Sellaband
Sellaband was a music website that allowed artists to raise the money from their fans and the SellaBand community in order to record a professional album. Sellaband used the mechanisms of crowdfunding and was to be seen as a Direct-to-Fan/fan-funded music platform utilising a Threshold Pledge System / Provision Point Mechanism. It was set up by Johan Vosmeijer (ex Sony/BMG), Pim Betist (ex Shell), and Dagmar Heijmans (ex Sony/BMG) in August 2006. Its offices used to be located in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but it was originally incorporated in Bocholt, Germany.
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On April 8, 2008, Sellaband raised EU€3.5 million[1] (US$5 million)[2] in their Series A round led by Prime Technology Ventures.[3]
In early 2009, Pim Betist left Sellaband to set up Africa Unsigned,[4] using Sellaband technology as a base and supported by the Dutch government.
In January 2010, Sellaband filed for bankruptcy.[5] It relaunched days later, after an investor stepped forward. The office was relocated to Munich, Germany.[6] On August 28, 2015, the Sellaband GmbH filed for bankruptcy, too. This was rejected because of lack of mass by the District Court Charlottenburg on January 12, 2016.
For three years, Sellaband supported the sharing of revenue, a form of equity crowdfunding. Research from the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy examined investment data on the Sellaband platform during this time period. The data shows that, while investments can come from funders around the world, distance continues to affect the flow of funding and information.[7]
