Also in this issue:

BUILDING AN ARMY OF FANS FROM THE GROUND UP: Self-Funding p.2

LILY VASQUEZ

In only 9 months, Columbian born Lily Vasquez became the first Latin artist to raise $50,000 from 543 Sellaband “believers” to record her Latin Pop/Rock release, “Pasion de Mujer”.

Now a US resident, professional salsa dancer & TV host, Lily was the not the first of her friends to sign up with SAB - but so far only she has reached the required $50,000 mark. How did she do it- and why? Read about it here.

MARCO

In 2006 Marco, aka Marquito Polonia became a believer of his brother’s Rap group IGT on Sellaband.com and then convinced his friend Lily Vasquez to post her music at the site. Paying the bills with a day job and as a professional salsa dancer, Marco now hopes to become a recording artist.

Encouraged by Lily and her success, Marco recently began to write his own songs and just last month sought his own investors on SAB quickly raising nearly $3000 with the help of 47 “believers”. How did he do it? Recognizing that talent is not enough, Marquito is active on SAB forums, charming and encouraging fans & potential new investors.
Read the full interview here.

CHEECH

Cheech , friend of Lily Vasquez, brother of Marco and manager/producer of NYC Hardcore Rappers, IGT was the first of the group to search for investors on Sellaband back in 2006.

Though IGT has only raised a few thousand dollars to date, Cheech supports the concept of fans as investors and discusses the difficulties of finding universal acceptance for Hardcore NYC-Urban Rap.
Read more here.

ELI BALL

Eli Ball, CEO of LYRIC Financial, formerly known as First Entertainment Financial, LLC in Nashville, TN has specialized in funding music projects since they began in 2006.

Read our interview here.