When Zach Braff, the acclaimed actor/director of indie classic “Garden State,” initiated a Kickstarter campaign to help fund his next film “Wish I Was Here,” it generated no shortage of attention. 

But with the campaign scheduled to end on May 23, the project now needs a new place to live outside of the Kickstarter universe and a new way to engage fans and keep them updated on the progress of the movie. And for that, Braff and team turned to Topspin.

This weekend, Braff added a free song to the movie’s website, WishIWasHereMovie.com, using Topspin’s email-for-media software and design by 2Anchors and the Topspin Creative Services Team. Fans submitting their email will be able to download the movie’s title song “Wish I was Here,” by longtime Braff collaborator the Cary Brothers. The band’s music was featured on the platinum-selling Garden State soundtrack, and this latest song was also used in the Kickstarter video. 

Until the 23rd, fans entering their email address and collecting their download will be forwarded to the Kickstarter page where they can donate to the cause. Once the campaign ends, fans can continue to register their email, download the song, and share it with others freely.

This is an important step to keep the momentum gained through the Kickstarter campaign going as the film progresses, and illustrates just how direct-to-fan and crowdfunding tactics can complement each other. 

The “Wish I Was Here” Kickstarter effort achieved two goals. First, it helped raise the money needed to make Braff’s vision a reality. He raised $2.6 million from more than 35,000 fans participating in the campaign, an amazing response that’s indicative of how large and loyal Braff’s fanbase is. Second, it generated an avalanche of awareness through the decision to use Kickstarter in the first place, the controversy surrounding that move, and of course the fact that a sequel to a popular film is now in the works. 

And while 35,000-plus fans participating in the Kickstarter campaign is a fantastic turnout, there are likely far more fans interested in the project who would like to receive updates on its progress along the way, but who were unwilling or unable to help fund it. The email-for-media form now gives Braff and fans a way to stay in touch as production on the film progresses. 

Collecting emails in exchange for a song-download is a great way to expand this artist-to-fan interaction, and Braff seems to be very focused on providing a great experience for fans who want to go along for the ride as he makes the movie. The crowdfunding effort with Kickstarter attracted the most committed fans, and now Topspin in powering the effort to engage the next tier of fans through direct-to-fan communication. 

It just goes to show how artists today have many tools available to them to engage fans. And while the press may like to pit these tools against each other in a competitive way, the truth is these are complementary, interoperable features that ultimately serve to benefit both artists and their fans. 

Happy Friday! Check out some of the rad free music that’s come out through Topspin this week:

Gilbere Forté - PRAY

Philadelphia MC Gilbere Forté is giving away his newest mixtape, “Pray” for free on his website. It’s intelligent, thought-provoking, well-crafted hip hop. Don’t sleep on his this guy.

Local Natives - Breakers

Head over to Local Native’s website and sign up for their mailing list in exchange for a free download of their new hit song “Breakers”. Their new album “Hummingbird” is already getting great reviews and is here just in time for Summer.

Tiesto - Club Life 3 Minimix

This Tiesto mini-mix runs the gamut from Testio’s stadium anthems to Tiesto’s stadium anthems - a perfect companion to this 7-minute, high intensity interval training workout.

Crystal Fighters - Cave Rave*

Crystal Fighters are throwing a party and you’re invited! The band has announced a very special performance to take place on August 29th in celebration of their second album “Cave Rave”, due for release on May 27th. The band will play a show in a cave in the Basque countryside outside Pamplona, Navarre. Crystal Fighters will perform live with special guests, and the party will continue through to the following morning. To coincide with this announcement, the band have unveiled another brand new track from their forthcoming album, ‘LA Calling’ available now for stream on their website!

*Not music, but if you live near the Basque Country go check out the Cave Rave! 

By Reed Farrer (@reedfarrer)

Upstream Color is the newest film by writer and director Shane Curruth currently, being distributed by erbp Films. The film, in which “a man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism” is being distributed in basically every format possible, and Topspin is helping on the backend.

