In 2008, we reported on indie rock musician Jill Sobule's experiment with a new way to create and fund music. After multiple contracts with major and independent record labels, Sobule decided to make music on her own. She launched a website asking her dedicated fans to donate money before the CD came out to finance the recording and production costs. Tiered donation levels gave devoted fans the chance to appear in a song (US$500,) to singing on the CD (US$10,000.)

One year and US$80,000 of donations later, Sobule has released "California Years." The title and songs, like "Palm Springs" and "San Francisco," are inspired by her move to LA. The CD also closes with a track called "The Donor Song," which lists some of the people who contributed money. Aside from Sobule being the writer of the first "I Kissed A Girl" song in the 90s and now pioneer in innovative music business models, Sobule is a talented singer, song writer, and guitarist. While the funding the album through donation via PayPal is notable, it would mean less if she didn't make great music that people want to hear. And now, they have that opportunity.