WeDemand! Tackles The Uphill Battle To Establish Concert Crowdfunding In The States
Queremos! is a music concert crowdfunding platform developed in Brazil that debuted in the U.S. last fall. Since then the U.S. site and parent company have been renamed WeDemand! and are gradually chipping away at the U.S. market. I spoke last week with WeDemand!'s Michael Palank who updated me on current developments and future plans.
So far concert crowdfunding has been slow to take off. Unlike other forms of crowdfunding in which individuals in a virtually unlimited range of locations can fund a project such as recording an album or shooting a music video, concert crowdfunding typically requires people in a single location to commit to supporting a single event.
Gigfunder seems to be encountering difficulty here in the U.S. while Songkick Detour is successfully focusing their efforts on London. However some folks are finding success on more general platforms such as Kickstarter. In particular, Alexz Johnson's campaign gained quite a bit of attention while Amanda Palmer's campaign, which included a record and art book, made crowdfunding history.
WeDemand! Takes On the Challenges of the U.S. Market
Now WeDemand! is seeking to establish the first successful dedicated concert crowdfunding platform in the U.S. They have a lot of work ahead and the challenge of reaching what is essentially a three-sided market.
While Kickstarter brings together artists and fans, WeDemand! is facing the even more difficult task of bringing together fans, artists and promoters. Michael Palank, who handles business development for WeDemand! in the States, is key to this endeavor and says his primary focus is on the artists, which also means managers and booking agents, and then on promoters and venue owners as particular concerts are funded.
Given that crowdfunding is still an emerging phenomenon, this means Palank has an educational task on his hands as well.
Palank says they're currently working with midsize to larger artists though they are also looking for ways to support up and comers who haven't yet established a strong touring presence. The artists with which they're working generally have between 25,000 and a million Facebook fans and can get bookings in major markets. WeDemand! is focusing on secondary and tertiary markets where interest exists but is more difficult to quantify.
Here's How It Works
The first step is to ascertain initial demand for a musician to perform in a specific location using the WeDemand! button. This is not unlike the "Demand Me" button that Eventful had on Myspace. Fans sign up with WeDemand! but, at that stage, there is no additional commitment.
Since that's not enough to convince most promoters and venues, the next step is to crowdfund concerts in particular areas that have shown initial interest. When enough pledges are received, the concert is then booked, a process with which WeDemand! is directly involved.
In fact, though the longer term goal is to make WeDemand! a self-service platform, in Brazil and now in the States WeDemand! is involved at every stage of the process. In some cases they even put on and promote the shows themselves.
Initially, in Brazil, Queremos! was then giving the group that pledged and made the concert possible a refund. This would be announced at the concert and added an extra level of energy but it also meant that revenue was sometimes reduced to unacceptable levels.
So now they're experimenting with greater rewards for those who pledge and then strongly promote the concert. The idea is to find the right balance while creating incentives for fans to spread the word and make the concert a success.
Making It Work in the States
They're making this work in Brazil, which has a less developed concert infrastructure, but in the U.S. they face a much more established situation with a complicated array of stakeholders who aren't necessarily in a rush to disrupt business as usual.
WeDemand! is addressing the issue, in part, by exploring partnerships with venues such as the Brooklyn Bowl in New York. In addition to working with more established artists, in a few weeks they'll be kicking off a contest for artists that normally would be too small to get booked at the Brooklyn Bowl. Around 10 acts will seek fan support and the top acts will get to perform. It's a smart way to get more people involved while supporting smaller acts.
WeDemand! is also looking to establish a presence on music services with the hope that they can get the WeDemand! button on such sites as Spotify. That would help them not only in the States but in other areas when and if they decided to expand.
The site itself will soon be updated and part of that update includes a dashboard for promoters so that they can get a look at the stats of the artists represented on WeDemand!
On the one hand, WeDemand! seems to be making great choices in terms of both tactics and strategies. On the other, this process is clearly a great deal of work and will require a much more substantial staff in the States. Given that the bulk of their focus has been on Brazil, it sounds like they're going to need another funding round to support U.S. operations.
Palank pointed out that they have a solid group of advisers in the U.S. Beyond that the concept makes sense and the fact that they have to be so hands-on, though demanding, also represents a potential barrier to entry.
If they can reach critical mass and successfully transition to a self-service platform for the majority of their users, WeDemand! could become a major player in the U.S. concert scene.
More: Queremos! – Crowdfunding For Live Concerts
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
