Marillion have done this twice now, to great effect. Obviously they have a 
greater fan base across the world that they can call on, but it does seem to 
be a successful ploy in times of hardship.

For their 2004 album, Marbles, they asked fans to contribute £30 for a 
deluxe version of the 2-cd release, which came in a very nice box with 
extended liner notes presented in the form of a hard-back book, including 
the names of all contributors. They had 13,000 people sign up, rasing a cool 
£390,000 (c.$700,000). This wasn't necessarily for the recording/production 
of the album as they have their own studio, but was to cover the costs of a 
full scale promotional attack which they hadn't been able to do since 
leaving EMI at the end of the 90's, and doing a world tour.

The upshot was a top 10 single, followed by another that sneaked into the 
top 20, but more importantly, their future as a full time band was secure, 
and their profile higher than it had been for about 10 years.

Their new album hit the shops recently, again with a significant promotional 
push, no doubt paid for by the success of Marbles, resulting in a top 30 
album and another sold out tour across Europe.

I know this is a completely different scenario to IKE, but I have no problem 
in artists requesting this kind of contribution from their fans, especially 
if it makes the difference between new music being available or not.

Mike.


>From: Bob Hutton <bob_hutton@standardlife.com>
>Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
>To: audities@smoe.org
>Subject: Re: IKE
>Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 08:35:03 +0100
>
>"It would be ballsy if IKE came here hat in hand. Instead a fan re-posted
>their
>e-mail, which was sent only to people who asked to be on the IKE mailing
>list
>and presumably had a special interest in the band.
>
>Unlike many of the other bands discussed here, the members of IKE are
>professional musicians who do not have other sources of income."
>
>See, I'm no particular fan of Ike (I find them a bit too sugary in the vox
>department, a bit close to the Busted/McFly boy-band sound).  And who am I
>to decry people spending their money on whatever they want ... but to me
>this somehow smacks of taking advantage of your fans' good nature.  The
>fans may be happy to cough up, but is it right for the band to ask in the
>first place?  $50 is a lot to pay for an autographed CD - unless the CD
>launch party is a fantastic event with a few "free" drinks included!
>
>For what it's worth (not much probably), I also don't get the idea of
>David Grahame's "boutique" $2 downloads - unless "boutique" is a euphemism
>for over-priced.
>
>Still, when some non-descript Rothko painting gets sold for $70,000,000,
>... who knows what music/art is worth?
>
>
>Bob (np: The Mellowmen - Tomorrow's Sound Today)
>
>This e-mail is confidential, if you are not the intended recipient, do not
>retain/disclose it and please return it to us. We virus scan and monitor
>all e-mails but are not responsible for any damage caused by a
>virus/alteration of our e-mail by a third party after sending.
>
>For more information on Standard Life group, visit our website
>http://www.standardlife.com/
>
>Standard Life plc (SC286832), Standard Life Assurance Limited* (SC286833)
>and Standard Life Employee Services Limited (SC271355) are all registered
>in Scotland at Standard Life House, 30 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH1 2DH.
>*Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. 0131 225
>2552. Calls may be recorded/monitored. Standard Life group includes
>Standard Life plc and its subsidiaries.