Music Funding 101
Who Can Be A Sponsor
Many bands are amazed that such sponsorship possibilities exist right here on TalentFunding.com, and yet they’ve never heard about it before. "Where and who are these mythical funders? Surely I would have come across them once or twice in my ten years as a musician," is a common statement that bands make.
Well, sponsors are the very people that bands HAVE been in contact with over the years; it's just that bands didn't have enough interest in examining how sponsorships worked, and sponsors did not think that bands had ANY interest in working out some kind of commercial plan; thus nobody made a move. Sponsors are really just any people that have an interest in music, and who have the funds necessary to promote the band.
One type of sponsor would be the "interested individual," who from his or her career has the opportunity to put money into a band. This type of person is the same type that would hire a band to play at a corporate event. This person just wants to get his or her name more known in the community (just the way an executive producer of a film does). This type of sponsor can come from any occupation, and he likes to be very involved in the whole sponsorship process. Of all the types of sponsors, he will be the quickest to come on board with a sponsorship payment, and he'll just want to promote his name (not a company name).
Another type of sponsor is the "interested company owner." This person is running some type of business, but also has a personal interest in music, much like the interested individual. However, the interested company owner wants to promote the company's name, and he views the sponsorship situation more like the business advertising options that he's looked at in the past. His personal interest in music is what gets him talking to the bands, but once he gets a sponsorship rolling he gets back to his business and lets the sponsorship run on its own. This person will be slower in coming on board, and will be more businesslike, but if it works out he will be more likely to continue his sponsorship (because he has something to gain: business).
Then there is the "corporate sponsor." This may be a person or a small group of people who is investigating this sponsorship idea on behalf of the company. They may or may not be personally interested in music, but someone in their business told them to look into it, so they are doing so. These types are going to be difficult for the average band to deal with (that is, unless they have commission sales experience, or a funding rep) because they are viewing a sponsorship as just another advertising vehicle. Corporate sponsors will be the slowest to respond, but if they come on board they will have the most capacity to do a large sponsorship for a long time. They are generally the type of sponsors needed to do national and international campaigns.
Some sponsors (actually, most of them) will hide their identities and reasons for looking at sponsorships; in these cases, the band won't be able to tell what group the sponsor falls into. If any of the band members have several years of true commission sales experience, then they may be able to tell from the language and manners of the sponsor, but other than that, "hidden" sponsors will just have to be treated as interested individuals. I say this because the typical band has the best chance to get the quickest sponsorship with individuals. Matter of fact, if a band can't sell an interested individual, they will not be able to sell an interested owner or a corporate sponsor.
As for what walks-of-life a sponsor comes from (doctor, investor, sports player, etc.) it really doesn't matter to start with. The point is, the prospective person has a reason to look into music sponsorships and they are now doing so. So a band is advised to treat them as music-interested-people.
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