1.
Image via DIY
In a recent interview with El Pais, Morrissey spoke out about the trend of artists crowdfunding their own albums, and called the approach a “desperate” and “insulting” move. He said, “[Crowdfunding] is a desperate measure, and insulting to your audience. We have already provided sufficient amounts of money. What is the next thing you’re going to ask? Brush our teeth?” However, he also admitted that his options for releasing a new album seem very limited these days, which makes touring his only remaining option. But just because Morrissey isn’t into crowdfunding, doesn’t mean that it hasn’t proven to be a good idea.
Within the last year or two, more artists have proved just how successful crowdfunding can actually be. The most recent success story comes from De La Soul. The rap trio began a kickstarter page with hopes of making and releasing a new album independently, and managed to reach their goal of $110,000 in less than a day. As of right now, the kickstarter still has four more days to go and over 10,000 pledgers have donated more than $531,000 (and counting).
Similar crowdfunding success stories also happened with TLC earlier this year. The duo surpassed their goal of $150,000 and raised over $430,000 in just three days. The idea even worked for Run The Jewels when a joke about making an album completely out of cat sounds got way out of hand. And in 2013, LA rapper Nipsey Hussle essentially began doing the same thing by releasing limited editions of his mixtape for $100. Earlier this year he released mixtapes for $1,000 for the loyal fans willing to pay for all the perks that came with the hefty prices.
Although artists like Morrissey see this crowdfunding idea as desperate, many other artists are showing that this may be the next and best move for artists. Whether they have always been independent or finally became tired of their major labels and decided to try something new, so far crowdfunding has shown that as long as there is demand from the people, an album can get made.
