It wasn’t too long ago when we had a Headbangers Brawl on the subject of crowdfunding. How much support does a band need from their fans? Secondly, how much do they need the support after being signed by a label? Yesterday (1) Wintersun launched their first of three crowdfunding campaigns. For those who have been following Wintersun’s excessive Facebook announcements, they have been planning this crowdfunding campaign for a long time and even made a deal with their label Nuclear Blast.
The initial video they posted seemed promising. They convinced many that The Forest Seasons would be the best album in the history of their career and promised to do something VERY SPECIAL for their fans. However, their plan is to build their own studio relying on their fans for the funding. Each crowdfunding campaign will include three different €50 packages. The first which is running for the rest of the month of March, has exceeded their goal of €150,000 to over €189,000 in one day.
Their package includes items that you cannot find anywhere else, however, it doesn’t include any hard copies:
The 3rd NEW full length album from Wintersun
Tracklist:
1) Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring) 14:41
Part I The Dark Slumber
Part II The Awakening
2) The Forest That Weeps (Summer) 12:18
3) Eternal Darkness (Autumn) 14:08
Part I Haunting Darkness
Part II The Call of the Dark Dream
Part III Beyond the Infinite Universe
Part IV Death
4) Loneliness (Winter) 12:54
Total running time: 54:01AMAZING 17-page 5K booklet crafted by Jari himself
WINTERSUN – THE FOREST SEASONS INSTRUMENTAL
WINTERSUN – THE FOREST SEASONS ISOLATED TRACKS
WINTERSUN – TIME I 1.5 REMASTER
WINTERSUN 2.0 REMASTER
WINTERSUN LIVE AT TUSKA 2013
For those who haven’t picked up a Wintersun album, we can admit it’s a fair package for the price. However, what’s next to come for campaigns 2 and 3?
Their ultimate goal is to have 15,000 backers at €50 each reaching €750,000. All of the money will go towards the Wintersun headquarters. Apparently, in order to fulfill their creativity, they can’t rent studio space, they have to build their own from scratch. While assuring how wonderful The Forest Seasons will be, they promise Time II will be better and recorded in their own space. Their campaign explains:
“Reaching the final goal will enable us to build the Wintersun Headquarters immediately and deliver TIME II the fastest way with the best production and start recording our future Wintersun albums with our true vision for you guys!!!
Additionally, having our own Wintersun Headquarters studio & rehearsal place will help us to work more efficiently on other things like music videos, rehearsal videos, studio videos and video updates for you. Having our own place will also help us to improve our live production for bigger and better live shows, perhaps with a real orchestra someday and doing a live video recording of it which has also been a long time dream of ours! So let’s make all these things happen guys! You have the power to help us!”
We are sure many musicians wish they can build their own studio. However, asking this amount of money from their fans seems a bit excessive. We understand the music industry has significantly changed over the years and many are finding ways to make a sustainable living from it. Unfortunately, maybe crowdfunding campaigns as demanding as this one shouldn’t be the answer. Then again, given how well the first one is going, the sky’s the limit as to what fans of the band might be willing to give.
Here is the first preview of what The Forest Seasons will sound like:
