After receiving positive reviews and ratings on Slicethepie (http://www.slicethepie.com/), Scars On 45 reached the financing stage and raised £15,000 from fans.
Their album, and the fact that they had proved popular enough for fans to invest in, attracted the attention of Heavenly Management. They work with Nice Management in the US and the two companies secured a couple of the band`s songs on to soundtracks for US TV shows The Cleaner and CSI: New York. This drew them to the attention of Alex Patsavas, one of the most successful and powerful music supervisors around, responsible for the soundtracks to Twilight: New Moon, The OC, Gossip Girl and Grey`s Anatomy. Patsavas, who also works with Chop Shop Records, which has a deal with Atlantic, promptly brokered the deal.
Courtier-Dutton explains how the fans who invested in the band made a profit: "Fans can invest as little as £1, which entitles them to a single from the band – £5 or more gets them an album. An investment of £10 gives them 10 shares. When the deal with the label was brokered, the shares of the band were trading for £5 a piece."
The story raises many questions. Could this be the future of the music industry? Will we see a world where the fans not only support the artist, but also share in the financial success they may enjoy? What do you reckon?
"I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn`t last, and now it`s running out. I don`t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going.
The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you`d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history`s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it."
From creator/executive producer Liz Heldens (NBC`s "Friday Night Lights"), executive producers Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts ("Pushing Daisies") and Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun comes "Mercy," a new medical drama about the lives of the people who work at Mercy Hospital seen through the eyes of those who know it best -- its nurses.
Today Haitians united through song, marched in stoic defiance through the rubble and banded together to peacefully air the voice of survival. Music in the face of disaster.
Among the amazing organizations already mobilizing to offer aid and support are
MUSIC FOR RELIEF the non-profit charity comprising of artists, music industry professionals, and fans work together to support disaster relief wherever it hits.
Music For Relief have already had an incredible impact in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and are now reaching out to those in Haiti.
Akwaaba Music, a digital label pushing the culture and sounds of Africa and its Diasporas, and a member of Music For Relief are in the process of putting together a compilation of music from Haiti, due to go on sale immanently, all proceeds will go towards charities on the ground in Haiti. Will post here as soon as it`s up and on sale!
In the mean time please spare a moment to take a listen to some of the underground artists, many of them young and just gathering momentum whom have been confirmed amongst the fatalities or are still missing. Click on the names to be forwarded to their sites.
You can also help directly in all of the following ways:• Text RELIEF to 90999 to make a $5 donation via the MFR mobile campaign.
• Donate to MFR online via paypal.
• Use Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and email to spread the word.
Every little helps.
Airs 6th Jan at 8pm on CBS.
