avalanche records

Archive for August, 2016

The centre will primarily be an exhibition and information space and while there will be an accompanying retail space it would unrealistic to try to support the centre simply from sales especially as any stock would not be held on a commercial basis ie what can be sold within a reasonable time. There have been several suggestions about finance and I have looked at them all. I’m certainly exploring the possibility of grants but they would be unlikely to be sufficient and best not relied on. Again crowdfunding has been suggested and there are some very interesting options there. There is clearly a lot of interest but it would be good to have that interest registered for when we start the ball rolling which should be by the end of next month. 

The options are

I would be interested in a small monthly subscription in return for a monthly newsletter and alerts when the centre has news of and items by artists I am interested in

I would be interested in making a donation

I have a business that would be interested in making a donation or offering sponsorship

I would be interested in buying a discounted voucher to spend at the centre eg a £50 voucher for £40. There will be an online sales facility.

I have a music collection I would like to donate with the proceeds going to the centre

With regards to the bands themselves current or not we will be looking for things along the lines of an exclusive song or image that they are prepared to let the centre use and are happy to promote to their fans. This will obviously help with financing the centre and feed into the options above. Very happy for artists and labels to make contact now but we will be contacting those we think can help soon.

Please send an email to hofsmc@gmail.com listing one or more of the options above to register an interest and be told when we have something in place. The subscription will start at a pound or two so hopefully anybody wanting to help can. The interest now will help with the decision on what crowdfunding platforms might be useful in the future. Any other thoughts or comments are welcome. We are of course still looking for interesting memorabilia and thanks is due to all those who have already been in touch.

Many thanks

Kevin

In terms of a plan and knowing what I’m going to be working towards I think things have gone well. There has been a great response though it is quite skewed to the punk and post-punk eras which is understandable as it really was a very vibrant time for music in Scotland. Everything since then I can cover from my own experience especially the 80s and 90s indie scene which coincides with the start of Avalanche and I’ll just need to search out more of the old Potterrow crowd and the bands of the time many of whom still keep in touch so it won’t be too much of an effort. Mike who runs the Scottish post-punk sites has been helping out and has some valuable contacts to help with the pre-punk times.

pic by @Birmingham_81

Finance is going to be the next thing and I’m trying to at least find the resources to give me six months or so before hopefully a launch around March. I should have a far better idea in the next month but the centre’s focus will always be skewed towards information and exhibition rather than sales so funding is essential. There has been a very limited response with offers of sponsorship and other financial help which is not a great surprise as these are things that really have to be chased up and a big thank you to those who have been in touch. I haven’t drawn a complete blank and potentially could have some good news. A lot of people talk about “reach” when it comes to funding and there obviously Avalanche’s worldwide reach is a help along with the undoubted interest in Scottish music but it would probably be a help if a lot of people signed up to donate a small amount of money each month for instance. Sometimes the number of people is as important as the funds raised. This is all new to me but I’m getting there slowly. Having said all this surely there must be a few older folk out there who have a few bob and could help make this happen. 

There have been a lot of suggestions as to how we could raise funds especially to get things off the ground from putting on some high profile gigs to asking bands and labels for interesting items that could be auctioned. Bands could also possibly donate unreleased songs or exclusive images but for now I will attempt to get the basics in place and then maybe we will do all those things !