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These are uncertain times in the record industry and as it transitions from the old paradigm to the new digital one, it is interesting to observe how various people and businesses are dealing with it.

On the one hand, if you are heavily vested in the old paradigm, like the major record labels are, you kick and scream and do everything in your power to delay the paradigm shift, including suing college students for illegal downloading — an ill-fated strategy, no matter how “right” it might be, in the legal sense.

On the other hand, if you are a recording artist or would-be recording artist, you realize that in the new paradigm, record labels aren’t that necessary, that you can reach your fans and potential fans through the internet, so you enthusiastically embrace the paradigm shift.

There is one little catch, though. You still have to pay for the production of your record. Yeah, I know you can make an album on your computer these days, but if you are a serious recording artist, you still want to go into a real studio to cut your record.

JillSobule1

Like any frontier, the digital music frontier has its trailblazers, and I recently became aware that singer-songwriter Jill Sobule (right) is one such pioneer.

After asking herself why she needed a label and coming up with no satisfactory answer, Sobule, who has had several major-label record deals, decided to start a Jill-a-thon to bankroll her next record.

With the help of her road manager/web guru Tony Camas, Sobule launched a website, www.JillsNextRecord.com, to host the Jill-a-thon. The site is cleverly done. There’s a message from her mother explaining what she is trying to do (“I have always had trouble asking for help, so I have asked... my mother to do it”) and a tote board which tracks the amount of money raised. There are various levels of participation and perks, from the $25 “Polished Rock Level” (you get an advance copy of the CD “weeks before the masses”) to the $10,000 “Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level” (you get to sing on the record, and don’t worry if you can’t sing, a little digital editing will fix that).

She launched the site on Jan. 18 with a goal of raising $75,000 to cover the costs of production and promotion of her seventh studio album, and as of this writing, she has already raised $48,465 from 268 people. If you click on the tote board, you can see the fundraising breakdown. She has one "Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level" participant, plus two $5,000 “Diamond Level” donors, who will get to host house concerts featuring Sobule. “I’d go for this if I were you,” she writes on the site, because the hosts can charge entry to the house concert and recoup their money.

Speaking by phone from New York City, where she was performing, the singer-songwriter said she likes this approach because “you gotta earn it,” unlike when you get a record deal. “You give all the power to the label, but they really didn’t know more than I did, or my cousin. So, you can do it yourself.”

Still, she admits it’s a lot of pressure. “I gotta make a record, I gotta kick ass.”

Sobule was uncertain how much, if any, of the new record will be recorded in Nashville at Alex the Great studios with longtime producers Brad Jones and Robin Eaton, but did say it will include a number of songs she cowrote with Eaton.

As for her status as a digital pioneer, Sobule hadn’t really considered it; but she does think other artists can use her approach. “This model can work at different levels, artists at various levels and places in their careers,” she said.

It remains to be seen if the Jill-a-thon concept will be embraced by other artists, but either way, Sobule has hit upon an approach that seems to be working for her; which is really all that matters out on the digital frontier.