YOU ARE THE RECORD COMPANY!

Sellaband is an online music company offering a new model for free legal distribution of new music. Fans and artists get to be in business together to promote a professional music product.

It works like this: The site encourages ‘believers’ (aka users) to buy shares in unsigned bands (any band can create a profile through Sellaband’s site) to fund the professional recording and distribution of an album. When the artists have reached 5,000 shares, they get to record a professional album in a legitimate studio with a legitimate producer. Fans and bands alike share in profit and the unprecedented web site breaks down the fences existing in the music industry: You are the record company!

Sellaband has recently embarked on partnerships with big names such as Heineken, Amazon UK, and The Orchard, and will be hosting two US shows at the end of January and February.

Heineken, who began their partnership with Sellaband in 2007, will again support Sellaband in 2008. "We will again be the main sponsor of Sellaband live events and additionally, we are sponsoring four ‘Sellaband Presents’ which are compilations of the top Sellaband acts," says Heineken brand manager Robert Bernink.

The Orchard will provide global digital music distribution and marketing services for each Sellaband artist that raises $50,000 on the SellaBand site.

Amazon UK will launch a dedicated Sellaband Store, with Sellaband artists Nemesea, Cubworld and UK band Second Person’s albums being the first to be released on January 21. Additionally, Amazon will be investing in each Sellaband artist who reaches the $30,000 funding level.

These three partnerships, described as “unprecedented for a company just over a year old” by industry insiders, further validate the approach Sellaband has taken. Sellaband is changing the music industry and breaking down the walls for unsigned bands by enabling a direct relationship between artists and their fans.

Sellaband may be a young company but you hardly can call them a Newbie. Sellaband's Managing Director Johan Vosmeijer is an experienced professional in the European music scene. He ran the legendary labels Epic and Columbia for Sony Music in the Benelux, and, after a lifetime in the traditional music business, he thought the time was right for change. At that point he met Pim Betist, a man with a plan and a mission. That plan was Sellaband and the mission was to change the music world.

Sellaband has currently given 13 bands (3 of them US bands) professional record deals, concerts, and the opportunity of their dreams.

It seems they're heading in the right direction.

  SellaBand.com