Daniel Ash is the latest artist to attempt to fund a new project by asking fans to crowdsource a campaign.
Ash, who founded Bauhaus, Tones On Tail and Love and Rockets, is using PledgeMusic to ask fans to participate in the funding of his forthcoming album Stripped. The new album will feature modern takes on tracks from all three of his former bands, as well as one new track. Fans will vote for their favorite Ash songs and the most popular tunes get “stripped down” for the new album, creating an almost entirely crowdsourced record.
“The original concept,” Ash explained, “was to record acoustic versions of some of my favorite songs from the catalogue, but to be honest, I found that a boring proposition. Also, more than recording my favorites, I wanted to record the fans’ favorites. I’m a perfectionist and I can’t stand anything that is second-rate, so we’re doing truly alternative versions of the songs, I really want to go out on a limb with this project.””
In exchange for pledges, fans get exclusive access to the site’s updates, including album artwork and hearing completed tracks before anyone else. Ash has also made available items-for-bid, including signed CDs, exclusive t-shirts, handwritten lyric sheets and more.