Australian music-specific crowdfunding site launches

Australia’s first music-only crowdfunding site has been launched by a team operating out of Melbourne.

Panda Crowd – still in Beta mode – has been built and funded by an operation headed up by Brad Lyons and his partners Brendan Hill and Patrick Dwyer.

The company plans on backing the site with a bigger marketing push later this summer. In the meantime, it is working on growing site usage amongst artists and bands based in Australia.

Lyons told The Music Network, “Crowdfunding provides another way forward for artists and musicians. I think until it really catches on here, there’s always room for another market entrant. While sites like Pozible have music sections, there’s no large scale Australian-based music-only crowdfunding site.

He adds, “The great thing about crowdfunding is that the notoriety of a site is irrelevant, because campaigns are only successful if the project creators spread the word.”

Panda Crowd also plans to offer scholarships to artists, as well as creating a place where people interested in getting involved with music financially can get in touch with the artists directly.