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INSIDE MUSIC: Crowdfunding the Arts

By Rosemary Conte

originally published: 08/18/2014



Zak Danger Brown, Columbus, Ohio, an Internet jokester, ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise $10 to make a bowl of potato salad. Four days into the month-long campaign, he had raised $32,000. It ended at $44,000! Another Kickstarter campaign was for promoting rape-based card game that has players rape their way through an all-girls school. It raised $30,000 before it was cancelled by Kickstarter for being too sexy.

Reading this, a serious singer/songwriter, author, or painter might think that if stupid and depraved can attract great sums of money, surely an attempt to drop something beautiful upon the masses could do as well. But---as the song says, "It ain't necessarily so."

I've supported and followed some Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns, and have done some research. I've found that the crowdfunding craze has grown a pioneer mentality. Campaigners are eager to share lessons they've learned, to help others succeed. An Internet search will find such pioneers as well as many crowdfunding sites that feature tutorials and offer strategies for a successful campaign.

Filmmaker Jack Ballo is running an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for licensing of music, and distribution of his indie documentary, Destiny's Bridge, about homelessness and a solution for it. He's raised $10,000 in 30 days and has opted to extend it for another 30. Jack has worked 16 hour days for months, preparing and executing his campaign. When he looks at it in terms of time and money spent, he feels he's worked for something like 25 cents an hour---and he misses his wife. (Not every artist will have Jack's endurance.)

In case you want to try this "Next Big Thing", you'll find a book with that name. And among the huge number of other books about it CF, there is, of course, "Crowdfunding for Dummies."



Rosemary Conte is a singer, voice teacher, clinical hypnotist-counselor and freelance writer. She lives in Matawan, NJ. She welcomes comments and questions about working in music and can be reached at 732-583-4959, on Facebook, and [email protected].


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EVENT PREVIEWS

(BRADLEY BEACH, NJ) -- WBJB's Songwriters on the Beach presents Nicole Atkins on Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 7:00pm. Cory Blair will open the night. The free outdoor concert takes place at the Newark Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach. ** The show was rescheduled from July 16th due to the Air Quality Alert issued across New Jersey.

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McCarter Theatre Center presents Mei Semones on September 4th

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- McCarter Theatre Center presents Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Mei Semones in the Berlind Theatre on Friday, September 4, 2026 at 7:30pm. Drawing on her background in jazz guitar and her Japanese heritage, she blends inventive harmonies, intricate rhythms, and bilingual lyricism into a sound that is both intimate and exploratory.
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FEATURED EVENTS


IMAGINE LENNON LIVE

Saturday, August 22, 2026 @ 7:30pm
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Saturday, August 22, 2026 @ 8:00pm
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The Peace & Presence Tour: Omari Dillard

Saturday, August 22, 2026 @ 7:30pm
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Ugly Kid Joe with Special Guests Wheatus and Platinum Moon

Sunday, August 23, 2026 @ 7:30pm
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Joanna Connor - The Queen of Blues Rock Guitar

Tuesday, August 25, 2026 @ 7:30pm
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