Credit: Vieira Vittorio

Nicolas Maranda, award-winning singer/songwriter/composer from Montreal, won his crowdfunding bet. His next album has been successfully financed by investors from around the web.
Maranda rallied enough investors through Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) to reach his target of raising $10 000 in 30 days.

The day before the deadline, it seemed like a tall order, with almost half way to go. But an extraordinary last-day rally swept social media and enabled the project to blast past its goal around 10:45 PM. At the midnight deadline, pledges were still coming in as the total reached $10 590.

Investors could choose among a variety of rewards in exchange for their pledge, including the upcoming “Soundtrack for the Revolution” album and previous OSTs from award-winning hits “Minuit le Soir” and “19-2”. Maranda also offered experiences such as show tickets, singing background vocals in the studio on the album, or even a private show in the investor’s living room.

Interestingly, the project managed to get funded almost exclusively by word of mouth.

Credit: Jeff Malo

US-based crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has helped more than 51 000 projects raise over $878 million. Kickstarter Canada started operations on September 9th.

Since contribution offers are still coming in even though the project is closed, Maranda is thinking about continuing financing through his website. As he explained: "We set a goal that seemed attainable; but more money would mean more resources for an even better result."


In his career spanning over twenty years, Nicolas has released acclaimed albums and played all over the globe, from East Timor to the North Pole. He has earned rave reviews from the start, Québec music guru Claude Rajotte calling his first album "Deux" one of the best of that year. His latest release, the "19-2" soundtrack, was described as "sublime" by the Canadian Press.

Asked what he planned to do with the money, Maranda said: “a record you will listen to all your life”.


His Kickstarter video, shot in the studio and live at la Sala Rossa in Montreal, is online here: