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MUSIC

The status: Joining the music industry’s workforce makes about as much sense as hopping on a sinking ship these days, what with its dreadful returns (CD sales dropped 19 percent in 2007) and recent string of layoffs (Geffen, Interscope, Sony BMG and Island Def Jam delivered pink “Christmas bonuses” to many longtime workers last month). That said, there are ways for you—the MP3-hoarding music fan—to profit from a movement back underground, where doing it yourself means doing it digitally.

The game plan: SellaBand (sellaband.com)! The site’s basic premise: Sample thousands of acts worldwide, buy $10 “parts” in your favorites, and reap the rewards once $50K is hit and a record is cut, as ad revenue and net profits are split equally among the artist, SellaBand and “believers.”

“The money you ‘invest’ goes into an escrow account, which means we can’t touch it until an artist has reached $50K,” says music director Dagmar Heijmans, a former press officer–project manager for EMI and Sony BMG. “And we don’t get anything from that amount, either—every cent is used to produce the best possible album.”

“The reason I like [SellaBand] is the idea of getting fans to invest in you,” says And-y the Rebel, a scrappy Harlem rapper who’s generated $400 in shares. “All it takes is $10.” (Our pick: a Manhattan enchantress named Jess King. Five minutes online bring NYC’s leading unsigned artist—at nearly $5,000 in “parts”—a few steps closer to becoming SellaBand’s 14th success story.)

Doing your research helps: While he’s currently low on the SellaBand ladder, the 18-year-old And-y was recently interviewed on Good Morning America (he’s featured in the Michael Franzini book One Hundred Young Americans), which raised his profile among prospective “believers.” In other words, buy now and you just might be in his entourage later.

Risk: 5 It doesn’t cost much to invest—good, since the chances of striking it rich are low. Reward: 8 Buying into acts just sounds fun; if you become Rick Rubin in the process, all the better.