Editorial: Eisley: Kickstarter misuse?
Written by: MikeYabs Note: Sorry in advance for any rants/tangents this post may go on.
Recently, Texas based Eisley launched a kickstarter for them to go on tour in support of their upcoming record, Currents. They have some pretty cool incentives for people who choose to back the kickstarter, such as exclusive merch, handwritten lyric sheets, unreleased demos, etc. There's just one small problem.
They're asking for $100,000.
I have no problem with bands using kickstarter. I could rattle on many names of bands that used it successfully. Kevin Devine's goal was to raise $50,000 to fund two records and to help him tour in support of them. He ended up making over double that amount. James Dewees of Reggie and the Full Effect just successfully ended his campaign to fund one record and to help him tour. He also asked for $50,000. Plenty more have asked for reasonable amounts of money to fund recording/touring. Eisley didn't.
Eisley want $100,00 just to tour. This isn't to help fund a new record; their label already did that for them. They want this amount of money so they may purchase a bus large enough to transport the band and their families, as four members have all had children recently and they would like to bring their four infant children on tour with them. I have no issue with bringing children on tour. As parents that is their decision and their decision alone to make. But if you can't afford to do it, you probably shouldn't, especially if "can't afford it", means you have to ask for $100,000 from your fans. They are funding a tour, but there is no incentive that includes a ticket to a show, besides the hefty $500 pledge that gets you guest-listed for the show [EDIT: This doesn't even apply to the upcoming tour that they've announced. Thanks for pointing that out Victor!]. To fund a band touring, it just seems wrong to not offer a general admission ticket to the show somewhere within the pledges.
Speaking of the rewards for pledges, lets take a closer look at what they're offering. Some of the rewards I think are well priced, like the online show stream for $1, an exclusive EP for $15, the $25 shirt or $40 cardigan that will be exclusive to backers (both of those come with that EP was well!). Beyond that, some of the rewards are a little out there. $50 gets you a digital download of unreleased demos. I have a feeling there's a reason those songs remained unreleased, on the cutting room floor. They probably aren't that good. For $100, you get a signed lyric sheet. That's cool I guess, but definitely not $100 cool. You don't even get all those unreleased songs or the kickstarter EP at that price. $500 get you guestlisted for a show, and maybe you can get coffee with them before the show. I'd like to know if I get to have my damn cup of coffee. $1,000 gets you to pick a song for Eisley to cover, just for you. That's cool, but is it being recorded, and from there, is it being recorded properly, or is it just gonna be a mic held in the middle of a room while they play a cover they learned to play an hour before they hit the record button? That's a gamble I'd rather not make with a thousand dollars. $4,000 for a house show. Since I don't know what kind of guarantee Eisley makes per show, I can't really criticize them too much for this. The $5,000 handmade guitars with hand drawn artwork by the band is really cool (I'm a big fan of Sherri's artwork), but only serious fans/serious guitar players will bite at that (so far, nobody has pledged for it).
I like Eisley. I really do. I'm highly anticipating the new record, and wish I was going to see them this summer on their tour supporting Say Anything (unfortunately, touring obligations of my own are preventing me from doing so. [Wait, am I allowed to ask for money from fans to go on tour? Maybe I'll launch a kickstarter too!]). My big problem here is how much they are asking for, and that some of the rewards don't really seem to be worth what they are asking for them. I think they're going the wrong way about trying to tour. Maybe they should take a few years off while the kids are young before they hit the road. I'm gonna pass on pledging for this one, but I wish them luck. Its only been a couple of days and they've passed the $15,000 mark. With 28 days to go, they might make it.
