Innovative musician VERITY causing a stir
If you love supporting SA music then you need to get behind this highly original concept from Verity, a local lass who is selling copies of her CD before it’s made in order to get enough moolahs to actually record it. Nice thinking! Click here for her site. Musicians… don’t give up hope – get innovative! Local artist’s innovation opens new doors … for SA music industry Many talented young vocal artists are faced with the challenge of funding their first album, which can amount in South Africa to a staggering R400 000. This is forcing local musicians to be highly innovative in launching their careers. One Cape-based singer/songwriter – Verity – currently has interested parties in the local and international music industry watching her progress with a model that ignores the major record labels, but still launches her career, gives money to charity, involves fans and empowers other local artists. Verity has developed a unique business model that rests on the concept of pre-selling her album on www.iamverity.com to 5 000 fans or corporate sponsors on a trust basis, before she records it. 10.6 percent of every sale will be split between two worthy initiatives – People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) and her Live Your Dreams fund for aspiring artists who lack financial backing. Once the 5 000-copy sales target is reached, a whopping R80 000 will have found its way into the charity coffers dear to Verity’s heart. Future owners of the CD also stand to win prizes from the Lucky Packet, the best so far being two R5 000 Intec distance-learning bursaries. Her business model has garnered much international attention, with a number of foreign newspapers and websites carrying coverage of her unique approach, and more recently, with a featured profile at a European business innovation conference in Copenhagen. Equally impressive is that of the seven hundred albums already pre-sold, buyers have come from 16 countries outside of South Africa. A further success is that a talented young jazz artist, Mimi Ntenjwa, has already been able to record a demo on funding she has received from the Live Your Dreams Foundation. Verity enthuses: “It is my intention to lend my voice and songs to causes I support.” Whilst Verity has lived and performed in Nashville & New York, she feels that she needs to make her impression in South Africa. “This is my home & right now I want to be here,” she says. “I feel privileged to be a part of such an incredible country and grateful for the limitless inspiration I find here.” Theo Crous of Springbok Nude Girls fame and producer of Verity’s...
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