Get a slice of the action

Legendary guitar maker Gibson is supporting a revolutionary new website where bands are funded by fans.

Slicethepie.com, the website that enables the financing of new music by enabling music fans to run their own record label, recently announced an innovative partnership with Gibson Guitar. A fan driven search for the best UK Guitar Band has been launched with the most promising act receiving a classic Gibson Les Paul guitar as well as securing £15,000 funding to record and market their album.

Launched in June 2007, Slicethepie is a web-based financing engine for the music industry that connects artists in search of funding with fans and investors who want to get involved in the music industry by scouting, breaking and investing in new artists. So far the site has financed 16 acts, with Greenwich quartet The Alps being the first to release their debut album 'Something I Might Regret' in March this year.

Slicethepie is fast becoming one of the major sources of financing for unsigned artists, having recently announced they are set to finance more artists in 2008 than EMI, Sony BMG and Warner achieved in the UK last year.

Chris Barnes

I'm MusicRadar's eCommerce Editor. It's my job to manage the buyer's guides on MusicRadar and help musicians find the right gear and the best prices. I'm a guitarist and a drummer and I've worked in the music gear industry for 18 years, including 7 years as Editor of the UK's best-selling drum magazine Rhythm, and 5 years as a freelance writer working with many of the world's biggest musical instrument brands including the likes of Roland, Boss, MusicRadar and Natal.