Everything has gone social, and that now includes music publishing and production. Sellaband is a really interesting concept, one part social music service, one part A&R man, one part musical donation-ware.

How it works: Artists sign up and seek "believers" (fans who put money where their mouth is). Believers pay 10$ / "part" to own a little piece of the band they love, and when the kitty reaches $50,000, the artist is assigned an "experienced A&R person to guide your recording process. Together with a top Producer you get the chance to record a collection of your best songs in a state-of-the-art Studio."

The believers get a limited edition CD once you're out of the studio, and Sellaband gets rights to distribute your music as free ad supported downloads and share the revenue.

It's an interesting concept, and the type of thing I've expected we'd see soon enough. Hive marketing is in its infancy, and digital music distribution is a perfect target for well executed strategies. Whether this qualifies as "well executed strategy", remains to be seen

[via Digital Music News]