Introductions

[Eireann from Trail]

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband?
TRAIL - www.sellaband.com/trailmusic - also see more content here: www.myspace.com/trailmusic

2. What are you on Sellaband? (artist/believer/both)
Artist

3. Tell us something about yourself.
Check our biog on Sellaband or Myspace!

4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up?
My band mate did, but looks like he made a great choice. The

5. What do you like/dislike about the concept?
I like the fact that it is pure people power getting you to the top. Early on, I think it is quite difficult to get yourself to the top though! Unless the Artist is banging on beliver's doors they will never get seen. I Suppose that is half the fun as well!

[vegasdragons]

TRAIL are so great!!! Welcome to the forum!

[EmpireOfOne]

1. I am a product of before and after, the symbiosis of mind and machine, the space between fire and ice: I am EmpireOfOne.

2. A believer

3. I am never bored. The list of things I want to do is so extensive that I can easily get lost in it. I like to deal with the big picture in things, for instance I majored in Physics in college because it is the science that asks the biggest questions. After that I went into computers because it was my most marketable skill and I remain there for now, all the while dabbling in other things.

4. An article that came up under my profile in Yahoo finance, explaining how SAB could change the way music is funded.

5. The concept is huge. You all think that as well or you wouldn't be here The world is becoming all about smaller,faster, and distributed, why shouldn't music be the same?

I have some basic rules I follow for deciding to invest in someone, but basically it comes down to whether or not I like the music. That will get me interested but not heavily invested. What really gets me the most is seeing someone very talented that isn't getting noticed. I'll buy more parts in someone to get them some of the spotlight that they deserve. In this way I guess I'd like to see myself as a 'miner' on sellaband. Someone who digs, finds a diamond, and brings it to the surface. I'm working on it anyway, but it takes time to do.

Currently I heavily recommend the following underdogs:
1. Mysti Mayhem
2. Jon Robert
3. Layout
4. Jenae Johnson
5. And I certainly woudn't forget Sasha, I'm a believer in her. I really hope she get a chance to record her cd. She is the kind of artist that SAB exists to help. Someone with great deal of talent, but someone that the music industry probably wouldn't understand.

New artists need to get themselves seen, obviously they have a big hurdle just getting noticed in the first place. I personally don't mind them dropping me a note. I'll take a listen. I'm pretty selective, but finding one gem is worth hearing several bands that I might not be ready to support. But without spamming your best bet is just to interact with other artists and believers. Get your name seen just by conversing with people. Telling them what you like, being supportive and giving a small plug for yourself in the process.

[mandyleigh]

Hi Luke,
Sorry for only just seeing your post and kind words about my music. I`ve been busy gigging in the duo over Xmas.... busiest time of the year. Thank-you so much Luke, your words are really appreciated. Thanks for being part of the team

[netvalar]

For anyone who is interested I am updating my introduction with my current E-Mail address specifically set-up for Sellaband.com

[e-mail]

[Siger]

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband?
My name is Siger Riddersma and my band is called Awake (www.sellaband.com/awake).

2. What are you on Sellaband?
I started out as just an artist but I'm becoming more of a believer.

3. Tell us something about yourself.
I am 34 years old and I teach history in high school. I started playing the guitar when I was attending the university and I started Awake in 1995. I wrote down the whole story of the band once and it just kept growing into the huge blog it is today (awake1.netfirms.com/awake/histmark1.html). You can read everything about starting a band, writing our own songs for the first time, playing live, meeting people who don't know what they're doing... It's pretty much my life for the last decade (no that's not sad... it was fun too ). Being in a band has given me more joy than I could ever tell you. SellaBand is the next step in this never ending story.

4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up?
We are from Groningen in Holland so naturally we heard about Nemesea. Our former singer and our bass player are in Radius (www.sellaband.com/radius) together and they are recording with the same producer so that brought the story even closer. We just talked about it two weeks ago and that's when I decided to give it a go.

