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I think crowdfunding can definitely be done right. A while ago the VK band Lacroix Despheres started up an indiegogo campaign for their 3rd album. It was going to be released either way, but they were raising money in order to increase the album budget and hopefully work with Video Game Orchestra to get a live orchestra on their new album. I ended up tossing in $35 to get a signed CD and some goodies, which I though was a pretty fair price. Unfortunately overseas VK fans are uber cheap and they only got a total of 33 backers with an average amount of about $35 per person totaling up to $1140(with ~$6131 donated through the Japanese crowdfunding site MotionGallery). Now they didn't end up hitting their goals to record with a live orchestra. I guess you could say that the campaign "failed", but they still get that money to help increase the production values, which is good.
 
The way I look at crowd-funding stuff like this is just a glorified pre-order system where you get to choose your own pre-order bonus. I think it's a great system for smaller bands who can't get the backing of labels, but still want to do the best that they can. Honestly, I would absolutely love it if more indie VK bands would jump on the bandwagon.

Hello,
 
Due to recent events with the band Alice Nine, I have been thinking more about Crowd-Funding and other techniques that bands or artist`s can use to take alternate approaches to releasing music, and working in the industry.
 
I am sure many of us have different opinions, and have also heard our fair share about seemingly noble causes, as well as doubtful or downright disagreeable cases of crowd-funds / Kickstarter`s.
 
Here is a quick Questionnaire that may make posting easier, although you can obviously feel free to write in any format, and talk about any area of music from across the globe.
 
Do you trust Crowd-Funds?
 
Have you ever given money to any form of Crowd-Fund?
 
What band`s do you think you would support if they had a Crowd-Funded project?
 
What do you think your donation range would be? (Be honest, you don`t have to worry about being seen as a cheap-skate, and don`t have to be Mr. / Mrs. Moneybags.)
 
Are special awards or gifts valuable to you? (Early access to tracks, special messages from the band (or whoever), other perks, etc...)
 
Do you think crowd-funding is a sustainable practice (can it be used often or only on occasion), and that many bands can use it at the same time, or does it present an even greater price-tag to fans?
 
If Crowd-Funding became more popular, would that create a greater wealth gap in the music industry, where more popular bands can sustain more releases and advertisement, while smaller bands can not succeed or compete, and labels are not as profitable so fewer bands can actually exist on a visible level?
 
What do you think of Alice Nine`s project so far?
 
Any notable musical crowd-funds you want to mention (worldwide or Japanese, though they are different markets)?
 
Should a Crowd-Funded release be free? Or should it only be free for those who donate? Does crowd-funding affect your view on downloading a release?
 
 
-----
 
Still thinking it over myself, so I may post mine again later, though so far:
 
Do you trust Crowd-Funds?
 
I don`t trust them, I don`t believe it is always ethical to market towards regular consumers to invest in something that is a dangerous market for even the most skilled Venture Capitalist`s or Angel Investors
 
Have you ever given money to any form of Crowd-Fund?
 
No, I have invested in other ventures but not Crowd-Funds.
 
What band`s do you think you would support if they had a Crowd-Funded project?
 
As for band`s that I would support at the moment, not sure, but the angle A9 is coming from is more of an inspiring one, where they are trying to get back to being themselves, so I would be more inclined to support band`s that are coming from similar situations as opposed to ones that may come off as simply unable to secure record contracts.
 
What do you think your donation range would be? (Be honest, you don`t have to worry about being seen as a cheap-skate, and don`t have to be Mr. / Mrs. Moneybags.)
 
For music, if I really did donate, it would be somewhere reasonable to me, although I am already feeling that the gifts handed out for A9 in particular are tempting!
 
Are special awards or gifts valuable to you? (Early access to tracks, special messages from the band (or whoever), other perks, etc...)
 
Yep, as mentioned above, if the gifts are good, it can kind of hustle you into raising your donation, even for a shrewd spender... Ten or twenty bucks more and I get this!?
 
Do you think crowd-funding is a sustainable practice (can it be used often or only on occasion), and that many bands can use it at the same time, or does it present an even greater price-tag to fans?
 
Anything can happen, but at the moment, not on a large scale. I think, like everything else the audience will eventually turn against it, and move on to the new thing they want or think is best for business.
 
If Crowd-Funding became more popular, would that create a greater wealth gap in the music industry, where more popular bands can sustain more releases and advertisement, while smaller bands can not succeed or compete, and labels are not as profitable so fewer bands can actually exist on a visible level?
 
