Via Springwise: Aiming to empower independent artists, SellaBand
has created a platform that enables fans to sponsor bands, and get a
piece the action in return. How it works: fans, dubbed Believers, find
an artist they like on SellaBand.com. For USD 10, they can buy a share,
or ‘Part’. Once the band has sold 5,000 parts, SellaBand arranges a
professional recording, including top studios, A&R managers and
producers. Believers receive a limited edition cd of the recording.

The interesting twist is that the songs are then made available as
free downloads. Income comes from advertising revenues, which are split
three ways: artist, believer and SellaBand. The company will also sell
cds through regular channels, sharing profits with artists and
believers.

Since both believers and artists benefit from getting 5,000 parts
sold, both are likely to actively promote the band (and SellaBand)
everywhere musicians and music fans are active: on their blogs, on
their MySpace pages, in online communities, to their friends, etc. Once
the recording has taken place, the same goes for SellaBand’s download
portal: artists and believers profit from ad revenues created by
driving traffic to their download page. http://www.sellaband.com