5. What do you like/dislike about the concept?
I like very much the fact that you can show people how dedicated you are. Watching Vegas Dragons at work is a big inspiration because that's exactly what I have been doing for the past ten years. Only now I have a much better chance of reaching people who can actually help by believing. We have always believed in ourselves and I hope people will see that too.
By the way: 5000 parts is still a long way to go. I don't even dare dream that we will gain that much support. But on the other hand: we have plans for an album that would indeed take 30.000 dollars to put together ;D

artists:
What tactics do you use to try and attract believers?
I read a thread on the forum about investing in your own band. All Awake members have put up some money the same way we would when we record stuff or make Cd's. At first I started spamming people to get us noticed. I saw that other acts did the same thing but we stopped doing that. I was getting spam mail myself and it was like looking in the mirror. Now I only approach believers if I really think they're missing out by not knowing us. That happens maybe a couple a week. We have made Cd's in the past so now I'm offering them as a gift to believers. Buy one part and we'll send you our current EP "4.1.5", buy three parts and we'll send EP "Don't Stop" too and five parts will get you our full length CD "Tidal Wave". So far a couple of people have bought five parts just to get the Cd's so it's working
Besides the people who already invest in sellaband we try to get new people in. We hand out stickers at shows and post messages on websites. So far things are going much better than we had hoped so for now we'll keep it up.

Are there any other artists on Sellaband you're interested in or would like to work with?
I mentioned Radius before. Radius is our former singer Johan's project and he's an absolute genius. I'm helping them playing the guitar on stage until they find a full time member but it's a joy. Some of the melodies are just so beautiful.
I saw a couple of rock bands on Sellaband I like. I like Vegas Dragons, Wetwerks and I listened to Clémence today. Totally different musical field but very beautiful music.

What would you like to achieve through your experience with Sellaband?
Most of all I hope to make it to the 50k! We have so many hopes and dreams but we have even more actual plans and some kick ass songs. We have enough songs to start recording tomorrow! I don't know what I will do when I open the box with our first "real" album but it's going to be loud!
I met several people already on sellaband that I'd like to meet in person. So I'm hoping for a spot on the next Sellaband show. How about a Nemesea release party at Club Vera in Groningen?

Why should believers believe in you?
First and foremost they should like the music. Second they should know that their money is safe with us. If sellaband works out for us or not, Awake will go on and make music. We have already begun sending our Cd's to sellaband believers as a thank you so I just happy for the extra fans we've gained so far. I believe that we can make an album that will knock people's socks off and I hope people will start to believe that we can.

[WalterM]

OK, a week ago I joined SAB and I'm already an addict. It's time to introduce myself....

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband?
Walter M. (www.sellaband.com/believer/walterm/)

2. What are you on Sellaband? (artist/believer/both)
Believer

3. Tell us something about yourself.
Questions like this are always difficult for me. What should I tell? A boring person without a life OK My name is Walter, I’m 29 y/o (d.o.b. February 19, 1977) and I live in a small town called Heerjansdam that’s near Rotterdam. I work for an insurance company but I’m dreaming of building up an internet imperium one day.

4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up?
Read about it in a Dutch magazine. Liked the concept and wanted to try out. Now, I’m addicted to it…

5. What do you like/dislike about the concept?
What I like about the concept is that there are so many artists with beautiful music. If you are not a music lover yet, sellaband will turn you into one. Another thing that I like about SAB is the interactivity with the artists and other believers. I can’t say much about it’s commercial success, if it really pays of for me as investor. But I think SAB will manage to create big money because of it’s bands and believers.

Dislike: it’s addictive and that it makes you want to invest (and invest and invest), the memberpages are messy and it’s missing some features like mp3 downloading from bands that have not already reached the 50k.

Believer questions:
How do you decide what artists to support?
Sometimes it’s emotions: what do I think of the song, how does it sound (is there any hit potential ). I look at the story behind the artist and sometimes run an internet search on them.

Who are your current top 3 recommendations of artists to support and why?
1. Sowhat (www.sellaband.com/sowhat/)
A Dutch group of three 18 y/o boys that already won prizes in the local community of The Hague (Netherlands). I think they are the youngest band on SAB, and their past is a promise for the future.
2. Lily (www.sellaband.com/lily/)
I think her song Nostalgia would be a big summer hit. She's the first artist that was so kind to send me a free cd. I'm playing it a lot now.
3. Mandyleigh (active on this forum) (www.sellaband.com/mandyleigh/)
A wonderful person! She does everything she can do to promte sellaband.

