Members of the public invest in Mark Joseph's new label.

Mark Joseph, the singer-songwriter who won a major label record deal after breaking the Top 40 with a self-funded single, has raised more than #500,000 from members of the public to self-produce his second album.

Joseph shot to fame in 2003 after achieving a chart breakthrough on the back of a rigorous campaign in which he visited schools to promote his single. It subsequently led to his signing to Warner-affiliated label 14th Floor.

However, having now parted company with 14th Floor, Joseph has embarked on a new venture, in which he hopes to raise #1m under a model of getting roughly 1,000 shareholders to invest #1,000 each. The shareholders will buy a stake in Joseph's record label, 38 Records, which intends to review and pay dividends in five years' time. Joseph intends to release his second album, Sold To Sound, in the first quarter of next year.

Stefan Muzsnyai, Mark Joseph's father and manager, says that the #500,000-worth of investment the project has received so far has ranged in size, with one investor pledging as much as #45,000.

"The kind of people who are coming on board are just members of the public," says Muzsnyai. ...