How to fan fund a vinyl record release

Learn about companies that will do the heavy lifting of manufacturing and selling vinyl records with little or no risk to you.

by Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Blog

Want to offer vinyl to your fans without breaking the bank and overflowing your spare bedroom with potential sales? We’ve got just the trick. There are companies out there that do all the hard work for you, producing the vinyl, shipping them out and even managing the orders, leaving all the fun parts to you (like choosing the designs and making the money ). Interested? Here are our two favorite places to get fan funded vinyl from…

Before we dive in…

By “fan funded vinyl”, all we’re essentially talking about is crowdfunding for vinyl. You don’t have to worry about stocks or overstock. You set a goal, then these companies will press whatever number of pre-ordered records you need. Once you’re ready, they ship everything directly to your fans. No fuss, no mess.

Qrates

Qrates is an end-to-end solution for artists and labels who need short run vinyl on-demand. They eliminate any financial and inventory risk and hassle, working with a network of quality vinyl pressing plants around the world for the best pricing and fastest delivery. You get to design the look and feel of your vinyl, exactly how you want it. In addition, you can also use their profit calculator to immediately see how much your project will cost, and how much you’ll earn. 

How does it work? — Once you’ve designed your vinyl, set your price and spread the word to reach your goal. When your goal has been reached, then comes the creation of the actual product, and it can finally be sold to fans all over the world. They take care of the shipping, and you don’t have to worry about any extra product laying around.

Diggers Factory

Diggers Factory is also an on-demand vinyl network that allows artists and labels to produce records for free, thanks to your music community. You don’t have to spend anything in order to launch the project and share it with your fans. How does it work? — All you have to do is upload your tracks and artworks, set up a sales objective and once you meet your goal, they take care of the rest.

And if you don’t reach your goal, the project is canceled and everybody is paid back in full. You can also decide to fund the rest of the production yourself if you want to move forward anyway. Then, you’ll have to wait 8 weeks for manufacturing, before they ship the records to your contributors. 

“Cool, but… what makes these better than doing it myself?”

• By producing only what you need, you can maximize your profits exponentially.
• You get to customize the design of your vinyl however you want.
• You get customer support along the way to help you with anything you may need.
• By fan funding your vinyl release, there’s no financial risk.

Ready to try it out for yourself?

To help you out, we’ve negotiated a 5% discount for Symphonic clients using Qrates for the first time.