Create a mailing list for each segment of your
network
 Tailor an email blast for each segment including
the subject line
 Be sure to ASK FOR THE CONTRIBUTION – don’t
be shy, this is what fundraising is all about!

21. Email Marketing
 Be sure to ask everyone to forward the email or campaign
link to their own networks via email, Facebook, Twiker,
etc.
 Create a mailing list of your fans (if you don’t have one) and
musician connecMons and follow the steps above to create an
announcement email blast to this group.
 Depending on the duraMon of your campaign send weekly or
bi‐weeky email updates to your lists. Include the following
 Funding progress
 Project updates
 Special prizes if a certain amount is reached by a certain
date

22. Social Media Marketing
 Post updates and campaign widget (if available) on all sites and social media
profiles including:
 Band Website
 Myspace
 Facebook
 Twiker
 Youtube
 Tumblr
 Bandcamp Site
 ReverbNaMon Site
 Have a strong presence on Twiker, tweet about your band and campaign daily (but
make the tweets interesMng)
 Tumblr is a great resource for building a fan base and potenMal donors. Post text
and/or images ouen
 Get into your friend’s Facebook Timeline

23. PR
 Write a release for your campaign
 Send it to all local newspaper’s entertainment
editors
 Send it to relevant music bloggers
 Blogger EMqueke:
 Comment on some posMngs first, breaks the ice
 Follow on Twiker
 Email the blogger and ask if you can send them the
release

24. TuneFund Features
 Unlike other crowdfunding sites (Kickstarter, etc.),
TuneFund was created by musicians, for musicians
 TuneFunder’s can upload three songs to a
dedicated music player on their campaign
 TuneFund’s support staff will build your campaign
for no charge! You’ll be guaranteed the everything
is set up perfectly
 We provide coaching every step of the way
including campaign planning, email us at
support@tunefund.com to schedule a planning call

25. Thank You!!
Thank you for akending this seminar! If you have any
follow up quesMons please do not hesitate to contact
me at: greg@tunefund.com
Good luck with your careers and fundraising
endeavors!

26. Marketing Tools
Following is a list of online tools that will help market your campaign effecMvely.
Most are free.
 Mail Chimp (hkp://mailchimp.com) ‐ Are you old school and send out emails to your list? Here's
a way to get beker at tracking how those emails do. Mail Chimp allows you to send to a list, add
names/emails easily, and design templates. With MailChimp, You can announce your TuneFund
campaign how you want, make it look good and get data on how the email blast performed.
 Konnect.me (hkp://konect.me) ‐ A tool that allows you to sync up social media and content
depositories. Want to do something a likle more special than just tweeMng the status of your
campaign? Record a video of one of your songs and share it as a thank you. With this tool, you
can upload it to FB or YouTube and it will get sent out to other SM via link.
 TweetDeck (hkp://www.tweetdeck.com) ‐ Allows you to schedule tweets/FB posts and other
things across mulMple accounts which would be handy if you were trying to talk to your fans as
well as your friends...or send out separate updates to the two different groups.
 Bufferapp (hkp://www.bufferapp.com) ‐ Allows you to schedule your updates to your social
media accounts. Good interface and comes with analyMcs. Modify the Mmes of day your
updates are sent, add more or less scheduled tweets and FB updates. A good simple tool.

27. Marketing Tools
 Crowdbooster (hkps://crowdbooster.com) – Connects with your social networks,
does some analysis and gives you back a report. Best feature; it tells you when the
best Mme to send out updates is, based on who you are and who your audience is.
 SocialOomph (hkps://www.socialoomph.com) ‐ Robust updaMng tool that also
allows you to find influenMal people, vet followers, track keywords and manage
DM boxes and so much more.
 Tweet Reach (hkp://tweetreach.com) ‐ It's basically like Google AnalyMcs for
Twiker. Type in a search term, they let you know how far it will go out. Super
helpful for trying to come up with the best #hashtag
 Splash.fm (hkp://splash.fm/top/tracks/7d/everyone ) ‐ A social media integrated
pla~orm to share music. This would be a way to engage your audience and send
musical valenMnes to your most ardent fans, or just people who kind of dig your
music. While not directly akributable towards campaign promoMon, it’s definitely
a way to engage fans, let them know you're listening to them ,and possibly
convince them to donate to your campaign.

28. Marketing Tools
 This is My Jam (hkp://www.thisismyjam.com) ‐ Another way to share music, either
yours or your favorites, with people, which engages them and would also give you
a chance to, perhaps during the campaign, give a song to the fans who have
donated. Which, if promoted somewhat, would possibly encourage people to
donate e.g. “Haven't donated to my campaign? Today at 5pm, I'll be sharing
something special with everyone who's already contributed, so if you want
something awesome, now's your chance!”
 FanBridge (hkp://www.fanbridge.com) ‐ This is a markeMng tool designed for
musicians. Offers a few tools across pla~orms, but one of the more interesMng
ones is GeotargeMng. With a large enough fan base, a musician could eblast people
in a specific area about a show they're playing.
 TweetForATrack (hkp://www.twee~oratrack.com/signup) ‐ Tweet a track with a
link to a download. Your fan clicks the link, but before he can download the track,
he has to re‐tweet/re‐post about the track. Throw in a promoMon for your
TuneFund campaign for some viral promoMon.