FINANCE PART 2/2

Sell your own CDs, cassettes and/or records. Even if it's only a primitive, two-song demo, get some kind of recorded product out and sell it to raise money for your project. If you play out or get any radio airplay at all, you're wasting a valuable revenue-producing opportunity by not having a recording available for sale.

Sell T-shirts, caps, posters, stickers and other merchandise. Having music fans watching your band at a club is the perfect environment in which to market your paraphernalia. If they can't take the band members themsvelves home, the next best thing is a cool memento your admirers can purchase and take with them.

Grants. If your project is of historical significance or has a cultural impact, you may be eligible for the many grants offered each year by government, schools and corporations. Check the library for grant sources.

Sponsorship. Instead of Coke, Pepsi or Budweiser sponsoring you, why not the local recording studio? You promote their business to your fans, they give you free stuff in exchange. It can't hurt to investigate this often-overlooked idea.

Bartering. The ancient art of trading goods and services works perfectly for Guerrilla Music Financing. This may be one of your most powerful approaches to getting what you want on a limited budget. Make a list of all you have to offer a studio or store owner and then, most importantly, see what his or her needs are and how you can find a way to satisfy them--without spending your hard-earned cash.

Set weekly and monthly money-raising goals. The only way you're ever going to raise that capital for your musical project is to make the commitment and stay on track. Therefore, break down your overall money goal into bite-size chunks that you can achieve each and every week--or at least every month. By raising, saving and/or trading a couple hundred dollars here, a few hundred there, a single individual can quite possibly accumulate $2,000 to $5,000 dollars in about six months. Multiply those figures by the four members in an average band (or partners in a company) are you're starting to look at some serious investment capital--all without going through the hassles of traditional bank/investment financing