IT'S well-documented how Radiohead drove a great, big rusty nail into the coffin of the traditional music business model by inviting fans to decide how much they wanted to pay for their recent album In Rainbows.
Their online experiment could be followed by many a band aiming to cut record companies out of the equation in the future.
But it's not just the heavyweights who are cutting out label bosses to increase profits.
Last year saw the launch of a n
ew website called Sellaband that gives fans the chance to invest in up-and-coming acts – and make some money out of them if they hit the big time.
Funded by 750 fans, who each invested between £5 and £900, Londoners Second Person became the first UK band to raise the site-required £25,000 to make their own album, having captivated a whole generation of Youtubers and MySpacers with songs that mix influences from trip hop, jazz, hip hop and electronica.
"We joined Sellaband last year," explains vocalist Julia Johnson, whose band is often likened to Bristol bands Portishead, Massive Attack and Morcheeba.
"The idea is, it allows fans to invest in artists that they believe in, and if a band gets £25,000 of investment, they can then take that budget and go off and record an album.
"Then, every fan who invested gets a limited edition copy of the album as well as a share of royalties. So it's a very democratic music model and it adds to the relationship between fan and artist, because they feel they've, you know . . . I guess it's like buying a racehorse and sharing in the proceeds of a win," she adds, laughing.
"So anyway, we were the first British artists to raise the £25,000, and obviously that gave us a little kudos."
So how do the band – who make their Capital debut at the Roxy Art House next week as part of the Fringe – describe their sound?
"The beats have a kind of hip- hop edge and the production has a lot of electronic sound to it," explains Johnson. "But the songs, I'd say, are more jazz orientated than anything else.
"We've always written quite dark music, explored a lot of sadness. We've written a lot of filmscores, music for short films, television.
And we've spent a lot of time making our own videos as well, just to give that whole sort of 360 degrees experience," she adds.
And they can't wait to play in Edinburgh it seems.
"Yes, we're really thrilled to be playing the Fringe. It's a little bit leftfield to be doing an arts festival rather than the more conventional music festival," says Johnson.
"I've been through Edinburgh only once, very briefly on my way to a yoga retreat in Wester Ross, so my experience of the city was the Marks & Spencer at Waverley Station.
"I've always wanted to go, so I'm thrilled to have the opportunity. I'm going to try to come up about three days before and see the sights and see some of the Fringe shows on offer.
"A lot of my friends are in shows this year, so I absolutely want to go and see everything, just be a tourist and have a great time."
• Second Person, Rocket@Demarco Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place, Wednesday, 11.30pm, £8, 0131-226 0000, www.Edinburgh-festivals.com The full article contains 568 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
