Blue Scholars announced on Sunday their new album will be released June 14th. Folks looking to get a hold of an advanced copy and other exclusive items still have time to make a pledge on the groups Kickstarter page. The group also announced that they are releasing a very limited edition Cinemetropolis 2-LP vinyl. The limited edition vinyl comes alongside an advanced digital copy of the album in trade for a $30 pledge.
As of 8:30 AM PT on March 30th, the Kickstarter page had already raised $37,608. Well over their original goal of $25,000.
The last day to pledge is April 21.
You can see Blue Scholars live at Willamette University this Saturday, April 2nd. Tickets are $10. Doors open at 8:30pm.
Hope you enjoy the interview below.
(Ed’s Note. Part of this interview appeared in a story we ran about Kickstarter. But since Geo is the man, I thought it was a good idea to run the interview in full and allow artists to fully appreciate the knowledge shared. We Out Here. Thanks again for the time Geo.)
Kickstarter seems to have the potential to further distance the necessity of labels for artists. Where do you see the concept behind Kickstarter eventually taking music and what do you feel are keys to using it efficiently?
Geo The concept is bigger than Kickstarter and has actually been around much longer – people have funded projects through their own supporters independent of industry before, but now you have an opportunity through the internet to reach a bigger audience of investors. Right now, Kickstarter is the most recognizable form of this.
I’ve seen cats in other industries (technology, non-profits, film, writers) run successful campaigns mostly due to the overwhelming perception that they really need the money. I think, aside from mostly very young or niche artists, musicians have been slow to embrace this model because there’s a vulnerability in admitting that you’re not ballin like that. Especially if you rap. I’m not sure if we’re using it efficiently – we’ll see – but no matter what we’ve done in the past business-wise, our biggest strength has always been word-of-mouth and loyal support of fans everywhere, especially in our own city and region. So this campaign is a recognition of that — that we’re in a position to release music and fund film projects without tying ourselves financially to a sinking ship.
Indy artists have a bad rap for flooding new social sites with spam, and ruining the experience for other users. What should artists keep in mind before starting a Kickstarter program and what are some downfalls for flooding the market?
Geo The indie self-promotion game is an inevitable byproduct of this economy. Many people are mistaken into thinking flooding the market works because they’re essentially following a model that, at one time, DID work when fewer people were doing it. What they don’t realize is that thousands of other people have already adopted the same hustle (and in many cases, the same sounding music) and that the whole presentation of their product is indistinct from everybody else. They are the Viagra peddlers of the music game.
We’re not experts in marketing strategy, nor Viagra peddlers, but we do know that the most important thing in marketing is actually not marketing at all. It is first, the product itself, closely followed by it’s presentation. We’ve always paid more attention to those things, probably to a fault, than any “marketing strategy.” In fact, we’ve tried those kind of flood-the-market tactics here and there over the years and always found them to be a waste of time and resources. So you gotta approach a Kickstarter campaign the same way you’d approach any one big investor – offer a compelling product and/or have a large support base. If you have either or both, go for it. If you have neither, good luck.
You’ve done a great job making the rewards be fairly equal to the donation, not all Kickstarter programs do. What is the difference between Kickstarter and simply begging for money?
Geo We never saw our own Kickstarter campaign as a donation platform. In fact, if Kickstarter never existed, we would’ve probably found another way to set up essentially the same thing: a chance to pre-order AND support the making of the album online. This was partly based on my own experience as a pledger for other projects — all the ones I’ve supported, I got something tangible as a reward. Others were intriguing to me, but unless there was an urgency or a reward, I wasn’t gonna just donate to something I felt was gonna happen anyway with or without my pledge.
Related Stories:
>>Macklemore. Touring, Wings and Transparency
>>Braille’s New Album, New Label, And New S1 Track