The New Mash-Up: Music + Microfinance = Microfundo

It’s hard enough being a musician in a First World country; it’s basically impossible in the developing world. When each day is spent looking for work and for food, or even just watching your back, there is no time for songwriting and entertaining strangers. Fortunately, an organization dubbed Microfundo is working to change that. Calling themselves the “Kiva.org for musicians”, Microfundo applies the microfinance model to music so that musicians from the barrios, fincas, mountains, deserts, and all manner of unlikely areas can be heard and appreciated.

To put it simply, artists can advertise their desired campaigns online at www.tuneyourworld.com. Requests for funding range anywhere from a new recording studio, U.S. tour, first music video or first album. Music fans come to Microfundo to browse the artists and song selection and may then choose to donate to their favorite artist’s campaign through Paypal. Once the artist achieves the amount needed for their campaign, Microfundo passes the loan along so that they can pursue their dream.

In the interim, Microfundo sells the artist’s music online as an advance against the loan amount. Slowly, Microfundo and its media partners, National Geographic and Mondomix, are able to pay back the fans. The fans can either choose to reinvest in another campaign or simply take back the money that they forwarded. By serving as a music filter similar as Pandora or Last.fm and making recommendations such as “if you like this artist, then you’ll like…”, Microfundo can easily attract a large loyal fan base – those who love their eclectic music options, those who are socially conscious, and those who carry both.

There is something fundamentally brilliant about the Microfundo mission to support independent musicians in developing countries – a kind of brilliance that can also be viewed as kind of crazy. In places where people still survive on the bare minimum, it seems counter-productive to fund musical efforts when there is still a need for basic amenities, job security, and sustainability. However, Microfundo clearly recognizes food for the soul is as equally important as food for the stomach. By supporting musicians and potentially increasing their visibility on a global scale, we are raising awareness on the issues of the countries that these musicians are natives of. We are sending a clear interpretation of human rights that yes, not only are we all entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and security – we are also entitled to leisure and many different expressions of personality. With Microfundo operating in conjuction with efforts like Kiva.org, we will create a better and more holistic world – a song and message that I hope gets stuck in my head for the rest of my life.

(Featured video is Avantrio, one of the Microfundo artists using the site to campaign for a new studio recording).

• MICROFUNDO’s mission is to support the entrepreneurial activities of independent musicians from developing countries around the world – championing undiscovered musicians who would otherwise not have the means to develop their music careers.
• Organization Type: Non-Profit
• Website: http://microfundo.mymondomix.com/ or www.tuneyourworld.com
• Founder(s): Mondomix and National Geographic
• Founded: 2009
• See complete company list here

#microfinance