Record companies may be getting increasingly tight-fisted and insistent that their business model is viable, but technology is moving ahead of them at quite a pace. A new venture called Bandstocks is hoping to offer new artists an alternative route to the charts.

Music piracy due to the ease of downloading files from the Internet via torrent and file-sharing sites has lead many to suppose that that music industry has got to adapt or die. At the moment however, the big record companies are simply tightening their belts and letting organisations such as the RIAA and the BPI chase after the so-called bad guys.

Some record companies and artists are more forward thinking though, and bands such as Radiohead and The Charlatans have eschewed the traditional constraints of a record deal to give their last album away for what the fans individually chose to pay for it. And now some artists are going even further, and putting you, the consumer in charge of their fate.

A new venture called Bandstocks, profiled in The Guardian, is giving you the chance to invest in your new favourite band.

Bandstocks lets anyone buy a stake in £10 ($20) increments in an upcoming artist featured on the site. A level is then set for the funding of that artist to reach. When that total is achieved, the money is then released for the artist to record, distribute, and market an album.

Everyone who invested in the artist will receive a copy of the album, a credit on the CD sleeve, and a percentage of all profits, both from album sales and licensing deals. Of the revenue generated by the album, 50% will go to the artist, 30% to the Bandstocks contributors, and 20% to the website itself. So everyone is a winner.

Bandstocks has been founded by music business lawyer Andrew Lewis, who claims that this deal sees the artist receiving a higher return than they would with a traditional record deal. The site has been in development for four years and is also backed by The Vinyl Factory and Steve Pankhurst, the man behind Friends Reunited.

The website has launched with two artists asking for investment, frYars and Jersey Budd, while three others, getshakes, Fakesensations, and Strawhouses are currently in the voting pool to be moved to stage two (investment opportunity).

The site is nicely structured, making it easy to navigate and possible to listen to all of the artists currently seeking investment. There is even a list of all investors, so £10 will at least buy you a place on the website.

Bandstocks hopes to release 10 Internet funded albums in its first year, and the signs certainly look hopeful, with 7 pages of investors already having taken the plunge. This is an intriguing venture that gives music back to the people who should be in charge: the artists and listeners. I’m off to spend my £10 – frYars sound promising.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 4:18 pm under Internet, Music, Opinion.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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