Threshold Funding

Imagine this: A band wants to make a record. They need $50k to cover studio time, mixing, mastering, and production costs. Traditional options? Sign away rights to a label, launch a crowdfunding campaign and hope for the best, or go into debt.

Threshold funding presents an alternative to this dilemma, allowing users to support artists directly, and earn rewards for doing so.

How It Works

The band posts their project as “upcoming” on Riff, sharing demos, live recordings, and their vision for the album. Fans can subscribe to the artist for $10 per year. Here’s where it gets interesting:

When enough people subscribe to hit the $50k threshold, production begins
Everyone who subscribed during the funding period automatically receives the album in high quality when it drops
The band retains full creative control and ownership

The Commons Twist

But here’s the revolutionary part: The band commits to automatically releasing the record under Creative Commons (non-commercial) once they’ve earned $250k from it.

This means:

The band continues selling on Riff after the threshold
Once they hit $250k in total earnings, the album becomes legally free for non-commercial use
The music enters the commons, enriching our shared culture
The band has been fairly compensated for their work, and can continue selling physical and collectible copies of the album, as well as raise money for future projects the same way.

Platform contributions

Both artists and fans can choose to support the platform through a contribution slider in their settings.

This platform contribution is optional and explicitly opt-in - by default, we take 0% of any earnings.

Artist Contribution Model:

If 100 artists each raise $50k annually: $50M in artist funding
If 5% of artists set a 5% platform contribution: $125K platform revenue
This could sustainably support a user community of approximately 1-2M users.

User Contribution Model:

1M users × $50 average annual spending × 5% platform cut × 5% participation = Additional $125K platform revenue
Combined with artist contributions, the platform becomes fully sustainable at modest participation rates

Why This Works

Artists win: Direct funding, creative control, fair compensation
Fans win: Support artists directly, get exclusive early access
Culture wins: More music enters the commons over time
Platform wins: Sustainable revenue without exploiting creators

This isn’t just about funding albums. It’s about building an economy where creative work is valued, artists are fairly compensated, and culture is ultimately shared. Where success is measured not just in dollars, but in how much art we return to the commons.

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