In a blog entry last month, Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, said an artist needs 1,000 true fans -- defined as those who spend about $100 a year on artists' products -- to make a decent living.

Kelly's post may be merely theory, but several musicians are taking similarly inspired approaches to the record-making business model by asking fans to donate money, instead of going through a record label, to produce their CDs.

Jill Sobule, who has released six albums and is best known for her 1995 song "I Kissed A Girl" and the song "Supermodel" from the Clueless soundtrack, is buying into the model. For her next release, she has asked her fans to fund the recording process, so she doesn't have to use a record label.

According to her Web site, Sobule set a goal of $75,000 -- within a month, fans had donated more than $58,000.

Mark Ballora, associate professor of music technology, is not surprised Sobule raised such a large sum of money in a short period of time.

"Some artists have a dedicated fan base," Ballora said. "The people donating money are the same people who would buy the CD."

Retroblog.net, a pop culture blog, discussed the new trend, known as the "patronage model," pointing to an example of a CD released in 2000 by producer and singer Todd Rundgren with the assistance of his fans. A few other bands that have recently used the strategy include experimental bands Einstürzende Neubauten and Tackhead.

Fans that choose to donate money may get something in return besides the personal satisfaction of helping their favorite artist; Sobule offers free digital downloads and Einstürzende Neubauten offers exclusive CDs and DVDs, according to the artists' respective Web sites.

Esteban Luna (freshman-biochemistry) said he would donate money to his favorite artists if they began to use this new business model.

"I think of record labels just as a typical big corporation trying to make a profit," Luna said. "They aren't as concerned about the actual music like the artists are. I would definitely want to support them."

Ballora said he is not surprised that artists are "thinking of new ways to sell what they do."

"The role of the record company is changing," Ballora said. "Labels are having a tough time selling CDs. Unless you are a Disney star or on American Idol, you are probably going to have a tough time getting ahead right now in the industry."

Sarah Hopkins (freshman-sociology) said she sees a mixture of things happening to the music industry if more artists choose this path.

"I think the control of the music that the record labels have would go down a lot," Hopkins said. "I think there are good impacts and bad impacts that come along with mixing the Internet usage and the music industry."

With artists taking complete control of their musical career, it puts record companies in an "interesting place," Ballora said.

"Labels are at a loss right now," he said. "It's an interesting time right now for the industry. The old ways are disappearing, but that does not mean there isn't a place for labels. Someone needs to take care of the business end of things like the marketing and promotional aspects. There needs to be someone there to keep these artists organized."