By Pos
While working on the jam sessions for our new De La Soul album, And The Anonymous Nobody, us and a few members of the Rhythm Roots All Stars band — who performed with us on the record — had put all of our individual connects to label executives on the table. We all felt that this project could and should be bigger than just selling it on tour and on our website. We were able to get a good amount of interest from different labels based off of De La Soul’s name, but as time passed we began to question being signed to a label.
First of all, as a group, we have been very blessed to be able to maneuver throughout the ups and downs of the music industry. One of our strong points has always been our live show, which allows us to be a part of many of the annual festivals across the world, as well as shows held in performance theatres. We have been able to do this for more than 20 years, with or without an album to promote.
Now that album sales have decreased considerably, touring along with other options like merchandise and brand pairing has become the norm for artists. Traditionally, labels would not be cut into the piece of the financial pie, but with today’s 360 deals, the label now might be entitled to that money to make up for the dwindling amounts made from decreased record sales.
We definitely could not foresee ourselves pairing up with a label and allowing them to take a cut of our bread and butter on the road. Even if we could get a label behind the project that would exclude touring from the deal, there was still a growing concern for how the creative aspect of this project would be nurtured and allowed to grow within the test tube of a label. Let us also not forget that the amount of an advance that a label gives to you speaks volumes of their financial belief in your project. We honestly weren’t sure what a label would be willing to give us.
Eventually crowdfunding was brought to the table. We had heard of Kickstarter before that point, but never really looked into it. Maseo (Plug 3) had actually brought it up in conversation a while before that and that was my first time hearing of it.
At first, I honestly wasn't sure if this would be the correct path to take. We were not sure if people would feel like we were begging for money, or just be turned off that a well-established group was taking part in crowdfunding. But after taking some time, looking into Kickstarter, speaking to artists who have launched campaigns themselves, as well as fans that have backed them, we saw that a large percentage of our fan base were very aware of the crowdfunding platform. We also saw that there were other established entertainers, musicians, and authors who had connected with their fans via Kickstarter and launched successful campaigns.
We had humbly asked for $110,000, hoping we would not only reach that goal, but also exceed it by the end of the campaign. So to reach the financial goal within the first nine hours of launch was absolutely astonishing. By the time we reached half-a-million dollars, it left us feeling joyous about the possibilities for this project. It was very rewarding to see even our fans feel that something was right within the world of music. They just want to see us win and be given the right tools to do so!
I definitely now feel that this platform can work for well established musicians or artists who have a fan base open to new technology and unconventional ways of participating in music. The artist themselves should be willing to give their time to their fans as much as they are hoping their fans give their money. Preparation in making this an amazing experience for young fans truly pays off.
The new record is turning out to be an album of great spirit. An album of not just beats and rhymes, but songs with well crafted stories and thought. Unconventional arrangements with mismatched features that fit perfectly within our world of “no rules allowed.” There’s a rock song, a country western song, a garage band melodic adventure, a drum machine masterpiece, a sad song, a serious song, a funny song. In other words, there is everything on this album. It’s going to be an adventure. We're looking to release it in September.
We will definitely support this album with a tour. I’m looking forward to us all putting our creative minds together to birth stage performance ideas along with musical skits. The transition from album to live, I feel, will be easy to do because the songs are very visual.
The old way of releasing music has been challenged many times by artists from 50 Cent to Drake and many others, including Talib Kweli and us, who released an entire album through Nike. This successful campaign we’ve done through Kickstarter has become a helpful reminder that there are always different paths to take when it comes to putting out music — you just have to be receptive to them.
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Special thanks to Bree “DJ 88” DeLano
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