For Immediate Release
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Chicago’s Q101 Turns to Fans to ‘Crowdfund’ Concert
CHICAGO-Chicagoland-based, Q101, is celebrating its 20th birthday in 2012. To mark the occasion, Q’s owners want to re-tool the annual summer concert that’s been held in Chicago since 1995, “Jamboree”, from what they call “an ordinary concert” into a two-day “spectacle” with some of the biggest alternative bands in America and up-and-coming acts from Chicago, as well as “celebrities, sideshows, and more.” Moreover, they want fans of Q101 to take an active role in the shaping of this event, right down to helping to pay for it to eventake place.
Until May 5th, fans can “back” the concert and provide what Q101’s management calls “the initial funding” needed to hold an event of this magnitude, $299,000, via the web’s leading site for so-called “crowdfunding,” Kickstarter.com. Fans can get more info, including a video and unique incentives for pledging at Normally projects with much lower funding goals are spotlighted on Kickstarter, such as albums and books. Lately, however, projects posted by companies and other large, organized groups have cropped up there with ambitious funding goals. Many projects have been funded to the tune of $1,000,000 or more.
Q101 co-owner Matt Dubiel explains how the idea to use Kickstarter in such a unique way came about. "Former Q101 DJ James Van Odsol attempted a kickstarter to fund a book. His first effort fell short-I think he was just too early on the concept. James tweaked and came back with a successful campaign to write a book about our beloved Q101. He got his project funded on Kickstarter, and I thought, ‘Hm... if a book about Q101 can get crowdfunded, certainly the coolest outdoor music festival on the planet can get funded by Q101 fans!’ It's up to the fans now.”
Q101’s other owner, Mike Noonan, said the process of trying to pull off an event like ‘Jamboree’ through such an unconventional method has been an invaluable business experience. “We were surprised at how many people have no knowledge of Kickstarter, so there’s been quite a learning curve for us all. There have been many questions: ‘Is it legit?’ ‘Who charges our card?’ The fact is no one does until we hit our goal. If we don’t hit $299,000, no one pays and Matt and I and our team move on with our summer. If we hit $299,000, Kickstarter’s partner Amazon.com will run cards and we’ll set out to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans,” he said. “We were presented with a budget for a two-day ‘concert’ that included what we felt to be a mediocre line item for talent: Just $35,000. We said, ‘Jamboree has to be big, more than a concert, or should not happen at all,’ so we increased the talent expense to $150,000. The $299,000 helps us put some down payments on some top-tier talent, and the seed money for the port-a-potties and stages and all of the thousands of things you need to hold an event for 20, 30, 40,000 people.”
Both Dubiel and Noonan say Kickstarter and sites like it present a tremendous opportunity for independent companies like theirs to test the waters of the market before diving in headfirst into costly product development. “In a town that has plenty of local street fests, municipality fairs and events, concerts rolling through town all summer long, and, of course, arguably one of the biggest and best concerts in the world, Lollapalooza, we wanted to make sure the market could sustain one more event. Regardless of this particular Kickstarter outcome, we believe it can, and, moreover, we believe an event that celebrates Chicago in the way we think it deserves to, with a light shined on Chicago bands and celebrities, is in order,” Noonan added.
“We have a vision for an unbelievably fun event, but the trick is not going bankrupt doing it,” said Dubiel. “We have talked to loads of promoters who know the business and the margins. They know that $299,000 would be just a start. If the fans want Jamboree, we can build the best Jamboree they’ve ever seen. If they don’t, we won’t. It’s that simple. Q101 is the ultimate interactive experience: We literally do what the fans say. Until May 5th we’re listening and if they say they want a killer show, we’ll have 4 months of day and night work to make it a memory they’ll never forget. Kickstarter allows us to go directly to the fans to involve them without us having to risk operating at a loss like [Chicago’s annual foodie and music fest] ‘Taste of Chicago.’ Maybe [Chicago mayor] Rahm Emanuel should consider a Kickstarter for ‘Taste’ next year? We have a few pointers based on what’s worked, and what hasn’t. Call us, Rahm…right after you back us at
About Q101
Q101 is an entertainment media company with roots going back to 1992, when it was launched as an Alternative rock radio station on WKQX, 101.1FM by Emmis Communications. It became one of the most popular radio stations in Chicago, if not America, thanks to blazing an innovative trail as a music tastemaker in the 1990s and 2000s, and, thanks, as well, to its hugely successful morning show star, Mancow Muller. An endless parade of programming bosses through the 2000s led to constantly changing musical directions. The lack of focus along with a nasty split with Muller resulted in underwhelming ratings and revenue in the eyes of the corporate brass in Indianapolis. In 2010 the station was sold to Merlin Media as part of a three-station deal to help Emmis raise capital in the face of mounting debt woes. Merlin and its controversial boss, Randy Michaels, immediately announced they would scrap the Alternative format for a female-targeted all-news format. On July 14th, 2011, even as DJs were saying their final goodbyes on 101.1FM, Chicago-based Broadcast Barter Radio Networks, headed by Matt Dubiel and Mike Noonan, stepped in and purchased the Q101 brand and all related-assets from Emmis for an undisclosed cash sum. BBRN set to work transitioning the brand from a “radio” entity to a “digital” one, and continue to engage with hundreds of thousands of fans weekly via Q101.com and its audio channel, free mobile apps, and extensive email, social media, and SMS database reach.
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