An Urban AFA
Alright so here is the breakdown of this amazing idea that has been in development for quite a while now...
First and foremost it is not MY idea. It is a combination of the idea to create this site (originally derived by Arlo & Nutly), mixed with the idea to create a union (I believe Jae Maze and Dirt Grittie started that discussion), along with the idea of a project Curtis Lipscombe and myself are in the act of wrapping up that helps develop artists. It is obvious that many of us are quite passionate about bringing the scene together but have not quite figured out exactly how to do that yet...
If this idea works it will:
On a short term basis-
- Provide a source of income for artists in the act of creating projects
- Get new fans interested in supporting local music
- Increase involvement and awareness of locally promoted events
- Get artists paid for shows
- Increase attendance at locally promoted rap shows
- Provide artists radio promotion on top 40 stations
- Circulate money within the hip-hop community.
On a long term basis-
- Provide grants for radio tracking, touring, marketing and publicist services for artists with projects
- Provide loans and/or invest into local promoters to help offset venue costs, and/or bring down acts
- Provide links to music publishing
- Grow our existing community by 1000%
- Get artists gigs within festivals
- Our very own venue/community center!
How?
So essentially this union works exactly as a label would, except it would be funded by fans and artists who would pay an annual membership fee. Membership fee? Who pays those anymore? This sucks, I'm out!
...I'm aware that nobody ever wants to pay a membership fee, but I think if you were to give a member things they could use and need for cheap, it makes the idea a lot more viable. Here is my imaginary breakdown of my imaginary membership fees.
For it all to work in harmony, there would have to be 4 groups:
- Fans/Supporters
- Promoters
- Fans/Investors
- Artists
Fans/supporters- memberships would start at something low like $10. With that they would get 10% off of all locally promoted hip hop shows for that year. They would be eligible for monthly giveaways and will also hold the power to vote for artists on opening slots etc...
The higher tiers would increase in cost of a membership, decrease the cost of shows and get them VIP at certain shows.
Fans/Investors- these memberships would start at $20, where they would have exactly the same privileges of the fan/supporters but $10 would go towards an artist of their choice to support that project. I would ultimately like them to be purchasing publishing points so they could see a return on their investment, but that could be tricky... A similar model is incorporated by sellaband
Promoters- Promoters would not pay a fee but would instead cooperate with the fan and artist member discounts. In return we would provide online ticket sales, promo for their events through contests and giveaways, and also aid in the funding for venues and/or out of town acts etc.
Artists- On the most basic tier the artist would pay something like $15. This would get them 10% off shows and put them in an 'Openers pool' where they can be voted in for opening slots. We would also pay the selected openers.
On the highest tier which let's say is more around the $300/yr range, an artist and/or group would receive things like radio spots for their upcoming projects, discounts on grant writing and a 3 page website.
They might also receive things like a discounted photoshoot from Nutly.net, a set of free consultation from Arlo Maverick, or discounted studio time from Musicbox Studios. All parties providing discounts would be reimbursed.
So, theoretically:
Membership fees>>> Bank vault>>>Venue rentals, Reimbursing discounts, Artist Careers>>>Membership fees
Who would decide who gets funded?
We would vote in board members whom would act as jury for submitted applications.
As far as genres of music, I do not want to limit this to just hip hop. I would want this to be a more open minded version of the AFA that would focus less on students and already established artists and more on up and coming original artists.
So... Who's in?
(There are 267 local hiphop artists according to reverbnation.)
I've probably overlooked alot, but I would like to hear what others think. Open forum-