If it ever, theoretically moved to a larger scale, I think if not linked to the record industry it would diminish a certain part of the musical economy, and give a big advantage to bigger bands, where-as smaller bands would get lost in the mix. It might be harder to diversify yourself or convince an audience, and if you fail at raising funds, you are left with even less gained than if you flopped a record or tour.
 
What do you think of Alice Nine`s project so far?
 
Interesting, it can definitely be a milestone, especially for one of the biggest modern Visual Kei bands to succeed at it, and with such a message behind it that I think will connect with other bands. Ultimately I think it needs to move beyond crowd-funding though.
 
Any notable musical crowd-funds you want to mention (worldwide or Japanese, though they are different markets)?
 
Nope.
 
Should a Crowd-Funded release be free? Or should it only be free for those who donate? Does crowd-funding affect your view on downloading a release?
 
I think it can depend on the level of donation, obviously, but I am debating on the subject of charging again for a release. As for downloading, I feel like more people may think `we funded it, we should be able to do what we want with it`, and that for cases like A9, people may just release the tracks early to others, and also release the bonuses such as the HQ tracks, etc... So, I think despite people being positive about crowd-funds some will still want to dictate what is done with the music made.
 
 
Thanks for reading (and possibly answering).

it's SHIT.

I will NEVER donate money to a lazy band/artist who won't move their asses to tour and make money by themselves. No fucking way. Not today, when the music can be recorded more easily at home or promoted heavily on internet, you have no excuses.
I saw some examples, with one of my favourite band Icon For Hire. I was a huge supporter, not anymore. I cannot support this mentality.
I explain: they didn't tour for months, and then they woke up "we need 125,000$ to buy a tourbus!!" (no need to say that the fans that weren't agree with them and said 'maybe you should get a little job? like us hum?" were litteraly INSULTED on their facebook page). Anyway, the goal was fulfilled in less than 24 hours...3 days after "we need 35,000 now!" excuse me??? After that they were complaining on twitter that their label asked them a lot of money for the recording of their next album...I'm sure they'll ask money once again.
This is what i hate the most about crowdfunding. It's the open door to laziness. Or the contrary (a band like Flyleaf, who toured a lot and then using crowdfunding to record their latest album...).
The crowdfunding is the music's cancer. If you think that taking money from your own fans is moral, then you're just not worth it. this is just so WRONG, I cannot accept this, or shit like meet & greet. I will never pay these madness.
 
(my video was about m&g but it's not working, you have to go yourself at 3:15 min:)

LUNA SEA will have important announcement for their forthcoming activities at their 25th ANNIVERSARY LIVE TOUR "THE LUNATIC -A Liberated Will-" tour final at Osaka HALL at 2015/03/14

Wow.
 
After 9 and then Supernova I became much less of a fan of the band, which was possibly my favorite up until (and including) Gemini.
 
From then on I saw that the band changed a lot, and always seemed overworked while having uncharacteristic output gaps in content (same as SuG before they left).
 
Now I see that they are making a statement about themselves and how they feel, and I not only like the music more, and have that old feeling back where I can`t wait to see what they do next, I also respect them much more.
 
Rebellion is obvious in terms of what they are saying, as is the Phoenix title. But I could also interpret the mask he is wearing as another form of `rebellion` as they started really pushing Shou as a pretty-boy for fans, and started heavily marketing their looks more and coming out with different editions of CD`s with designs based only around each member`s faces (similar marketing started for ViViD, based all around their good looks). So I find it cool that they made a PV not showing his face, putting more emphasis on the music.
 
As for the crowd-funding, I was not sure how to feel, since I know they are still a huge draw in terms of CD sales and tickets as well as merchandise, so I wondered why they needed to do this, and checked out the official page for it as well as some more info.
 
On the page itself, they talk about not agreeing with the way sales are done, getting people to buy the same stuff, and charting etc... And that they were being moved away from what they felt was an emphasis on making good music, to an emphasis on something else. So it seems they are using crowdfunding to have more control over their own work, and develop a new kind of relationship with their fans.
 
My main issues would be that we are kind of paying twice for the product, since we already buy the albums, tickets, etc... And that some fans would pay larger amounts, although it`s their own money and their own decision, and due to the size of their fan-base, if theoretically 50k people put in 100 yen each, then the project is fulfilled. I`ll see how it develops.
 
Just my thoughts on the news.
 
EDIT:
 
Crowd-Fund Project is to fund the recording, PV shoot, and other things like promotional material, so they can do it all independently. When they reach their target they will also make an additional PV. Any additional funds raised will be used to `increase quality` of their works in terms of recording, equipment used, etc... They will show all financial data, and gifts for supporters include early access to tracks, HD tracks, track data (such as vocal only, drum only tracks, etc...) And I just noticed the page has an English option so everyone should be able to read it.

