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FUNDIT

AN INCREDIBLY innovative and independent funding system for artists has kicked off in recent months in Ireland, writes Ronan Leonard.

Led mainly by the Fundit.ie website, the concept is based on 'crowd funding ', where artists and bands propose what they would like to do and how much it would cost. For instance, it recently helped the Solstice project event during the Cork Midsummer Festival achieve their minimum budget needs. One band that has firmly taken this system by the horns is Ten Past Seven, a band based in Cork for the last five years. Rory O'Brien – the guitarist in the band - talked me through what drew them to this new financial structure: "It  means that we can continue to work. By getting people to pre-order the record and fund the recording means that anyone who likes what we do can directly contribute to the making of it.

''The crowd-funding model means that we can make something really special for the folks who want it." Ten Past Seven's plan is more than just a standard CD album release, Rory explained, "We are going to make it a multimedia release (enhanced CD/DVD). The physical release of this recording will be a unique art piece. "We will be doing surround-sound mixes of the tracks accompanied by visuals. There will be many videos of us making music live in studio.

All of this will be available to those who help us fund the project."

Another incredibly new step for a band in Cork to do is to waive all standard copyrights to the music by turning instead to the burgeoning creative commons model. Creative commons is a platform where a thing you create - is openly available to anyone who wants to use as long as they are not profiting from it themselves. As a result of this, I wondered if Ten Past Seven have given up on the conventional music industry all together? "Not necessarily, we are going to release this recording under creative commons license this time. We really wanted to test the limits of what it means to record music in the digital age. Perhaps in the future, being conventional would be a shocking new direction?"

For a contribution you can get:

• €5 - A digital copy of the new record.

• €50 - The entire back catalogue of the band

on CD and their 7" records, a physical copy of the new project.

• €500 - You have all of the previously mentioned things as well as a live concert by the band in your house!

To fund this project go to www.fundit.ie

From the Evening Echo, 30 June 2011