If you’re in a band that’s looking at crowdfunding your next album, you can now use our new crowdfunding template to do just that. This preset template automatically populates a page with our built-in features to help you easily create a crowdfunding campaign.
With the crowdfunding template you can take album pre-orders, bundle digital music with CDs or vinyl, and create custom merch bundles and experiences for your fans.
Best of all, pledges from your fans are commission-free, and we don’t touch the financial transaction. Funds are processed through Stripe or PayPal and go directly into your account, without delay.
Here’s a closer look at all of the features included in the new crowdfunding template:
Introduce your crowdfunding project
When launching a crowdfunding campaign, it’s important to introduce the project to your fans. You can add a video with a simple link from YouTube or Vimeo, as well as text to give your fans the details about the campaign, including your goals.
Don’t forget to explain all the awesome rewards they can get, and to thank them for their support. Also let your fans know how they can share your crowdfunding page link - the more support, the better.
Take album pre-orders
With any album crowdfunding project, it’s important to give your fans the option to simply pre-order the album in digital format.
Using the Album feature, Bandzoogle Pro plan members can take pre-orders. Your fans will automatically get an email with the album download on the day of the release.
Bundle digital music with CDs and vinyl
Taking it a step further, you can bundle your digital music with CDs and vinyl. This gives your fans plenty of options to pledge more to your campaign for different physical music formats, autographed versions, and more.
You can even offer options like adding your fan’s name in the album credits, which can be a very popular crowdfunding reward.
Report album sales to Luminate (formerly SoundScan)
On Bandzoogle’s Pro plan, album pre-order sales are reported to Luminate on the day the music is released. Landing on the Billboard charts can be a great way to increase the buzz for your new album.
Note: For all music sales that happen through your website after the album is officially released, sales are then reported to Luminate daily.
Build a professional website in just a few clicks where you can crowdfund your next project commission-free! Try Bandzoogle for crowdfunding now.
Offer custom merch bundles and experiences
For your superfans, you’ll want to give them even more options to support you. With the Store feature, you can offer unique items like signed lyric sheets, song books, exclusive merch, and even instruments or gear that was used during the recording.
You can also offer experiences like house concerts, VIP meet and greets, custom songs, online hangouts, producer credits, and more. Then be sure to limit the quantities of these more exclusive items using the built-in inventory tracking in the Store.
[Crowdfunding your album: 11 dos & don'ts]
Take donations of any amount
Some of your fans might simply want to support you financially at a custom amount, without necessarily wanting anything in return. To do this, you can add an item that’s simply a donation of any amount.
Keep fans updated with email and blog tools
One of the most important elements of any crowdfunding campaign is communication with your fans. It’s important to engage with them and keep them updated with the latest news and progress of the campaign.
Use the Blog feature to post updates right to your crowdfunding page for fans to see when they visit your website. This is a great way to publicly show the progress of your campaign. You can also share some behind the scenes info and photos for the making of your new album.
With the built-in mailing list tool, collect email addresses on your crowdfunding page. These can be automatically added to a specific group within your email database that’s just for crowdfunding campaign updates.
Add Frequently Asked Questions
To be as transparent as possible, add a few FAQs into a Text feature to address questions your fans may have about the campaign. For example, list the amount of money you hope to raise as your goal, and the deadline. Then note your release date, and let people know how you will keep in touch.
All of the features on the crowdfunding page template are customizable, and can be moved, edited, or removed.
If you’re a new user to Bandzoogle, you can choose the crowdfunding preset page template when first building your site. If you’re a current member, you can simply add a new page, then select the crowdfunding preset template.
Check out all of the crowdfunding page options in this video walkthrough:
Just remember that crowdfunding is all about engaging with your biggest fans. Focus on offering great rewards, and communicating with your fans, and you should be able to reach your goals while building buzz for your new album at the same time.
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