January 16, 2008

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

Unsigned artist Web service SellaBand reached agreements with Heineken Netherlands, Amazon.com UK and The Orchard.

Heineken has signed on as the primary sponsor of SellaBand live events, and has expanded its support to sponsor compilation albums of top SellaBand acts. The Orchard has agreed to provide global digital distribution and marketing services for the most popular SellaBand artists. The Amazon.com UK relationship adds a section dedicated to SellaBand artists to the online retailers Web site.

The SellaBand services allows unsigned artists to raise money from fans by selling what amounts to a "share," worth $10 each. Participating artists raising $50,000 can record an album with a professional production team. To date, 13 of the 6,000 artists participating have reached that goal.

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