For all of my projects (literary, not musical) I always first assemble a team, put out a topic and guidelines and only when everybody (or most) has/have started and the first results starts dripping in, do I shop the project around. It's hard to shop a project based on the idea alone, although sometimes it works. I'm always upfront about this: we start the project, for now it's independent, while you're at it I look for high end outlets. So far it's always worked out
The difference with Sin and other people in a tight spot is probably that they need up front financial security, which is understandable. But that is hard to attain in today's creative market when you helm the project. There is less money in non mainstream creative projects than people realize. It's a cutthroat market with many many people offering up creative projects and outlets who want to play it safe and have the pick of the litter.