LOS ANGELES -- You may have heard about the high-profile crowdfunding music campaigns on Kickstarter involving TLC's farewell album and Neil Young's music player.
But did you know this is the second year that albums backed by Kickstarter money have won Grammys?
Kickstarter-funded projects took home awards Sunday for Best Roots Gospel Album (Mike Farris' Shine All The People) and Best Regional Roots Album (Jo-El Sennier's The Legacy).
Together, the musicians raised roughly $32,000 from 295 donors on Kickstarter. And their albums are just two of the 18,642 successfully funded music projects that have raked in more than $135 million in pledges from 1.8 million backers since 2009.
Congrats to @MikeFarrisMusic and Jo-El Sonnier on winning GRAMMYs for their Kickstarter-funded albums! pic.twitter.com/KCpo78zBSE— Kickstarter (@kickstarter) February 9, 2015
Farris thanked his donors after winning, saying "all you guys are Grammy nominated."
"When fans have a greater opportunity to help artists bring their work to life, more and more diverse voices are heard," Kickstarter's Justin Kazmark told Mashable. "Albums and arrangements that might not have been green-lit otherwise are getting industry recognition. That's incredible."
Five other Kickstarter projects were nominated in other categories but failed to win on Sunday, including Antonique Smith's track "Hold Up Wait a Minute (Woo Woo)" for Best Traditional R&B Performance; Lee "Scratch" Perry's Back At The Controls for Best Reggae Album; Jeremy Fox's "All My Tomorrows" for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals; Brady Rymer and The Little Band That Could's Just Say Hi for Best Children's Album; and A Far Cry's "Dreams and Prayers" for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
Last year, Roomful of Teeth's self-titled album won Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, and Pacific Mambo Orchestra's album won Best Tropical Latin Album.
Inocente, a Kickstarter-funded film in also earned an Oscar in 2013, while other crowdfunded films have been nominated.
BONUS: Stunning Grammy portraits, once for winners' eyes only, hit Instagram