SONG CONTEST BLOG

On demand music streaming service, Spotify, has been on my radar since the company announced a distribution deal with CD Baby in the first week of February.  CD Baby, the leading force in independent music retail and digital music distribution, represents more than 175,000 artists which account for over one million tracks, all of which are now available through Spotify’s lightweight music streaming application.  This licensing deal marks the ‘long-tail’ trend in music availability and consumption, and celebrates the access independent artists have today to mass audiences through pioneering music services, many of which had treated indie talent as nothing more than an afterthought after securing major label catalogues.  Under the aphorism of “access not ownership”, the Luxemburg-based company has been growing exponentially since its €15.3m venture capital injection in October 2008 and, in turn, joining an elite group of legal music experience providers such as Pandora, Last.fm, TheSixtyOne, and others, which have found success in catering to music consumers through a balanced and worldly music library whilst reserving significant real-estate for up and coming artists: a pop-culture and grassroots music mix that appears to be paving the way for a new industry.  A spot in Spotify’s limelight is not yet available directly for small acts and labels but CD Baby has certainly lowered the barrier of entry.  Thank you Derek or, rather, Disc Makers for making this possible…

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Over the weekend, I learned that Nimbit, which has been on my radar since Jon Delange of Tinderbox Music introduced me to the company’s CEO, Patrick Faucher, several months ago, has secured venture capital to the tune of $1 million.  The company provides eCommerce solutions for artists and music promoters, and bespoke services such as digital distribution, CD/DVD replication and merchandise production, and web design.  The company’s turnkey approach incorporates web technology to market and distribute digital music with physical solutions such as download cards and promotional prints.  Nimbit appears to be acting in two ways: the first, as a technology company developing digital retail and marketing solutions such as embeddable storefront apps; and, the second, as a broker for commercial print requirements, from CD/DVD replication to custom-branded merchandise which complements its web facet. 

Nimbit’s DownloadCards (credit card-sized branded cards with a unique ‘download’ code) can be sold or given away to the fan at the live venue and later redeemed online as digital tracks through a custom Nimbit store.  This is an excellent example of digital commerce converging with physical commerce, however, DiscRevolt offers an almost identical solution.  Emusu is also competing for a share of this market.  In terms of digital music distribution, Nimbit is facing strong competition from TuneCore, ReverbNation, and CD Baby.  As for print and duplication, Discmakers dominates the US music market and recently acquired Oasis, another formidable opponent in this space.  Although Nimbit’s individual services are not particularly competitive as stand-alone features, the services, as a group offering, and Nimbit’s convenient all-under-one-roof approach, may satisfy artists and promoters with a slight edge.

Discmakers, the CD replication giant that recently acquired CD Baby, announced the launch of a new promotion yesterday for independent artists.  The company’s CD and packaging artwork division, The Design Studio, is providing customers that place design orders by the 10th April 2009 with a chance to appear front and center on their print brochure.  During the eight week campaign, a panel of professional graphic designers will select 10 CD album artowkr designs from that week’s “pool of design approvals”.  On the 20th April 2009, one Grand Prize Winner will be selected for placement on the brochure’s front cover, along with five other selections to appear inside the fall edition.  Details…

DiscRevolt provides an esthetically pleasing physical solution for the digital delivery of music media. Like DropCards, DiscRevolt is music-centric and caters to the artist’s need to promote on the field (street, venue, what have you…) with a product that’s a cross between a flyer and a CD (or perhaps an alternative to a branded USB Wristband?).  The company prints the artist’s artwork on a double-sided plastic card and includes a custom code for the receiver to redeem digital music media from the DiscRevolt storefront.  At $90 per 100 prints, it’s a little cheaper than manufacturing CDs and its wallet sized for convenience.  It looks smart and can be sold or given away.  Downloads are tracked and available through DiscRevolt’s social network applications on MySpace and Facebook.  See MusicPin also, a competing solution which showcased at Midem 2009.