Not only is Crowdfunding listed as a Crucial Consumer Trend on TrendWatching it is listed as Number 1.
“How will you deliver on consumer expectations in the next 12 Months?” That is the subtitle for this ranking. Crowdfunding beats Number 2 – Emerging – as in the “explosion of products and services” from these emerging markets and Number 3 “Mobile Moments” and the growing ubiquity of smartphones connected to just about everything. To quote Trendwatching;
As consumers will embrace even more ways to participate in the funding, launch and growth of (new) products and brands that they love, expect pre-ordering, crowdfunding and consumer equity to compete with traditional consumption in 2013…
The Economist piles onto this popularity contest with a comment regarding the “neat 
evolution from the concept of crowd sourcing”.
We see this as a revolution, but one where the power of the internet and the availability of access to information is delivering creative destruction to an industry in desperate need of Innovation: Capital Allocation and Financing for New Businesses and Starts Ups.