If you want to watch the movie there are actually twelve different ways to see it: the options range from going to a theater, to buying it in a brick and mortar store, to buying it on iTunes, to streaming or downloading a DRM free copy via VHX.

erbp approached Topspin with a specific need: they wanted to sell bundles that included both physical products and a streaming copy of the film through a single buy button. This wasn’t something natively supported by Topspin, VHX, or anyone other service, but the Creative Services team at Topspin was up to the challenge.

Without boring you with details (trust me, it involves the technicalities of API Callbacks), Topspin and VHX developed a bespoke system to fit erpb films’ needs. Simply put, when you buy a package with both a physical product and a stream, Topspin’s servers automatically notify VHX’s servers and you get a receipt for your physical product and an email from VHX with information on how to access your download or stream.You can download an HD copy to watch in bed on your laptop that night while you wait for the DVD to arrive in the mail – we really are in the golden age of media consumption!

Although this is a unique project and feature that most people don’t need in their own direct to fan campaign, we were happy to work with erpb and VHX to push the platform and meet their needs at the same time.

We just introduced two awesome new features to the GoDirect platform: an embeddable tip jar that lets fans send money directly to their favorite artists from anywhere on the web, and an admin tool allowing artists to invite additional users to join and co-manage their accounts.

Tip Jar
With the release of Tip Jar, every artist can now accept tips directly from their fans via GoDirect product pages, MTV artist pages, and anywhere else their tip jar is embedded around the web. Tip jars are free to all GoDirect users and are automatically activated upon creating an account. 

Fans may tip any amount they’d like (starting at 99 cents), and tipping is made fast and easy by our integrated Amazon checkout. Even better, we’ve made artist tip jars available through our powerful ArtistLink API, meaning app builders around the web can now seamlessly integrate tip jars into their services. If collecting tips isn’t your style, don’t sweat it - we’ve added a simple “on/off” switch allowing you to activate/deactivate your tip jar at any time.

Multiple administrators for artist accounts
You asked - we delivered! GoDirect account users can now invite any number of team members (bandmates, managers, marketers, etc) to join and co-manage their accounts. The ability to create multiple logins for a single artist account has been a popular request from our users, so we’re stoked to see it built and ready to rock. Want to give it a try? Log in now, click “My Account”, and open your “Admins” settings. Every account has one primary user called an “owner” (the user who started the account). An owner may invite or delete any number of additional admins as needed, and may transfer his/her ownership to another account admin at any time. 

Keep the great suggestions coming - we love building features our artists want and need!

Cheers,
Dave Widaman
(@davewidaman)

You made it through another week, so sit down with some free music to start your weekend off right. This Friday we’re pulling from around the world (well, USA, Canada, and France) and across genres (Rock, Rap, Electro) - so sit back and get your jam on.

Chris Carlson (@CLCmusic)

We Are The City

We Are The City have a new album coming out June 4th - sign up for their mailing list, and download “Baptism” from the forthcoming album Violent. Great for fans of: crooning harmonies, soaring guitars, and blasting music while driving fast. Their website is also a great example of how customizable our Bleach widget is - they’ve seamlessly integrated it into a custom email submission form - awesome!

Kelis

Kelis is back with a new album in September, and she’s bringing way more than Milkshakes. “Jerk Ribs” is the new single off the forthcoming FOOD - it’s produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek and features a raucous horn section along with Keils’s signature soulful singing. 

Wrong (OST)

Wrong is the new movie by French Director Quentin Dupieux. Not only does he make some amazing absurdist films (his last, “Rubber” revolved around homicidal actions of a psychotic tire), he also turns around and scores them under his electro moniker Mr. Oizo with the help of some amazing musician friends. Check out two songs from the soundtrack, both by Mr. Oizo & Tahiti Boy; one is perfect for the dance floor and the other is perfect for a Sunday pool party.

YouTube has been called the “biggest music service in the world” due to the way many fans use it to stream and discover music for free. Topspin has put together the following Recipe Book showcasing how artists can link their YouTube videos to their Topspin Spinshop stores to use this attention to sell music, merch, tickets and more. It includes details on the opportunity, implementation tips, and a technical how-to. Download the full doc here.