Type of site Crowdfunding / Music Created by Brian Camelio Alexa rank 874,188 (April 2014) | Owner ArtistShare, inc Website ArtistShare.com | |
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Slogan(s) Where the fans make it happen / First in Fan Funding | ||
ArtistShare is one of internet's early crowdfunding platforms. It also operates as a record label and business model for creative artists which enables them to fund their projects by allowing the general public to directly finance, watch the creative process, and in most cases gain access to extra material from an artist. According to Bloomberg News, the company’s chief executive officer, Brian Camelio, founded ArtistShare in 2000 with the idea that fans would finance production costs for albums sold only on the Internet and Artists also would enjoy much more favourable contract terms. ArtistShare was described in 2005 as a "completely new business model for creative artists" which "benefits both the artist and the fans by financing new and original artistic projects while building a strong and loyal fan base".
Contents
History
A United States-based company, ArtistShare (2001) is documented as being the first crowdfunding website followed later by sites such as Sellaband (2006), SliceThePie (2007), IndieGoGo (2008), Spot.us (2008), Pledge Music (2009), and Kickstarter (2009).
ArtistShare projects have received 29 Grammy nominations and 10 Grammy awards to date.
In 2005, American composer Maria Schneider's Concert in the Garden became the first album in Grammy history to win an award without being available in retail stores. The album was ArtistShare's first fan-funded project. Schneider received four nominations that year for the fan-funded album and won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. According to ArtistShare.com, ArtistShare artists consist of "some of today's most prestigious artists including Pulitzer prize and Oscar nominated writers, Guggenheim fellowship recipients and NEA Jazz Masters".
In May 2013, ArtistShare partnered with Blue Note Records to form a collaboration titled 'Blue Note/ArtistShare'. The Blue Note/ArtistShare collaboration was forged by Brian Camelio, Bruce Lundvall, and Don Was, President of Blue Note Records. In Blue Note's press release about the collaboration, Lundvall, Blue Note Chairman Emeritus, is quoted as saying, "'ArtistShare founder Brian Camelio is a true visionary. I see the ArtistShare business model as a key component of the future music business'" The collaboration will "'essentially serve as a low-risk development arm of the label'" since the recordings will be funded by the fans.
Patent dispute
On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a declaratory judgment suit against ArtistShare and Fan Funded which owns U.S. patent US 7885887 , "Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing a creative work".
In June 2015, US District Judge Katherine Failla ruled in favor of KickStarter against ArtistShare.