Serj Tankian, known mostly as the frontman for System of a Down, will be putting out four total solo projects in 2012, all in different genres. He told Fuse TV, “There are too many musicians making the same sh-t over and over again. It’s boring.”

Just clicking around a few video interviews to get a feel for him as an artist and what his current focus is, it’s clear that he’s someone self managed artists like us should follow and be inspired by.

He’s a major label artist but his spirit and artistic expression is so completely pure and uncensored. It’s tough to see where he has any boundaries whatsoever. He’s certainly a genius of our time.

Here’s a rock legend with a Social Circle of 15 or 16 million fans, yet a week into his Kickstarter project, he’s only raised $16k of his $25,000 goal.  This is to be somewhat expected when you try to bring hard rock fans into an orchestral project, but what’s interesting is why Serj launched this project.

I exchanged an email with Serj and his words were truly inspiring.  Let’s dig in and see if we can uncover some lessons and inspiration.

+ STEAL THIS

• Video –  his tone & sincerity 
• Creating an experience for backers
• Stellar package array
• By-the-book description area

– FIX THIS

• Add a picture of the exclusive K$ shirt (I most likely want it!)

// VIDEO (1 min 55 secs)

Real. Sincere. To the point. A purpose worth backing.

This is a short video that hits all of the requirements.  He immediately articulates how this is a special project that’s near and dear to his heart. “ORCA is my first real classical symphony, ORCA is my opus, something I’ve been working on for a long time.”  This gives backers a tangible mission to align with.  I like to call this the “purpose worth backing”.

A purpose worth backing separates the bands who genuinely want to create an experience for their fans from those who simply need to raise funds.  To further illustrate my point, lets take an interaction between two fans on Serj’s Facebook page:

Fan #1- Serj, why are you wanting donations to help fund this album? I am sure that it will be awesome but I will be giving my discretional spending money to those in need around me. I’m puzzled as to why you are asking for fans’ help when you already have plenty? I am not trying to be impolite, but I am perplexed by this.

Fan #2- Looks like its so that the fans get a chance to be involved in it. Most of the backer levels are reasonably priced for what they are, the $25 level being a copy of the CD with digital download for instance isn’t really much more than you’d pay for it elsewhere. Since most levels come with the new album at the very least, look at it as a more involved pre-order perhaps? With higher donation levels suiting those of us who may enjoy say, signed copies of all of his albums plus a copy of the score 🙂

Simple video production.

Serj has the resources it would take to make a world class, highly produced video, but instead, he keeps it raw and real.  No fancy lights, make up, or scripts.  Just Serj talking to you passionately about his project.

// PACKAGES

Caters to his audience. Perfectly price spaced and real world value aligned.

Serj knows his audience.  He knows that most of his rock fans won’t back the project simply because they want the music from his four part symphony.  Rather, these fans will back the project because they want a part of Serj.

These packages appeal to turbo fans and collectors.  As a collector you’d want the product whether or not you like the music. As a turbo fan, you want connection. Each package appeals to different levels of turbo fans by including a personal thank you email in everything from $1 to $10k package levels.

Fully written out, descriptive.

By the time you get to the $10,000 package the description spans almost the entire height of the page.  I love this.  I constantly see bands typing “+ ALL ABOVE” in each package. This forces backers to do the work of adding everything up themselves and they end up being uncertain of whether they are reading it correctly.

Use Serj (or more likely his team of expert marketers at Warner Music) as an example of how to create and format your packages.  This is stellar and certainly a best case example.

// PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Uses images to illustrate the project and make the orchestral project tangible.

The project description features a medium length, personal and sincere note from Serj that further explains important and interesting project details and further insight into why this is important to him.

“We tried to think of ways to give you every bit of music possible, and interactive, personalized experiences for those who can attend the show on October 28th, and for those who can’t.”

I wish there were a photo of the exclusive Kickstarter shirt, but other than that, this project makes great use of images to illustrate the project and make the ORCA symphony project tangible.

// GOAL AMOUNT

Realistic.  Takes into account that his fans aren’t necessarily into classical music.

Again, this is an area where Serj had to understand his unique following in order to make the right move.  With a direct influence of well over 15 million online fans, it would be easy to be overconfident about setting a high goal.

This reminds us that you can apply all of the tricks and best practices to your project but ignoring the unique characteristics of your fan base can be detrimental.

// CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

Huge direct social influence, but only a small subset of fans interested in a symphony project.

As of this writing, there are 15 days left in the 24 day project and Serj has only shared the project once on his personal Twitter and Facebook and once on the System of a Down Twitter and Facebook profiles.  Between those four accounts he’s exposed the project to around 15 million people but only raised $15k.

I’d assume his team has at least sent an email to his personal email list.  I’d also assume that they won’t bother the System of a Down email list with this project.

With such a large following and a good chance that the majority are not interested in this project, his team is clearly trying to respect the majority by not sharing this every day.  My guess is that they’ll hit it once more in the last few days to get a nice sense of urgency going.  They may even have some publicity planned to push this over the top.

It’s always a learning opportunity to watch the pros role out a pre-planned launch strategy because we can steal their tactics and use them on a much smaller level.

// THE TAKEAWAY

Be real.  Be sincere.  Remember that it’s as much a fundraiser as it is an experience for your fans.

This Kickstarter project serves a much larger purpose for Serj than just raising funds. He’s pursuing a genre that most of his 15 million online fans would be uninterested in.

In order for him to get the most artistic fulfillment out of ORCA, he wants as many fans as possible to enjoy the experience and process along side him.  This Kickstarter project is the vehicle for that to happen.

We can all learn from this project by realizing that integrity and purpose is the invisible force that fuels the full potential of what the Kickstarter model offers, but more importantly, it’s what fuels the power we have as independent, self managed artists to create an experience for our fans.