Wow.
 
After 9 and then Supernova I became much less of a fan of the band, which was possibly my favorite up until (and including) Gemini.
 
From then on I saw that the band changed a lot, and always seemed overworked while having uncharacteristic output gaps in content (same as SuG before they left).
 
Now I see that they are making a statement about themselves and how they feel, and I not only like the music more, and have that old feeling back where I can`t wait to see what they do next, I also respect them much more.
 
Rebellion is obvious in terms of what they are saying, as is the Phoenix title. But I could also interpret the mask he is wearing as another form of `rebellion` as they started really pushing Shou as a pretty-boy for fans, and started heavily marketing their looks more and coming out with different editions of CD`s with designs based only around each member`s faces (similar marketing started for ViViD, based all around their good looks). So I find it cool that they made a PV not showing his face, putting more emphasis on the music.
 
As for the crowd-funding, I was not sure how to feel, since I know they are still a huge draw in terms of CD sales and tickets as well as merchandise, so I wondered why they needed to do this, and checked out the official page for it as well as some more info.
 
On the page itself, they talk about not agreeing with the way sales are done, getting people to buy the same stuff, and charting etc... And that they were being moved away from what they felt was an emphasis on making good music, to an emphasis on something else. So it seems they are using crowdfunding to have more control over their own work, and develop a new kind of relationship with their fans.
 
My main issues would be that we are kind of paying twice for the product, since we already buy the albums, tickets, etc... And that some fans would pay larger amounts, although it`s their own money and their own decision, and due to the size of their fan-base, if theoretically 50k people put in 100 yen each, then the project is fulfilled. I`ll see how it develops.
 
Just my thoughts on the news.
 
EDIT:
 
Crowd-Fund Project is to fund the recording, PV shoot, and other things like promotional material, so they can do it all independently. When they reach their target they will also make an additional PV. Any additional funds raised will be used to `increase quality` of their works in terms of recording, equipment used, etc... They will show all financial data, and gifts for supporters include early access to tracks, HD tracks, track data (such as vocal only, drum only tracks, etc...) And I just noticed the page has an English option so everyone should be able to read it.

Wow.
 
After 9 and then Supernova I became much less of a fan of the band, which was possibly my favorite up until (and including) Gemini.
 
From then on I saw that the band changed a lot, and always seemed overworked while having uncharacteristic output gaps in content (same as SuG before they left).
 
Now I see that they are making a statement about themselves and how they feel, and I not only like the music more, and have that old feeling back where I can`t wait to see what they do next, I also respect them much more.
 
Rebellion is obvious in terms of what they are saying, as is the Phoenix title. But I could also interpret the mask he is wearing as another form of `rebellion` as they started really pushing Shou as a pretty-boy for fans, and started heavily marketing their looks more and coming out with different editions of CD`s with designs based only around each member`s faces (similar marketing started for ViViD, based all around their good looks). So I find it cool that they made a PV not showing his face, putting more emphasis on the music.
 
As for the crowd-funding, I was not sure how to feel, since I know they are still a huge draw in terms of CD sales and tickets as well as merchandise, so I wondered why they needed to do this, and checked out the official page for it as well as some more info.
 
On the page itself, they talk about not agreeing with the way sales are done, getting people to buy the same stuff, and charting etc... And that they were being moved away from what they felt was an emphasis on making good music, to an emphasis on something else. So it seems they are using crowdfunding to have more control over their own work, and develop a new kind of relationship with their fans.
 
My main issues would be that we are kind of paying twice for the product, since we already buy the albums, tickets, etc... And that some fans would pay larger amounts, although it`s their own money and their own decision, and due to the size of their fan-base, if theoretically 50k people put in 100 yen each, then the project is fulfilled. I`ll see how it develops.
 
Just my thoughts on the news.
 
EDIT:
 
Crowd-Fund Project is to fund the recording, PV shoot, and other things like promotional material, so they can do it all independently. When they reach their target they will also make an additional PV. Any additional funds raised will be used to `increase quality` of their works in terms of recording, equipment used, etc... They will show all financial data, and gifts for supporters include early access to tracks, HD tracks, track data (such as vocal only, drum only tracks, etc...) And I just noticed the page has an English option so everyone should be able to read it.

yay!!!
edit: omg that new look.

