#crodsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a term first published a definition for the term crowdsourcing in a companion blog post to Jeff Howe’s June 2006 Wired article, "The Rise of Crowdsourcing". Howe defined it as: ‘Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job found performed by a designated employee and outsourcing it to an undefined generally large group of people in the form of an open call’(Howe, 2006). People must be physically together to create communities in the past, but with the Internet, they can create virtual communities of Shared interests and preferences.

In the past, in order to reduce production costs, enterprises would outsource their work to countries with low labor costs, such as China and Southeast Asian countries. But now, through the Internet and online connectivity, companies can put jobs which required hiring people on a platform, and everyone in the world can participate and spend their free time creating content, solving problems, and doing research and development. The current online encyclopedia Wikipedia uses this concept to develop itself.

Another example is photos, which used to cost hundreds of dollars for a photo taken by a professional photographer. Now digital cameras are affordable for everyone. Because of mass outsourcing, the audience and consumers can now participate in production and create things that they think are meaningful. In short, Crowdsourcing is a way of solving problems and producing things by connecting online with people that you otherwise wouldn't know.

Moreover,  The once-popular virtual choir is completed by using the power of the masses, using the Internet to connect thousands of singers from different countries to form the works. Let's see the creator Eric Whitacre at TED to recreate the wonderful singing:

Reference

Jazz label Blue Note Records has joined with crowdfunding platform ArtistShare in a new partnership called Blue Note/ArtistShare committed to discovering and nurturing up-and-coming young jazz talent.

The Blue Note/ArtistShare partnership was forged by Blue Note chairman emeritus Bruce Lundvall, AristShare founder Brian Camelio and Don Was, president of Blue Note Records. The label will help with selecting artists and promotional support and will potentially upstream selected artists to the official Blue Note roster. Artists will retain the rights to their master recordings.

At the same time, the emergence of Blue Note/ArtistShare will allow fans to be involved in the creative process of discovering new talent and in funding the music -- which makes the partnership something of a low-investment for Blue Note.

“Young artists worldwide are making fresh musical statements left and right, but are forced to do their own marketing campaigns, too, often when their main focus should be their creative output,” said Lundvall in a statement. "I see the ArtistShare business model as a key component of the future music business."

Endeavors such as Blue Note/ArtistShare show both the potential for finding new talent through crowdfunding and how the platform is increasingly becoming a strategy for larger companies. In recent years the market for music crowdfunding platforms has grown exponentialy. In addition to Kickstarter and ArtistShare, other platforms include Pledge Music, Sonicangel, Rockethub and IndieGoGo. Some artists have also turned to using their personal websites for crowdfunding. The platform WordPress offers plug-ins like IgnitionDeck for artists looking to lessen the cost and personalize the process.

In 2011 Universal Music Group, Blue Note's parent company, and Talenthouse launched a Deal to conduct fan-engagement contests as a form of crowdsourcing. The contests allowed fans to collaborate on various art designs such as t-shirts and cover art images for their favorite artists.

According to a recent report by crowdsourcing.org, crowdfunding of global projects in 2013 will increase $2.4 billion in 2013 to $5.1 billion -- nearly doubling the $2.7 billion raised in 2012.

Successful ArtistShare musicians include composer Maria Schneider, jazz guitarist Jim Hall, The Clayton Brothers, pianist Danilo Perez and saxophonist Chris Potter. According to ArtistShare, their crowdfunded projects include 6 Grammy Awards and 18 Grammy nominations.

The most famous example of a musician's crowdfunding success is Amanda Palmer , who last year raised $1.2 million dollars via Kickstarter to fund her album, companion book, and tour. The album sold nearly 85,000 albums globally in six months.