A picture of Brad Hoshaw taken from his Go Fund Me campaign page.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Is GoFundMe the newly accepted way for bands to generate money for their recording projects? I ask because over the past week, two new GFM projects have scrolled past my Twitter feed from two local musicians.

Omaha singer/songwriter Brad Hoshaw is trying to raise $5,000 via a GoFundMe campaign to support his upcoming recording project.

“On January 9th I will begin recording my new album and I need help covering the initial costs,” he wrote on his GFM campaign page. “I’ll be working with producer Nicholas Frampton (Field Division, The River Monks) as well as four world-class musicians who have recorded with the singers from Band of Horses, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, Grandaddy and Midlake. We’ll be spending five days at Redwood Studio (Denton, TX), recording this new batch of songs.”

Hoshaw says funds raised will partially cover costs associated with paying musicians and the producer as well as studio, mixing and mastering fees. “Everyone who donates will be invited to a private concert and listening party, where you can hear the new recordings before anyone else,” he said.

Lincoln band EddyMink — the project of singer/songwriter Kerry Eddy — launched a GoFundMe campaign for its debut album, Open Container Heart Surgery — a collaborative effort between Eddy, guitarist Patrick Hargon, bassist Darryl Rivers and drummer Ben Armstrong.

“We are very proud of this album and can’t wait to get production completed,” Eddy said on her campaign page. “We just have to finish mixing, mastering, pressing some records, and producing promotional materials. We’d like to wrap up production and get this record out to you by March, so we need to have funds together by the end of December.”

They’re seeking $3,000, and though GFM campaigns don’t typically offer premiums to donors, Eddy is, including “a hard copy of the record, cool stickers and a sweet t-shirt” for a $30 donation.

I’ve always associated GoFundMe with money-raising efforts to help people cover ungodly medical bills or for a memorial fund for a dead family member. It never dawned on me you could use it to raise funds for recording projects, but I guess it really isn’t much different from Kickstarter. The diff may be in the premiums situation, or the fact that GFM campaigns don’t have to meet goals — i.e, there are no “all or nothing” requirements.

I’ll likely give to both. I’ve followed Brad for years and would love to see what he does working with a new band. I’ve never met Kerry Eddy, but I dig the track included on her GFM page.

So is GFM the new Kickstarter? Regardless of the crowdfunding channel, how bands can afford to put our records barring landing a record deal, saving up cash from gigs for years to come or taking on huge debt?

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.