If you’re an aspiring musician who really, REALLY likes Megadeth and just so happen to have a spare $10k lying around – you now have the chance to jam with with the band.
This reward, among many others, is being offered as a perk for Megadeth’s PledgeMusic campaign to fund their new album. The PledgeMusic perks seem pretty standard in the cheaper tiers, including a digital download for $15 and a physical CD for $25 – a bit pricy for what you’d normally pay for an album, but common in the world of crowdfunding. Other rewards include an exclusive t-shirt ($30), a signed copy of My Life With Deth by David Ellefson ($35) or Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir by Dave Mustaine ($45) and the record on vinyl ($40).
Signed copies will cost you a bit extra, as a signed CD is $50 and a signed vinyl record costs $75. All physical copies come with a digital download though, which is great for the vinyl enthusiasts. Rewards in the $150-500 level range include a disposible camera full of studio photos, various signed drum accessories, a guitar strap, a handwritten lyric sheet and a $500 guitar lesson with recent Megadeth addition, Kiko Loureiro.
Here’s what some of the more farfetched upper-tier rewards look like: You can spend a day in the studio with Megadeth for $2.5k, or get a guitar lesson from Mustaine for $3k (both of which are already sold out, somehow). Adler’s snare goes for $3k as well, and Ellefson and Loureiro’s instruments are $3.5k each.
For a $5k contribution, Dave Mustaine will either give you his guitar or sit down with you for 2 hours for a songwriting session. The ultimate reward is the Megadeth jam session – where for $10k (not including travel expenses, of course) you can jam on a few songs with the band before they start recording.
These rewards seem a bit outrageous, but the pricing seems pretty standard of a crowdfunding campaign for a band of Megadeth’s notoriety. Obviously some of these rewards are reserved for the most, to put it sensitively, devoted Megadeth fans, and it will be interesting to see if anyone goes for them. The question remains, does Megadeth really need to crowdfund their next studio album? It’s doubtful, but since some of the perks are already sold out, it shows that they definitely have a fan base willing to help. And perhaps, in a case of burying the lead, it’s revealed that they plan on having the album out in July.
