Music Funding 101
Getting A Funding Rep
Bands are pretty well known for not wanting to hang around business types. This, I feel, is one of the reasons that bands need a "funding rep." Not really a manager, but a rep who is more business-like and professional than most band members like to be. Someone who will spend more time in offices than in clubs. Someone who wears a tie when needed, and who took business classes as a major. Someone who will, most importantly, do the talking when in it comes to dealing with potential sponsors. Note: All the pay sales-articles in TalentFunding.com are designed for funding reps.
Since this kind of business person would not normally get along well with a band (or even a band's manager), this "rep" person really becomes just a musically-interested banker of sorts. He or she is someone who can't really play any instruments, can't sing, can't write songs, and probably can't even handle more than a few drinks (!). He or she may not even download music. But they still love music and they've bought a million albums and they've gone to a million shows. This is exactly what a band wants.
That is, if the band wants funding. Because a business person like this is going to be given money far sooner than the typical band member is. Sponsors don't view funding reps as boring business types. They view them as well-spoken, responsible, respectable, bright, and any other positive words that can be dreamed up. It's because most bands don't have such a business person, I believe, that bands have had such a hard time getting money before TalentFunding.com was created.
Enter the funding rep. Here's a person that likes music, but has worked completely in the business world up until now. He's not about to start a band, but he now learns that he has a chance to work with bands to obtain funding, and obtaining funding is something he (hopefully) does everyday anyway. Maybe he's a salesperson, mortgage broker, banker, or even an office manager. The point is, this person knows how to talk to business people better than most artists do. And since he can spend his full time doing it, he can make those early morning meetings that are hard for bands to make; he can get through those pesky receptionists; he can schedule and then follow up on all those phone calls (and sound professional doing it). In short, he is the type of person that sponsors what to work with, and then, give money to. The rep will also be the ongoing contact for the sponsor, as well as possibly handling all the TalentFunding.com searching and contacting.
This funding rep should work on commission only, and should be able to rep several bands at once. The commission should be flexible from 5% to 30%, and should based on the relationship between the band the rep; higher or lower amounts are possible, however. Overall, the commission should be fair to everyone. Remember that the rep is used to working in the business world, and is used to getting a fair commission for sales of this level. Also, the band will probably get far more money even after the rep's commission than if the band tried to do it themselves. Don't think that because the band has the time, they should always try to do the talking themselves. Bands should spend that extra time finding a good rep to work with. Bands can have overlapping reps, as long as each one represents correctly (for example, knowing how many sponsors' name are already signed up). Note: The band or the rep will have to adjust sponsorship prices according to how much commission is being given, so that there is enough left to pay for the campaign itself.
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