The Bass Geek

One of my favorite acts, the mighty Tackhead, is still taking payments to produce a project called “Sharehead.” It’s more fan-supported music sponsorship, but it’s notable that it goes beyond value-added material like videos and extras and self-determined price structures. This model provides, for a 200 euro cost, the ability to choose what songs are recorded for the album and get exclusive copies of those CDs before they go on iTunes (the CDs are for “shareholders” only). The band notes that other acts have tried something similar, but I’m not sure how many have gone this far.

There are a few things I like about this model - Tackhead has a cult following, so they’re able to draw on a fanbase that would support this kind of project. Second, they’re extremely talented musicians, so there’s low risk on this investment for fans and a decent return on investment (and I’ll end the stockbroker talk right here - but c’mon, they called it “Sharehead”). Finally, there’s been very little material released under this name in a long time, so there’s probably a lot of demand from fans.

The price seems a little high at first glance (and I’m not up to my dollar-to-euro conversions), and they admit on the website that they haven’t reached the goal of 1oo shareholders yet. And I’m not sure how likely this model is to be adopted by up-and-coming musicians - some might not be comfortable with that level of access, some might not be able to drum up the demand, and some might not be able to produce the exclusive material needed to sweeten the pot for the investors. I might suggest producing audiophile-quantity vinyl (more collector cache, but I’m not sure about the expense). Finally, the thought of putting music and stocks in the same category may leave a few people cold. Art should be more than an economic commodity. Still, it’s an interesting experiment. If I’m able to stop paying veterinarian bills soon, it might be worth an investment.