SELLABAND MUSIC COMMUNITY

"That being said, we are not, and have never been, concerned with competition. Idols was one of the things that inspired Pim to launch SellaBand- as the popularity of such shows proved that there was a need for this. In fact, I think it proved that there needed to be an underground option for this “idols” phenomenon.

"Where many other sites may have a lack of industry knowledge, we exist in a combination of old and new. I exist as the old- bringing vast industry experience and a 20th century work ethic. Pim exists somewhere in the future, maybe around the year 2015. He’s creative and passionate and definitely thinking way down the line. And then there’s Dagmar who very much exists in the now. Through this creative time-line of seasoned professional and youthful vision I’d say we find business plan success."

Sellaband found the financial means to set up the new company in less than three months after the team got together. Given the fact two team members come from a Major record company it's tempting to believe Sellaband is in fact supported by a big label seeking an entry in new markets. How independent are you - can you say anything about who is/are backing Sellaband financially?

"We are 100% independent. We have been approached by several music companies and turned them down, as we’d like to stay funded by our private angels."

The Guardian's arts blog headlined an article "Sellaband's music business revolution won't work" in March 2007.

With your recent alliances with Heineken, The Orchard and Amazon UK you have increased your marketing power, but the first "Sellaband Superstar" still has to be born. Looking back the past year - did the Guardian's article totally miss the point?

"The article did totally miss the point, but served as an inspiration. In all honesty, SellaBand is not about creating super stars. It’s about the journey and the experience for unsigned artists. It’s about education and it’s about breaking down walls."

You sell tracks for 50 cents, which seems a fair price to us. At least it won't scare us away! How many tracks did you actually sell? How about pricing on third party sites like Amazon?

"I don’t know exactly how many tracks we’ve sold, but the number is probably somewhere in the thousands. Actually, we give away free tracks, and we do so DRM free. Our tracks are DRM free because we truly believe that once you have downloaded the track that you own the track. We don’t care what you do with it.

"Our third party sites control their


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