And I would like to reccomend all the other artists from my profile.

Any other artists you're currently interested in?
Yes, watch my profile and my watchlist on my extended profile on www.wwstart.com/sellabandaddict When I began at SAB I thought Syrius Jones would be a promising band. To be honest I feel much disappointed by them. In their profile I read "they have built a respectable following, playing weekends at clubs in the area" so I expected to see many Californians team up. The band is almost a week on SAB now and I don't see anyone from the USA.

What advice would you give to artists who have just signed up to Sellaband?
There is so much to advice. I will start a special page about promoting your band on www.wwstart.com/sellabandaddict and I’m thinking of making a podcast about it too.

[WalterM]

Please keep in mind that I aswered these questions before The Vegas Dragons uploaded their potential hit "One Life Only" which brings them on a (shared) second place in my top 3 recommendations!

[mandyleigh]

Thanks Walter No mention of my music though.... I`m gonna have to spank you What song(s) made you believe in me?

[WalterM]

The first one in your tuner at the moment I saw your profile for the first time :-) At the moment my favorites are Sunny New Day and your cover of I Will Always Love You that shows the strenght of your voice! Your randomly in my musicplayer that is playing constantly

[netvalar]

Welcome Walter and thanx for the profile extension you created looking forward to seeing what you write.

[kostek]

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband?
Kostek Andreev
2. What are you on Sellaband?
artist but I gonna to be believer too
3. Tell us something about yourself
it is not so easy - English is not my native language, but I'll try.
was born in USSR at small place around of north Caucasus. My parents, grands - they all were artists - musician, composers... etc , so everybody expected that i will do it too but i was a rebelling. I wanted to be an astronaut I wanted to fly across the space, and I even did not want to hear anything about rehearsing scales etc... my father said - you 'll been not allowed to watch TV if you will not play exercises, OK - I answered so I "won"
but I always love to listen music, so, some day I became a fun of hard and heavy music, it was my first time when I took the electric guitar in my hands and start... ( so in that case my parents could not watch TV because I played my exercise so Loud !!! ). Hard rock music was illegal in USSR, so it was really rebelling , I created a Band - we played something around thrash metal or... I don't know - there was my "teenage". Teenage are gone but I still play my guitar I arrived in Poland like tourist and I decided to stay. it was after my High school, so I played a lot as a clinician guitarist, I also worked as a sound engineer etc more info You can read on www.myspace.com/kostek_andreev

4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up?
I found it in newspaper - and I checked it on website , I know reality of traditional show business in Poland... so I thought that SellaBand Idea is alternative, clear and Fine so I'm here
5. What do you like/dislike about the concept?
I like freedom of creating music - no one tell what kind of music artist have to play for selling more albums etc.
I like interactive very much - SellaBand is the way of meeting people and creating of new collaboration in music and other staffs
dislike... I do not know I've not seen such things yet


What tactics do you use to try and attract believers?
It is too early to say about it because i am on sellaband around 5 weeks
so I trying to make believers know about my existing
after that I 'd like to get some answers , review from them - it will be VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION for me - because creating and performing music is like breathtaking - artist can not stop it but.... every artist do it not only for himself it's like the way of emotional communication, and when someone tell me what he ( she) feel while listen my music it's like .... second part of breathing - some thing like breath in and breath out , like yin and yang

Are there any other artists on Sellaband you're interested in or would like to work with?
Yes, I ' seen a lot of interest artists but i probably need more time to decide which and why
What would you like to achieve through your experience with Sellaband?
I 'd like that SellaBand, will be part of my life I ' like to meet new artists and believers and realize the dreams - my and others ,
aha! and of course I 'd like to get 50k
and not only once
Why should believers believe in you?
first my thought is " Why not?" a lot of people love music I playing in studio and on performances, I love to do it, so I hope that believers will like my music too
- it is main thing - first is pleasure by music , after that we can talk about business

[thebalduccilift]

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband? - The Balducci Lift
2. What are you on Sellaband? (artist/believer/both) So far, Artist, but will be both
3. Tell us something about yourself. We've just arrived on Sellaband. Two of us in the band have been playing together since we were 14. Metal, then grunge, then folk, then rock, now . Isn't it interesting the way time mellows and broadens your musical tastes.
4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up? They had a news article on the radio here in Ireland when Cubworld got the 50k. We're convinced to sign up because we need believers!
5. What do you like/dislike about the concept? We like the way its the people and not the industry that you have to impress. No dislikes so far.

