JAVS Spring 2014

those without, and campaigns offering three or more perks are substantially more likely to reach their goal.

Crista Kende Bergendahl holds a Master’s degree in viola performance from The Juilliard School and attended Princeton University to study history with a focus on the arts in society. She approaches her work with Indiegogo from the standpoint of a performing artist with more than fifteen years of professional expe rience and an acute understanding of the challenges of being an artist in today’s world. It is her goal to empower fellow musicians and artistic colleagues to look beyond traditional funding models and use Indiegogo to connect with fans, build an audience base, and raise essential funds for creative pursuits. The Chiaroscuro Trio was formed in 2010 out of the strong friendship of its musicians, contralto Elizabeth Pétillot, pianist yuko Kato, and me, violist Aurélien Pétillot. After a few years together, rehears ing, performing, exploring repertoire, connecting with our audiences, and building interest, we decid ed that we should release a CD. The European Romantic masterpieces of Brahms, Bridge, Loeffler, and Strauss for our instrumentation had already been recorded, and though we frequently champion those works on stage, we felt strongly that we should offer something different and new. We opted for world premiere recordings of contemporary American works and submitted a proposal to Albany Records, because of their strong focus on American composers and performers. Very naïvely, we thought that signing a contract with a major label implied that the whole project would be financed, from the initial idea way beyond the release of the finished product. The hardest thing was probably to get a contract in the first place. In reality, Albany liked the project and very promptly offered us a contract, but we had to not only pay for everything, including travel and studio costs as well as our two commis sioned works, but we also had to dish out $4,500 to Albany to cover printing, duplicating, and distribut ing. It became obvious that we would need a lot of help. We drafted a budget, applied for two research grants through our respective universities (Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of A Recording for the Chiaroscuro Trio by Aurélien Pétillot

Be proactive : Don’t expect the money to magically flow once you go live. Running a campaign is an active process—the more you share the greater chance you’ll have of finding people who care about what you’re doing. On average, campaigns using Indiegogo’s “update” feature to communicate with contributors every one to five days raise 239% more money, and campaigns posting new media—pic tures, videos, milestone announcements—raise 81% more money. Campaigns with four or more external links raise 103% more, so link up your youTube, Facebook, Twitter, website, LinkedIn—anything that helps people see what you’re all about. Believe in what you’re doing, and know your network: Start small with a project you believe in. For first-time campaigners, it’s wise to set an attainable goal based on the size and devotion of your existing following. The first 30% of contributions should come from your inner circle—family, friends, and colleagues who care about your work. From there, it’s easier to attract people from outside your immediate network, since you’ll have demonstrated a level of traction and suc cess. Furthermore, keep your campaign to less than sixty days to drive momentum. People figure that a longer campaign gives them more time to gather con tributions, but on Indiegogo, the average successful campaign hits its goal on day forty-seven. With a shorter campaign, people have a constant call to action, since the end goal is always in sight. We are at an exciting new juncture in the arts world. Musicians who have long felt powerless when it comes to making important career moves now have a powerful new voice and a way to build their own success through crowdfunding. When I look back to the spring of 2010, I’m glad I experienced that tradi tional post-Master’s career panic, since it forced me to think creatively and discover Indiegogo and all that it offers the modern musician. For more information on crowdfunding and personal ized campaign coaching, contact Crista at crista@indiegogo.com.

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