Reinvesting still has to happen...

Sellaband has before been accused of being a 'pyramid scheme', but in my opinion people making these accusations just don't understand the Sellaband model. A true pyramid scheme is built on money flowing from newer entrants to older ones, who are then the only ones making actual money and usually for no apparent reason or value add.
Sellaband differs on two key points here: First, actual value is created by artists who make music other people are willing to pay for - directly or indirectly. Secondly, money flows into Sellaband because of this added value and from sources who do not have to "buy in" to the whole "believer" scheme: Music buyers and advertisers.
This doesn't mean that Sellaband isn't built on a growth model - it is! Up to this point growth has come from two main sources: New believers, and existing believers willing to put more money in. So, if both the number of believers increase and each invests a monthly amount, you'd expect the total invested sum to increase double, right? All the more reason why the actual graph for the past 200 days (see above) is intriguing: Instead of the expected upward curve it is basically a straight line! One must conclude that either there aren't many new believers, they aren't investing much or current believers are holding back on increasing their share. The latter hypothesis is supported by anecdotal evidence of people saying "they hold back until the model has proven itself" or "are simply broke" (hopefully figuratively speaking!).
This points us to the third growth source of the total invested sum in Sellaband artists, which is the revenue of CD sales and advertisement income which is distributed over believers. While people are allowed to take that money out, it seems that the average believer is willing to reinvest as expressed on the Sellaband forum. Unfortunately, for many there isn't much to reinvest mainly because it takes quite some time, up to 6 months or more, between the moment an artist reaches 50k and actual CD sales starting. With only 3 full CDs currently released it may take a while before Sellaband profits from leverage of earlier investments. Until then, we'll probably be seeing the straight line a bit longer... (VB)