Protest The Hero, a popular metal band from Toronto, Canada, is using Indiegogo to crowdfund what will be their fourth studio album. They have already raised over $170,000 toward their original goal of $125,000 with almost a month left in their campaign. It will be their first independently recorded album. They were previously with Vagrant Records.
PTH has been playing their brand of melodic prog metal for 13 years now. They’re what I’d imagine Queen would sound like after the zombie apocalypse.
Crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo are proving to be powerful for musicians and groups with an established fan base. PTH is just the latest example of a band that is using crowdfunding to avoid the all-too-familiar difficulties of working with (and for) big record labels. From their campaign page…
We are finally free from all obligations and want to be in control of our “careers”. In general, the record industry is backwards and we’d be stupid to renegotiate with anyone at this time. Crowdfunding seems to be something that’s working. Whether or not this is the next thing for the music industry, it’s a way that supporters of a band can know exactly where their hard earned dollars are going. No middlemen, no commissions, no bullshit.
The band hit the mainstream in 2008 with their album Fortress, which peaked at #1 overall on the Canadian charts and #14 on the US hard rock charts. Their 2011 effort Scurrilous peaked at #4 on the US hard rock charts.
One contributor donated $5000 for a cameo on the album. That contributor and a friend will get join the band in the studio and perform guest vocals or instrumentation on the next album. Other perks included invitations to a band pizza party or the option to select any song for the band to cover.
The new album is expected to be released in summer of 2013.
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