Jill Sobule may appear to be the last person you'd consider a revolutionary. But she spun the music business on its head once, and she may be in the process of doing it again.

This revolution is going on at the Web site jillsnextrecord.com, where Sobule has taken her recording career to the people.

Via the Web site, Sobule is asking fans ("and family members," she quickly points out) to contribute to the budget for her next album. In exchange, she's offering bounty ranging from advance copies of the CD to T-shirts, free admission to concerts and even a chance to perform on the album.

"I didn't want to do the whole thing where I got an advance from an inept record company," Sobule said. "You realize you don't need those people who just take all your money.

"Who does a good job at selling albums anymore, anyway? It's a new frontier; nobody knows what's going on."

That nobody knows what's going on has caused some performers to give up. Concert arenas from clubs to stadiums are filled with artists who are cashing in on their retirement accounts, their old songs, while exhibiting a reluctance or fear to release any new material.

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One colleague interviewed legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot and reported the label-less Lightfoot hinted he couldn't afford to give up lucrative touring income to spend time and money in a recording studio.

Perhaps with Sobule's model, he could.

The idea isn't new with Sobule, although the extent of the plan and the awards system she's set up are unique. Artists like Philadelphia power pop band Ike and onetime Central Illinois-based singer-songwriter Marina V have asked fans to pre-order CDs to help offset the cost of their manufacture. And a Canadian filmmaker is selling frames of his upcoming movie for $10 each at the Web site mmdm.ca.

Not everyone feels comfortable making financial requests of anyone, let alone fans. Sobule's mother wrote the request portion of the jillsnextrecord.com site. A friend who's been a successful independent singer-songwriter for almost 30 years says she admires Sobule's plan but admits she couldn't do it.

"I could never take this approach personally," my friend said. "I can't even cash a check for a CD until the CD's been shipped."

Which is one example of why musicians are generally better artists than business people.

Sobule may be the first person with Billboard chart success to make these kinds of offers.

Sobule debuted at age 29 in 1990 with "Things Here Are Different," but after that album failed to sell, she left the music business until releasing "Jill Sobule" in 1995. That album contained her most infamous song and her sole singles chart success, "I Kissed a Girl."

That song, with its lesbian theme, courted controversy even as the video gained extensive MTV airplay. (That video and a number of other Sobule performances are collected in today's entry on my blog.)

In 1997, "Happy Town" followed the eponymous album, but a lack of sales success led to her departure from her record label. She released "Pink Pearl" in 2000 - it was my pick for album of the year - and the company that released the CD folded. Artemis, the company that released her 2004 album "Underdog Victorious" (which wound up third on my year-end list), also folded.

"It was heartbreaking," Sobule said of seeing her efforts essentially stranded because of business issues beyond her control. "I think that's why it's taken so long to get around to doing another one."

But as the idea of a fan-funded effort began to take root, Sobule's enthusiasm began to grow.

"Originally," she said, "my thought was a 'People's Record Co.,' and it was more investment-based. But because of all the hoops you have to jump through, every manager I had said, 'Don't do that.' "

Sobule has an intense and active fan base known for extraordinary interaction with the singer. Of course, she encourages that.

Sobule regularly brings audience members onstage. Sometimes they hold a laptop that includes lyrics to songs Sobule hasn't completely memorized to sing along. (Fans, in fact, bought Sobule's first laptop for her many years ago.)

Sometimes, they sing along. (Sobule was amused a few years ago at Bradley when one girl came out of the audience and was singing harmony lines around her performance of "Supermodel.") Sobule's concert appearances are such that if you want to meet her, you'll get the opportunity.

So when she launched the jillsnextrecord.com site Jan. 19 with a goal of raising $75,000, she was confident.

The confidence was well-founded. On the day we spoke last week, the tote board on the site had eclipsed $37,500.

In less than three weeks, she was already halfway to her goal.

"I'm as pleased as can be," she said, practically beaming through the phone line.

Of course, the fundraising effort has come with some controversy.

"I got some snarky people in the UK," Sobule said, "people who said, 'You can go in your basement and make an album for $100 with ProTools.' That was really the only negative thing. I got on the forum with them and explained that we were going with a studio and pros playing and producing and tour support and maybe a video, and they were fine.

"I also told them I was trying to support my gambling addiction."

The donation levels range from $5 to $10,000. The gifts include advance copies of the disc, credit on the sleeve, access to Web-exclusive content, free admission to Sobule's concerts for a year, a house concert and attending a recording session and singing ("or playing cowbell," Sobule notes) on the album.

At least one person has donated at each level, and as of Thursday morning, 254 people had donated $50,050.

"The thing I like about this is it's pushing me to do another record," Sobule said. "I have to fulfill my duty and record this album.

"It is empowering. It's really fun. You can do this.

"I'm starting to sound like Tom Cruise in that Scientology video."

The $5,000 and $10,000 donations include a Sobule house concert. With the right number and types of contributors, she could be doing house shows for a year.

"Which would be fine," Sobule said. "I love house concerts. Of course, I haven't played for any creepy people."

While she hasn't released an album for three years, she's still been working. For one thing, she provided music for the Nickelodeon program "Unfabulous."

"I had to write 40 cues a week," she said. "And I had to write songs a 13-year-old girl would like, but not a depressed, cool 13-year-old."

She's been an ongoing contributor to National Public Radio, blogs actively and performs concerts, including shows with monologist and former "Saturday Night Live" star Julia Sweeney.

"I'm a bad multi-tasker," Sobule said. "I find when you're multi-tasking, you don't do any of the things as good as you could. So I'm trying to simplify."

Sobule appears ready to begin her task.

"I've got a lot of songs," she said. "I have to figure out what the tone of the album is. I'm thinking about doing an album with full production, then doing a version with just the guitar and vocal, and people can just choose which version they want."

Hey, when you're the boss and you've got people making the donations, you can do pretty much anything you want.

Empowering. Just what the music business needs.

Tim Cain can be reached at timcain@herald-review.com or 421-6908.