From the official band’s Indiegogo page:
Ladies and gentlemen,
The music business has changed a lot over the past 20 years. Some might say it’s for the worst, but in many ways, it’s for the better. Record labels have less money (if any) to invest in artists, pay for album production, manufacturing, promotion, touring , etc, like they did in the past. Streaming services have made it next to impossible to recoup money spent recording, manufacturing, releasing, and promoting an album.
Watch the promo video through the YouTube player below:
But there is an upside..
In the past, record labels would give artists an advance to make an album. If the album would not yield a return on their investment, they would expect full recoupment and drop the artist from their roster faster than you can blink.
These days, the artists have more creative control, and can bypass the middleman and build a beautiful relationship directly with their fans. We are beholden to no one but the people that love and support our music. We can create whatever we like….and YOU get to be a part of it!
Crowdfunding is one of the main revenue streams for musicians. YOU get to see every step of the project, get personal attention from us, get free swag, your name in the credits, and many more perks.
Stratospheerius has been working on two big projects for the past three years; one is a double live CD/DVD/Blu Ray from two years of performances at the ProgStock Festival in Rahway, NJ. Almost 2 hrs of music! With special guests, including the amazing blind multi-instrumentalist Rachel Flowers, and guitar legend Alex Skolnick.
The other is our next studio album. Since 2019, we have been dropping singles every few months, releasing them as we record and mix them.
But this is only half the story….
There is a whole backlog of songs we have not released and are saving for the album. And we are still writing and tracking new material. We deeply feel that this is some of the strongest, most urgent and honest music that we have ever made, and we can’t wait to share it with the world. The upcoming albums will have an all-star roster of guest artists; legends in the Rock, metal, and prog worlds:
Michael Sadler / Vocals (Saga)
Bill Hubauer / Keyboards (Neal Morse Band)
Randy McStine / Guitart and Vocals (Porcupine Tree)
Chloe Lowry / Vocals (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Rachel Flowers / Flute and Piano
Fernando Perdomo / Guitar
Ruti Celli / Cello
Alexm Skolnick / Guitar (Testament)
We can’t wait to finally share these long-awaited projects with the universe! In order to do that, we have to pay for:
Artwork
Mixing and mastering
Manufacturing
Promotion
Paying musicians
This can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. We’re all dads and freelance musicians in the NY area working out asses of to pay the bills and provide for our families. Funding these projects requires finances that we simply don’t have.
We need your help to bring these projects past the finish line! If you donate to our campaign, there are many cool perks and rewards we are excited to share with you!
Visit the Indiegogo page here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stratospheerius-new-live-and-studio-albums