it is announced at Royz one-man live tour final "N.E.S" at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo at 2015/03/01 that their new maxi single "THE BEGINNING" will be released at 2015/05/06 (4 TYPE)
 
limited edition TYPE A (1,944yen) will include CD (2 songs)+DVD (including "THE BEGINNING" PV & off-shot), limited edition TYPE B (1,944yen) will include CD (2 songs)+DVD (including "THE BEGINNING" all-member multi-angle PV), and regular edition TYPE C & D (1,620yen each) will include CD (3 songs with different track 3 & corr. 3 karaoke) only
 
 
btw they will hold their one-man live tour "The 47th Beginners" since 智也(tomoya) birthday live at Shinjuku BLAZE at 2015/05/11 and up to tour final 6th anniversary one-man live "6HEAVENS" at Nanba HATCH at 2015/09/28
 

 
 
SET-LIST at 2015/03/01:
 
01.洗礼(senrei)
02.witch in the HELL
03.マーブルパレット(marble palette)
04.囁姫遊女(shoukiyuujo)
05.REVELATION
06.JOKER
07.夢空(mukuu)
08.twilight memory
09.aqua
10.疾風迅雷(shippuujinrai)
11.ALIVE
12.ブギーマン
13.@bnormality
14.ESTROUS SPIDER's
15.RISK_144000
16.ACROSS WORLD
 
EN1
01.クロアゲハ(kuroageha)
02.LILIA
03.MASK
04.Supernova

Wow.
 
After 9 and then Supernova I became much less of a fan of the band, which was possibly my favorite up until (and including) Gemini.
 
From then on I saw that the band changed a lot, and always seemed overworked while having uncharacteristic output gaps in content (same as SuG before they left).
 
Now I see that they are making a statement about themselves and how they feel, and I not only like the music more, and have that old feeling back where I can`t wait to see what they do next, I also respect them much more.
 
Rebellion is obvious in terms of what they are saying, as is the Phoenix title. But I could also interpret the mask he is wearing as another form of `rebellion` as they started really pushing Shou as a pretty-boy for fans, and started heavily marketing their looks more and coming out with different editions of CD`s with designs based only around each member`s faces (similar marketing started for ViViD, based all around their good looks). So I find it cool that they made a PV not showing his face, putting more emphasis on the music.
 
As for the crowd-funding, I was not sure how to feel, since I know they are still a huge draw in terms of CD sales and tickets as well as merchandise, so I wondered why they needed to do this, and checked out the official page for it as well as some more info.
 
On the page itself, they talk about not agreeing with the way sales are done, getting people to buy the same stuff, and charting etc... And that they were being moved away from what they felt was an emphasis on making good music, to an emphasis on something else. So it seems they are using crowdfunding to have more control over their own work, and develop a new kind of relationship with their fans.
 
My main issues would be that we are kind of paying twice for the product, since we already buy the albums, tickets, etc... And that some fans would pay larger amounts, although it`s their own money and their own decision, and due to the size of their fan-base, if theoretically 50k people put in 100 yen each, then the project is fulfilled. I`ll see how it develops.
 
Just my thoughts on the news.
 
EDIT:
 
Crowd-Fund Project is to fund the recording, PV shoot, and other things like promotional material, so they can do it all independently. When they reach their target they will also make an additional PV. Any additional funds raised will be used to `increase quality` of their works in terms of recording, equipment used, etc... They will show all financial data, and gifts for supporters include early access to tracks, HD tracks, track data (such as vocal only, drum only tracks, etc...) And I just noticed the page has an English option so everyone should be able to read it.

Wow.
 
After 9 and then Supernova I became much less of a fan of the band, which was possibly my favorite up until (and including) Gemini.
 
From then on I saw that the band changed a lot, and always seemed overworked while having uncharacteristic output gaps in content (same as SuG before they left).
 
Now I see that they are making a statement about themselves and how they feel, and I not only like the music more, and have that old feeling back where I can`t wait to see what they do next, I also respect them much more.
 
Rebellion is obvious in terms of what they are saying, as is the Phoenix title. But I could also interpret the mask he is wearing as another form of `rebellion` as they started really pushing Shou as a pretty-boy for fans, and started heavily marketing their looks more and coming out with different editions of CD`s with designs based only around each member`s faces (similar marketing started for ViViD, based all around their good looks). So I find it cool that they made a PV not showing his face, putting more emphasis on the music.
 
As for the crowd-funding, I was not sure how to feel, since I know they are still a huge draw in terms of CD sales and tickets as well as merchandise, so I wondered why they needed to do this, and checked out the official page for it as well as some more info.
 
On the page itself, they talk about not agreeing with the way sales are done, getting people to buy the same stuff, and charting etc... And that they were being moved away from what they felt was an emphasis on making good music, to an emphasis on something else. So it seems they are using crowdfunding to have more control over their own work, and develop a new kind of relationship with their fans.
 
