Kevin Bronson on July 27th, 2010

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With too much music for the incredible shrinking record industry to nurture, artists are increasingly turning to fan-funded strategies to help get their work manufactured and marketed..

Add disco-funk quartet Casxio, indie-rockers the Deadly Syndrome [that’s their new Aurelien Levitan-directed video for “Armrest,” above”] and singer-songwriter Bleu to the list of artists trying to finance their new projects through campaigns at Kickstarter.com, a website that allows donors to put their money where other people’s ideas are.

Fan-funded music is not a new idea – singer-songwriter Jill Sobule’s 2009 album was one that got a lot of press. L.A. funksters Spirit Animal did a Kickstarter bit earlier this summer, and there are probably others that haven’t made it onto my radar.

I’m not going to blog about every artist with a Kickstarter campaign; it’s just that these latest three seem to me to be particularly worthy of attention. The campaigns usually come with some pretty nifty incentives. (Your band or favorite band have a campaign? Leave a comment with a link.) Here’s a rundown:

‣ Casxio is seeking funds to manufacture its debut “Friends vs. Lovers.”
‣ The Deadly Syndrome is trying to finance a vinyl pressing of their very good sophomore album “Nolens Volens.”
‣ And singer-songwriter Bleu’s fans are already turning out in force to support his next album, “Four.”