What tactics do you use to try and attract believers? Answering questions like these! No, really, so far all we got is the few tunes on our page. And the video, which we're quite proud of, seeing as it was conceived, shot and edited within 3 days all while we were workin our 9-5's. www.sellaband.com/thebalduccilift
Are there any other artists on Sellaband you're interested in or would like to work with? Haven't had a chance to listen to much yet but the few we have heard have been frighteningly good! Can defo see why Cubworld got the 50k too.
What would you like to achieve through your experience with Sellaband? We just wanna be heard and have a crumb from the pie that is the music biz.
Why should believers believe in you? I'll leave that to the music - www.sellaband.com/thebalduccilift ;D ;D

[elvirkan]

this Forum is usefull. the proof : I've discovered Balducci lift right now
Thank you guys for your crazy funny spirit. I like it !

[johanv]

As a regular poster on this forum I think it's about time I introduced myself properly

1. What name do we know you by on Sellaband?
JohanV

2. What are you on Sellaband? (artist/believer/both)
Believer / Managing Director of the company called SellaBand

3. Tell us something about yourself.
I'm 43, live in the Netherlands (near Amsterdam), married and have one son. I graduated as a teacher, about 20 years ago but I've worked in entertainment all my life. Worked in record stores, as a journalist, editor, producer, radio DJ, manager, and joined Sony Music in 1999 as their new marketing manager. Became the General Manager for Sony in the Benelux and have been blessed to work with countless creative people. Just before starting SellaBand, I launched a new boutique label for Sony/BMG, called Red Ink.

4. How did you find out about Sellaband and what convinced you to sign up?
I got a call from a friend of mine telling me that he had met this young man named Pim, who supposedly had an interesting idea. I had my secretary schedule him in for a 30 minute meeting, but within minutes after being introduced to Pim's secret I fell of my chair and just couldn't believe what he had come up with. He stayed for over three hours and by the end of that day I already knew I would give up my job and help Pim to make SellaBand a reality. Mind you, I met Pim on February 20, 2006, three weeks later we had the money we needed to get started, and on April 1, a mere 5 weeks after our initial meeting, SellaBand was officially registered as a new company. So, that's how I found out, basically... We literally spent the first 4 months finetuning the concept, and then launched the website on August 15, 2006.
5. What do you like/dislike about the concept?
It's so d**n addictive and I haven't decided yet whether that's good or bad. The one rule I have set for myself (in order to protect both my wallet and my impartiality) is that as JohanV I am on a strict one-part-per-artist diet. I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't been personally involved, I would've spent a whole lot more already.

How do you decide what artists to support?
At first I said to myself that it would be based solely on my own, personal musical taste, but as we go along you meet so many truly great people, so sometimes I do it as a sympathy vote, knowing that a particular artist is talented, but musically not really up my ally, he/she/they still get a Part, because they're so d**n nice.

Who are your current top 3 recommendations of artists to support and why?
May I skip that one please, because one certain longhaired young man from Sydney might become a bit arrogant if he knew he was my absolute number one in the current ranking...

Any other artists you're currently interested in?
Too many to mention. I add one or two new arrivals every week, so just check out my page to see who I like.

What advice would you give to artists who have just signed up to Sellaband?
Be nice and behave... No, really, be active, make yourself heard. And make sure people know that you really care and that you don't use SellaBand as just another platform for your music. I know this concept/company can make a difference for you. Ask Nemesea or Cubworld, or any other artist currently doing well. At the end of the day it may not change your life (it's too early to know if we will), but it is surely meant to put a smile on your face as you try to climb that ladder to the top of the music-world....