Sellaband was a

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

that allowed artists to raise the money from their fans and the SellaBand community in order to record a professional

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. Sellaband used the mechanisms of

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

and was to be seen as a Direct-to-Fan/ fan-funded music platform utilising a Threshold Pledge System / Provision Point Mechanism. It was set up by Johan Vosmeijer (ex Sony/BMG), Pim Betist (ex

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

), and Dagmar Heijmans (ex Sony/BMG) in August 2006. Its offices used to be located in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, but it was originally incorporated in Bocholt,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On April 8, 2008, Sellaband raised EU€3.5 million (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

5 million) in their

Series A round A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in excha ...

led by Prime Technology Ventures. In early 2009, Pim Betist left Sellaband to set up Africa Unsigned, using Sellaband technology as a base and supported by the Dutch government. In January 2010, Sellaband filed for bankruptcy. It relaunched days later, after an investor stepped forward. The office was relocated to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany. On August 28, 2015, the Sellaband GmbH filed for bankruptcy, too. This was rejected because of lack of mass by the District Court Charlottenburg on January 12, 2016. For three years, Sellaband supported the sharing of revenue, a form of equity crowdfunding. Research from the ''Journal of Economics & Management Strategy'' examined investment data on the Sellaband platform during this time period. The data shows that, while investments can come from funders around the world, distance continues to affect the flow of funding and information.

Events

Sellaband conducted three official concerts in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. * "New Years Party" (January 2007), the Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL * "London Calling" (June 2007), Gibson Studios,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK * "Sellabration - Birthday Party" (August 15, 2007 & 2008), the Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL

Artists who reached their goal

86 artists reached their fundraising goal. In December 2009 Cubworld was the first artist, closing his second budget. Less than two weeks after

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, Aryn Michelle(Press Release)
Aryn Michelle_LAST ONE... - album is being pressed and packaged!!
Sellaband. Retrieved on 2013-09-21. was the first artist, closing her budget under the new SellaBand-management. In October 2010 Epyllion closed the first budget on Sellaband that was not used for recording new but for promoting of already released music. Upon closure of the site, there were over 700 artists registered on Sellaband raising funds. The following table shows the most notable artists that reached their funding goal on SellaBand:

References

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Interview (The Weekender with Matthew Wright - 3 November 2006) * ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (UK): Knowledge Section (26 November 2006)

External links

Official website
(offline) {{Authority control Mass media companies established in 2006 Crowdfunding platforms of the Netherlands Defunct crowdfunding platforms German independent record labels Netlabels Online music stores of the Netherlands Dutch companies established in 2006 Mass media companies disestablished in 2010 German companies disestablished in 2010

Events

Artists who reached their goal

See also

References

External links