SONG CONTEST BLOG

ReverbNation has officially launched the much-anticipated Sponsored Songs Program previously covered on this blog and, with that, revealed the sponsor behind the initiative: Microsoft Windows.  1000 handpicked ReverbNation artists are being featured on www.MySpace.com/Windows from June 24 through September 24, 2009 and their songs will be available for download for free.  Participating artists will be compensated by Microsoft for every free download to the tune of $0.50 in exchange for a Windows advertisement embedded on the digital artwork.  The three-way partnership is a potentially break-through digital distribution model, providing corporate brands with the means to tap into new, music-centric audiences and creating a fund for independent artists to finance their marketing and distribution activities.  If ReverbNation can find a way to scale this idea (i.e. bring on board more sponsors) and roll out consistent promotions, I am confident that indie artists from every musical sphere will be lining up to get on board.  While I’ve come across some cynics since the launch, I fail to see the downside.  Here is Microsoft’s point of view.

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Duncan Freeman of Indie Music Tech uncovered an interesting startup over the weekend.  Smirp, in spite of its long-winded and confusing ‘how it works’ page, is a remarkably simple and practical service, allowing artists and music promoters to sell their MP3s at a customer-determined price point directly via email.  The set-up is brilliant: use your existing Google, Yahoo or other OpenID username and password to log in instantly, link your account to your Amazon account, upload your content to your Smirp ‘name-your-own-price’ page (example), and promote this page by embedding Smirp buttons on your website or social network profiles.  Your customers will click, enter their email, name their own price (or select the minimum price you establish) and receive a link to download your MP3s via email with a 12 hour lifetime [for security reasons].  At face value, it’s similar to Twitpay, the Twitter-dedicated payment solution.

Smirp’s two-tier pricing is more than fair: $6/month for unlimited use or Free in exchange for 20% of your proceeds.  On concept, inspired by Radiohead’s In Rainbows campaign, and ease-of-use alone, this is one of the hottest digital music distribution solutions I have come across.  Perhaps an alliance with CreateSpace, Amazon’s flexible print-per-order CD distribution service will position Smirp alongside the current indie titans, namely ReverbNation, CD Baby and TuneCore?

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TwitDoc may be an excellent, lightweight addition to your music marketing arsenal on Twitter… in the future.  The upload process is as simple as can be as is the recipient’s experience: click and download.  It’s a one-to-many file distribution solution which is perfect for a free music release or teaser, and perhaps a means to gratify potential fans for following you?  It’s like a stripped down SoundCloud for Twitter… potentially.  For now, it’s limited to document files (PDF, DOC, XLS) and image files (JPG, GIF, PNG), as the name suggests but I imagine that MP3s will soon be added to TwitDoc’s competence.

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The marketing potential of Twitter and the feels-like-free music paradigm converge in a collaborative effort by Blink-182’s drummer, Travis Barker, and turntablist, DJ-AM, Techcrunch’s Robin Wauters posted yesterday.  “Fix Your Face Vol. 2 – Coachella ‘09? is available for free download in exchange for a Twitter message.  Ah, but wait!  The transaction involves granting access to a third-party application via this website, allowing the app administrators to access and update your data on Twitter.  Okay, okay, this is still a good deal and an honest attempt at making music available without charging for it, although it’s more of a ‘barter’ than a ‘giveaway’ in my mind.  The almost daily emergence of new and creative methods to distribute music is testament to how difficult it has become to get music out there, let alone charge for it.  God forbid.

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By distributing your music through Amazon’s CreateSpace, you can sell both your digital downloads and CDs on Amazon without ever having to finance and ship-in your physical stock.  Simply upload your digital assets (i.e mp3s, album artwork, discface graphics) and CreateSpace will set you up with a store, make your mp3s available for download, and print CD’s and ship them to your customers on demand.  Although Amazon’s commission for this service is high, duplicating CDs per pre-paid order may save you a tidy sum in the long run.

TuneCore recently partnered with CreateSpace which adds a much needed physical dimension to its one-stop, fixed-price digital distribution service.  CD Baby already offers physical and digital distribution and, since its acquisition by Discmakers, can fulfill the printing process too.  How will ReverbNation respond?

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ReverbNation, now home to almost 400,000 artists, agents, venue promoters, and indie labels, announced on Thursday that the company will select up to 1000 of its artists to participate in a “Sponsored Songs” program.  Under the terms of this initiative, participating artists will earn a sponsorship fee of $0.50 per “qualified” download acquired by their fans.  Each song will display the sponsor’s branded message as part of the digital cover artwork, visible each time the track is played on a music device.  As the sponsored songs spread virally, from fan to fan and to new prospects, the sponsor will be able to track every unique impression and gauge the ultimate value of his campaign.

“Sponsored Songs is one of several new programs that offer musicians a new revenue stream, capitalizing on the strength of their fan relationships and offering advertisers a better way to reach potential consumers” ? Michael Doernberg, CEO of ReverbNation

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Twitpay.me, as the name suggests, is a service for sending payments via Twitter.  Twitpay makes a note of a “promise” to make payment (which can be cancelled at anytime) and allows the payer to settle the payment using Amazon Payments.  The honour system is in play here to a certain extent but, as a payment instruction on Twitter is as public as any other Twitter update, the payer will look like a schmuck (or Twit, if you’re British) to his followers if he doesn’t pay-up.

The company has leveraged Twitpay for a bare-bones retail and distribution system for content copyright holders (e.g. musicians and music promoters).  Using Retweet Commerce Suite (or RT2Buy), artists and their agents can upload and store their music on Twitpay and tell their followers about it.  Twitpay provides track samples, monitors “promises” to purchase, and delivers the content.  The promotion may look something like this:

Just finished a new track “Get Your Rocks Off” available now for only 99c RT2Buy http://rt2b.me/232xe

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TuneCore, the indie-friendly digital distribution company which secured $7 million in venture capital in October 2008, has partnered with Musicnotes.com to offer lead sheet music transcription and retail services for TuneCore artists selling more than 25,000 songs per quarter, Musicnotes.com announced on their blog yesterday.  Since its inception in 2000, Musicnotes.com has sold over five million sheet music downloads at an average of $4.95 per transaction.

“The music industry began in many ways with the selling of sheet music. The irony of the intertwining of digital downloads with sheet music is not lost on both companies,” said Jeff Price, founder and CEO of TuneCore.

LoudFeed made its introduction on Hypebot yesterday as yet another website and widget creation service for artists.  In terms of features, LoudFeed appears to be competing directly with Nimbit, which currently provides a more complete and competitive solution in my opinion.   Although there are a number of distinct advantages to managing your own sales and distribution hub, I’m still not convinced that you can’t get everything you need from Word Press, along with ecommerce plugins, and a super SEO-friendly architecture, for free.  Check out WPBest.com for premium themes and WP-Cumulus for a cool dynamic Tag Cloud.  TDMhosting will host your Word Press site for $4.99.  Bargain.

Following the example of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay will also be adding value this summer by providing fans attending dates on their international tour beginning May 15th in North America with a free copy of their album LeftRightLeftRight.  A free download of the record will also be available at the same time on their site.

“Playing live is what we love… this album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.”

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