Music Funding 101
What Is Sponsorship?
Most bands start out by buying their own instruments, one by one, bit by bit. Then, when they need to record their album and make CD's, they run into needing a larger sum of money all at once; but at least the money can be saved up until the amount is reached. These costs however, pale compared to what is needed to market a band, full scale, to the public. The costs are very high, and they are needed all at once.
All bands and new labels have inquired into getting additional money, and no doubt they have seen the difficulties involved in doing so. Even when asking for just a few thousand dollars, parents give lectures, friends don't come through, investors are elusive, grants require endless applications and waiting times, and banks won't even see you. Enter the sponsor.
What is a sponsor? A sponsor is a person that is not in a band or a label, but still wants to be involved with music, and who also wants to get his name (or company's name) exposed to the public. And, he has the money to do so. The important point to understand about a sponsor, however, is that he does not want to be paid back. Instead, he wants exposure (or in certain cases, recognition). The sponsor also likes music, so having his name gain exposure (or recognition) at the same time the band is gaining exposure, is not a bad thing.
But giving exposure or recognition to a sponsor is a different process than the other funding sources, all of which require the band to either "save up" or "pay back" or "fill out applications." And many bands dislike the word "sponsor" in the first place. So most bands have never even tried to get a sponsor, much less understand how the process works.
The best way to understand a sponsorship is to think of it as something between NASCAR and a film executive producer. Sponsors pay a NASCAR team money to put the sponsor logo on the car, and then when the camera is on the car, viewers start associating fun (the racing) with the sponsor name. (Plus, the company gets box seats at the track!) That gives the product recognition and exposure. And with film, the executive producer pays for the film, but does not do any of the actual work. He becomes attached to the success of the film, because he paid for it and his name is in it. Film executive producers want their money back, however, and this is the defining difference between them and band sponsors.
A band sponsor is somewhere in the middle. A band sponsor wants to pay a band to have the sponsor's name or logo on or near the band, so that when fans see the band or the band's marketing materials, the sponsor's name gets seen too. And the recognition factor of being with a "winning" or "hit" band is the same driving force that a NASCAR sponsor or film executive producer wants.
But the real trick with band sponsorships is in matching a sponsor that wants a CERTAIN amount of exposure in return for giving the band a CERTAIN amount of money. This match-up is called the "sponsorship level" and it's something that takes a lot of searching and negotiating. Everyone knows that bands want money, and everyone knows that people and companies want exposure. The hard part is the match-up, and it's what TalentFunding.com allows you to do. A band can be sponsored for as little as $500 USD, or for more than $1,000,000. You have to also take into account things like genre, location, and other factors which are not as important with other types of funding, because the sponsor of a band is doing this in part because he likes the music (and the music scene) that the band is offering. It's not just about the money; finding the right band or sponsor is like searching for an item on EBay, it's there somewhere, but it could be anywhere on Earth.
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