Talking To...Laura Warwick
One of the biggest problems facing any artist is that of financing the first album. Do you go out on the road or use all the money from the day job you're struggling to hold down because you're spending so much time rehearsing or travelling? Do you seek management and agents and ultimately a record deal? Do you try and sell your records in advance? Difficult for the first album.
When we heard of a new approach being adopted by up and coming singer/songwriter Laura Warwick, we felt it was a good subject for our latest entry in the Talking To… series.
The idea is frighteningly simple. Sell shares in the project. The shareholder/investor is paying upfront, like in a mailing list advance, but they've got an interest. At the end of a set period of time split the proceeds amongst the shareholders. It's a bit like a Young Enterprise Scheme for musicians and an idea we're going to be keeping an eye on. In the meantime, here's the chat with Laura Warwick.
#N A number of artists have reached out to their mailing lists and asked if fans wouldn't mind paying for an album up front, so they can raise the money to finance their next album. You've taken that a step further and sold shares in your next album project. How did that idea come about?
#L I didn't want people to get the idea that I was going around with my begging bowl. I wasn't looking for donations or people just to hand over their money and that be it. If they buy shares, that's taking it to the next level. They become part of it, they get to see behind the scenes, see how it's made and get to be part of the success of it.
To me it was a natural transition. I didn't feel comfortable asking for money or asking someone to pay upfront for something that wasn't even made. You might have been lucky, heard a demo or a couple of the songs. This way they get to shape it more.
#N How democratic is the process, do the shareholders get a vote? How does it work?
#L There's a weekly update letting people know what's going on, then when there's something happened, such as getting photos back from a photo shoot, we ask for feedback on which one they would prefer on the album cover or the single cover. When I was in the studio, we put out rough mixes of the songs and asked if they were happy with the direction.
They don't have to comment or give an opinion some are happy to have put their money in and wait until the dividend. Most seem to like the idea that they get to have a little bit of input
#N Does it get in the way of integrity? Do you get to do the songs the way you want to?
#L Yes, but they get to understand the look and feel of how it's done.
#N Do you think it puts you under any extra pressure? That so many people get to hear and see things before they're finished?
#L It does put me under a bit of pressure, but it also drives me. It's like I was saying about the donations . It would end there, I would have the money to spend on recording and whatever. With shareholders it drives me because I have to update them on progress , have I done enough. It keeps me going. I think it has a positive effect.
#N It seems to, and I hate the phrase, take music to a very web2 level.
#L Yes.
#N The first single, "No More", is due on the 14th of July. The track is recorded and ready to go…
#L Yes, so now we're talking to the shareholders about which photograph they'd like, what style they think the cover should be. Well they've done that, now the cover is away being completed.
#N I like that you've given yourself two years before you pay off the project.
#L Well it has to be given enough time. It's still early days. It has to have enough time to attract enough shareholders. There needs to be a snowball effect. Time to get enough shareholders, time to stop needing new shareholders, time to make the money. There needs to be enough money to share out.
I came up with two years because that gives time to make an album, release it and to have had a proper tour.
At the end of that two years, that will be the project finished and everything in the pot will be shared out.
#N Which even though it puts you back to square one, but hopefully as an established artist that's got a big enough share from the pot to be able to push the second album.
#L I haven't thought that far ahead. I don't know how successful the first project will be, but I'd like to think it's a rolling thing. You can have your dividend now. Do you want to come on board for the next project. I honestly just want to get this one off the ground first. I'll petrify myself if I start thinking more than two years ahead.
#N It's very much shares in the project, rather than shares in Laura Warwick.
#L Absolutely. I didn't want this to go on for ever. I did consider it. It took me a while to work out exactly how this would work. I had to make sure no one got ripped off or I didn't get caught out by a small detail. I have to put a limit on it to make it fair on everyone. There has to be a cut off point. If the album is good it can still be out in ten/twenty years. I can't spend all that time administering dribs and drabs around everyone
#N Which is sort of fair enough, it becomes like a Young Enterprise scheme for musicians.
#L I went on Young Enterprise and yes very much that sort of thing. I hadn't thought of it like that before, but it's something that everyone understands. You're a shareholder in a project, not in a company. I did that at school, but yes, that's exactly what it's like.