Steve Grand sets example for Hong Kong crowdfunding site Music Bee
Gay American country singer launched album with help from Kickstarter subscribers and got it into the Billboard charts within a week
Even before the digitalisation of music, major record labels in Hong Kong weren’t exactly a risk-taking bunch. Now that the internet and faster streaming services have all but put CD sales on life support, what are young musicians who don’t fit the pop star mould to do?
Music Bee, the recently established crowdfunding platform for local indie acts, offers one avenue for raising financing – and awareness – of new sounds. Struggling musicians can also draw inspiration from American singer Steve Grand, whose newly released album, All American Boy, made the Billboard charts via the crowdfunding route.
Grand is about as big an anomaly as one would find in the US recording industry. Not only is his genre of music – country – not exactly the most popular, the 25-year-old is openly gay.
The singer-songwriter first rose to fame after releasing his self-produced title track on YouTube in 2013. Its infectious hook, sunny charms and bold message – about a man falling in love with another man – quickly went viral, garnering a million views in the first week alone. That brought plenty of media coverage, but no record contract. So Grand took to US crowdfunding site Kickstarter to get fans to support production of his album. Over 4,900 people “backed” Grand, raising US$327,000.
Released on March 23, All American Boy sold 10,000 copies in its first week, which placed the album at number 47 on the Billboard 200 chart, and number 3 overall on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart.