My main issues would be that we are kind of paying twice for the product, since we already buy the albums, tickets, etc... And that some fans would pay larger amounts, although it`s their own money and their own decision, and due to the size of their fan-base, if theoretically 50k people put in 100 yen each, then the project is fulfilled. I`ll see how it develops.
 
Just my thoughts on the news.
 
EDIT:
 
Crowd-Fund Project is to fund the recording, PV shoot, and other things like promotional material, so they can do it all independently. When they reach their target they will also make an additional PV. Any additional funds raised will be used to `increase quality` of their works in terms of recording, equipment used, etc... They will show all financial data, and gifts for supporters include early access to tracks, HD tracks, track data (such as vocal only, drum only tracks, etc...) And I just noticed the page has an English option so everyone should be able to read it.

They finally turned into ann amazing band.

A9(Alice Nine) SHOW OHARA & TORA AMANO new project "DIAWOLF" will hold their first live at Shibuya SOUND MUSEUM VISION at 2015/03/15, and their new one-coin single "Rebellion" will be released at 2015/04/12 (500yen)
 

 

 
http://diawolf.com/
 
 
A9 Crowd Funding Project has formed with target funding amount 5,000,000yen, and their START-UP EP "銀河ノヲト(ginga no oto)" will be released in 2015/08
 

 
http://a9-project.com/

Last year at 2014.05.21 Janne Da Arc bassist “Ka-yu” released a brand new Mini album with his solo project DAMIJAW. The price of the album cost you only 1,000 yen + tax, which is very cheap for a Japanese release. Everyone was waiting for this new release because his last full album was released on 2012.06.07.   The first press of this album came with a beautiful poster which was created with photos of fans.

(Add who I have created )
 
Ka-yu isn’t just a bassist, you really can hear his bass skills during this whole mini album. You notice his bass-lines because they sound heavy and fast and he always puts much feelings inside. Also he release music with real and good quality and his style is heavy rock. Ka-yu proofs once again that he is one of the most talented bassist which Japan knows.
This mini-album contains 6 beautiful tracks.  Every song has their own taste which is played with so much love and power. Everything in the song fits. good vocal, perfect guitar, perfect drum, perfect bass. and perfect solos. The 2 year wait for this mini-album, yes it was worth it, since they did give us something which is made from the heart. The album has a heavy rock taste and also starts with this heaviness, which made it even sometimes possible to headbang on parts of some songs or almost the whole song.  But “THIS IS MY WING” is a more soft song, a kind of rock ballad also “I fear silence” is a bit more calm song however still with much heaviness inside, but these 2 songs makes you hear Ka-yu’s clean voice, which is far out beautiful.  It really has been a while since I did listen to such great mini-album.  It has truly everything inside what an album need. If you are looking for something new and different from many visual kei bands, then please check out DAMIJAW’s THIS IS MY WING.
 
TRACKLIST
01.wrath
02.薔薇の棘
03.ダミージョウ♂とダミ嬢♀のラブゲーム～略してダミラブ♡～
04.I fear silence
05.ダーミー城の吸血悪魔を愛したダリア（哀）
06.THIS IS MY WING
 
Official homepage
Official youtube channel
Official Twitter
Official Facebook
 
ALBUM RAITING: 10/10

Hey everyone! It's about time that I decided to finally join this forum, I've known of it for quite some time.
I've been into visual kei for a few years now, I both enjoy listening to it as well as wearing visual kei-esque fashion.
Some of my favourite bands include Black Gene For the Next Scene, DIAURA, DIV, 己龍 and also BabyDollSymphony.
It's been a while since I've been active on any kind of forum like this, so I'll try to remain somewhat active^^.
Here's a link to my last.fm, feel free to check it out and/or friend me!
last.fm/user/Futanarino

^A really drunk me!
よろしくね～！

Nice review. I don't mind that there are a lot of previously released songs on there, as long as the new ones are at least as good or even better, which they hopefully are. I do think they could've skipped TASTE OF LIFE and ゴールデンキネマ劇場 though, since they were released before the first album and they didn't even make any changes to them.
 
I do enjoy their lighter, cheerful tunes, so I hope I'll enjoy this album.

woa thats a nice review template!
 
Also nice review, I sitll need to check the album out, I should do it.

Wow, that's disappointing to see that no changes were made to at least "TASTE OF LIFE" and "Golden Kinema Gekijou"...

Still looking forward to hearing the rest of the album though. Although I still don't care for the female vocal sampling, "SECRET NIGHT" has grown on me.

I hope it goes well and a quick recovery. Though I am not familiar with SHIGERU, can anyone tell me who that is?

GWS Takeru

I hope the surgery goes smoothly!