MUSIC INDUSTRY BLOG

Five months ago, I began working with Audiolife, an exciting company at the forefront of the Direct-To-Fan revolution.

Direct-To-Fan is a popular business model adopted by independent artists.  As the name suggests, artists cut out the middlemen (labels, distributors, retailers etc.) and promote and sell their music directly to their fans.

Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows and Nine Inch Nail’s release of Ghosts I–IV are popular examples of the Direct-To-Fan paradigm.

There are many benefits to Direct-To-Fan.  There are many challenges too.  Audiolife provides both the technology tools and the product fulfillment solutions to make Direct-To-Fan possible and affordable.

There are a handful of other companies with a Direct-To-Fan approach, including Topspin, Bandcamp, and Nimbit.

I want to ask you this:

If you’re doing it, is Direct-To-Fan working for you?

If you’re not doing it, what’s stopping you?

Please add your comments here.

1. Follow Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails
In May 2008, Nine Inch Nails released the The Slip as a free digital download accompanied by a note from Trent Reznor, “This one’s on me”, as a courtesy to NIN’s loyal following.  The album was downloaded over a million times before the end of May 2008.  Many of the music industry’s most disruptive paradigms, including the “Free” and “Direct-To-Fan” concepts, can be traced back to Trent Reznor’s independent marketing activities.

2. Follow Don Passman
Author and Entertainment Lawyer
One of America’s top entertainment attorneys, Don Passman is the author of the non-fiction bestseller “All You Need to Know About the Music Business”, which has sold more than 300,000 hardcover copies in print.

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1. Follow Terry McBride
CEO and Co-Founder of Nettwerk Music Group
Terry McBride is a two-time recipient of the Pollstar Industry Award for Personal Manager of the Year for his work with Sarah McLachlan (1997) and Avril Lavigne/Coldplay (2002), and recipient of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the 2003 Juno Awards, recognizing an outstanding individual who has contributed to the growth and advancement of the Canadian music industry.

2. Follow Derek Sivers
Founder and former President of CD Baby
Winner of the 2003 World Technology Award, Derek Sivers founded CD Baby “by accident” in 1998 and turned it into the largest seller of independent music on the web, which he sold a decade later to Disc Makers.

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Audiolife, an innovator in direct-to-fan eCommerce, has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with LA-based Hopeless Records, renowned for acts such as All Time Low, Avenged Sevenfold, and Thrice.  Audiolife’s comprehensive “on demand” digital and physical eCommerce solution will provide Hopeless Records with a robust merchant facility for its artists’ music and merchandise sales as well as all-encompassing and real-time analytics and sales trends.

From a press release published on the 1st Oct 2009:

“Working with Audiolife was an easy choice. Our fans are interested in digital content and sharing that content with their friends,” remarked Ian Harrison, Director of Marketing, Hopeless Records. “The Audiolife technology makes this possible very quickly. Within a day, we can post an artist’s branded store on their website, blog, and all social networks, and can deliver all of their merchandise, digital albums, and ringtones directly to the fans. We are looking forward to the many amazing opportunities that Audiolife has created with their eCommerce solutions, and are excited about the future.”

Added Brandon Hance, Founder & CEO of Audiolife: “Hopeless Records is the first among many indie labels who will integrate our technology into their artist marketing and promotions initiatives. We are confident that their leadership in the Direct-to-Fan space will give others the proof needed to launch their own eCommerce solutions for the thousands upon thousands of indie artists looking for alternative ways to monetize their careers.”

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Yesterday, ReverbNation announced their partnership with Audiolife and the soft launch of the Reverb Store, a robust and fully-integrated e-commerce solution for artists and agents to sell directly to their fanbase.  From do-it-yourself T-shirt designs to comprehensive earning reports, the Reverb Store is as turn-key as the ReverbNation ethos.  Best of all, it includes all the social media promotional widgets and collateral you would expect as well as seamless integration with ReverbNation’s existing marketing features.  Anyone can open a store, create as many custom items as they want, and operate the store for free.  No monthly minimums, no monthly fees.

“The Reverb Store allows artists to layer a purchasing opportunity into every fan interaction they have online, whether it’s at Facebook, MySpace, a blog, or the band’s own website.”
– Michael Doernberg, CEO of ReverbNation

“Artists need solutions that can help them grow their fan base and convert those fans into customers.  The Reverb Store is the total package, combining the best of ReverbNation and Audiolife.”
– Brandon Hance, Founder and CEO of Audiolife

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Audiolife is an LA-based artist services company founded in 2005 by three USC graduates.  Their mission is “to create a middle-class in the music industry by giving all artists simple tools to generate revenue so they can spend time on what they love and do best – make music!”.  Currently in public beta, the company announced this week that it will be accepting submissions for its “Artist Advancement Scholarship”, an initiative geared toward college level music school students, artists and otherwise, in pursuit of a professional career in the music industry.  Don’t let the inclusion of the word “scholarship” fool you though; this is a writing exercise where $500 cash is on the table for one winner, not a scholarship application to potentially finance your future academic studies.  I imagine that Audiolife is seeking to achieve two things with this campaign, the first is to establish the company’s perceived value and, the second, to  draw more users to learn about their offering by writing competitively about it.  Personally, I would prefer to reward the best ten applications with $50 each and use their essays as original content on the site to raise Audiolife’s natural search ranking…

Applications must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. PST on April 1, 2009, in the form of an essay addressing the question, “How do you see Audiolife affecting the music industry in the next two or three years?”, in 1000 words or less.  Students in any accredited academic university or music institution enrolled at least part-time during the 2009 academic school year are eligible.  A winner will be selected by Audiolife’s management team and announced by April 20th, 2009.  Essays should be emailed to Travis Dean at travis[at]audiolife.com