Pomplamoose is an extremely talented indie band, born to be internet musicians. At the core is real life couple Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn.
If you don’t know them, you’ve no doubt heard some of their music. They came to life on YouTube (here’s the Pomplamoose channel) with a series of low-budget, but incredibly well produced videos, mostly of covers and mashups.
Pomplamoose has also done a number of highly regarded commercials, including this spot for Hundai and this one for Austrian Mobile.
In short, Jack and Nataly have done everything they can do finance their music/video-making habit. Part of the big picture is touring. In the linked article, Jack lays out all the numbers from their last tour, which netted them a total of -$11,819. That’s not a typo, they actually lost $11,819. But wait, this is not a sob story. This is a success story and well worth the read. I am a fan.
Funny, all I see in the comments on their story is jealousy, or a total lack of financial understanding. Going on tour was where bands used to make any money at all… they’re using it as a way to promote more views on youtube. They’re looking at it as a long term strategy that will almost definitely pay off. There are a lot of ways to make a living doing this, glad to see they found their path.
Stealthy ad campaign. Complete bullshit expenses, this article is a way to draw attention to the band, and also to Patreon, a music competitor to iTunes and Loudr…problem? Jack Conte is co-founder of Patreon! He’s raised over 17 million already for this site..now he’s whining about having to buy ROAD CASES? And they took their own lighting on a tour this small? To play the Filmore? Lights in ALL of these venues. I call complete bullshit, at the expense of indie bands who are really trying to make it.
http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/how_not_to_spend_150000_on_a_28_day_touran_op_ed_by_the_artery_foundations