By Jeff Brunken
Launched on April 28, 2009 with the goal of providing a funding alternative for Music and Art, Kickstarter is now three years old. Last week, they released their 2012 Year in Review highlights.
Key milestones include:
- 2,241,475 people pledged a total of $319,786,629 and successfully funded 18,109 projects
- People in 177 countries (90% of countries worldwide) backed a project in 2012
- Funds pledged totaled $319,786,629 — a 221% increase from 2011
- Funds collected totaled $274,391,721 — a 238% increase from 2011
- Total backers rose to 2,241,475 — a 134% increase from 2011
- Music had the most funded projects with 5,067
These campaigns were more than just struggling musicians trying to crowdfund an album – music projects in 2012 were diverse. In addition to mainstream popular music, campaigns funded the release of classical works into the public domain, opera, and even music documentaries.
A Stradivarius violin nearly 300 years old was the basis of a campaign to chronicle the instrument’s history and the music associated with it.
An experimental music band seeks funding for, “A psychedelic, ambient, Western music video culminating in the ritualistic sacrifice of a cowboy and his bride to a giant glowing worm.”
Projects also included the philanthropic. Lester Chambers, leader of the 60s Soul group, “The Chambers Brothers” worked for over 27 years before seeing a single royalty check. Online publisher Alex Ohanian led this successful project to produce a fund-raising album.
17 projects raised more than $1 million in 2012, but the norm is more modest; the average successful project is closer to $5000, the average pledge $71, and the most common pledge is $25.
For those in search of Big Money, it helps to start with a Big Name. Recipients of major funding in 2012 include Steven Van Zandt, MSI, and Mishka.
And, with big money sometimes comes big controversy. Amanda Palmer asked for $100,000, got $1.2 million, and was soon defending herself from critics.
A good place to start before joining the Kickstarter crowd is Kickstarter School. Even more in-depth study is available via 3rd-party Schools.
After triple-digit growth in 2012 and prominence to match, it will be interesting to see what kind of year Kickstarter has in 2013.
Jeff worked as a researcher & technical writer for a Fortune 500 company and has a serious gadget problem. He loves music, but was an instrumentalist long enough to know that the world is a better place if he just listens instead. Tweet at him @jbrunkn
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