Super Tuesday Leads To Super Fab Discovery
According to singer Jill Sobule, there is no end to the superness of this week. Catching the Bryant Park Project today on Sirius, I had a good chuckle listening to Jill and her co-singer pal belt out a little diddy for Super Tuesday.
Even better than the diddy was the conversation that followed. Jill is currently raising money to produce her next album through this site: Jill’s Next Record. She’s not just asking for flat out cash. Givers receive too. Sponsorship levels range from $25 in exchange for a comp copy of the CD to $10,000 to join her on the record (cowbell provided).
This has to be the best idea I’ve come across all year, and that’s not just because it’s only February. We can all take some cues from Jill. Whether she knows it or not, she’s maxing out the convergence of ecomm, grassroots marketing and social networking.
In 2007, Radiohead channeled publicity for their latest album, In Rainbows, to a website where fans downloaded tracks at a self-chosen price. A statement against old school industriasts? Publicity stunt? Either way the tracks are no longer available as freebies. There’s no failure here. Radiohead’s approach got everyone talking and gobs of site-clogging traffic. The chatter was mostly aimed at the stunt versus the album itself which is a bit of a shame but either way we all should applaud Radiohead for connecting with their fans in a new way.
Jill’s path takes the fan connection and blows it up. She reverses the path by getting her fans to pay her. How great is that? Everyone talks about building a community online but Jill is really, actively, one-by-one, person-to-person, musician-to-fan drawing the circle. If I threw Jill some cash, which I am contemplating, you’ll bet I’ll be checking back at the site in a few weeks to see if she’s raised any more money. I’ll also tell my friends about it, maybe even blog about it again, and I might buy a few of her older tracks too. All of my actions along the way will contribute to Jill’s success and this is the key value of Jill’s idea: I’m giving just as much as I’m receiving. That is a true community experience.
If more people can Jillify the web, we can really advance this thing. Let’s get active. Connect with people online in ways that mimic real connections. Jill has me thinking about my own web presence. Since my talents are limited to playing the spoons and writing about other people’s talents, it will require some thought. I’ll get back to you on that. Until then, give Jill a visit.
Have you heard of any other weboneers paving the next wave of online experience? Chat us up and link away.