Following his successful ‘free’ distribution initiative in the UK, Prince, who is both a pioneer and a royal pain in the industry’s ass, is following up on his previous co-venture success with an online ‘bundle’ initiative launching on the 24th March at lotusflow3r.com. For $77, Prince fans will have access to three new albums from the artist presently known as Prince in digital format as well as physical through Target stores across the US. The site will provide an entire experience around the music and will undoubtedly create new buzz for this extraordinary recording artist and performer.
International advertising powerhouse, Ogilvy & Mather, produced a high-octane media campaign for the Crystal Lite powdered soft drink brand by Krafts Foods. Yet another example of consumer brands converging with music sensations to compete and differentiate in the marketplace, Kraft has aligned itself with Grammy Award winning artist, Estelle, for the pre-release and distribution of her song, “Star”. The US campaign was launched in tandem with the Grammy Awards Ceremony last month and drew traffic to the co-venture landing page by offering a free download of “Star” prior to its release in stores this month. Estelle fans divulged their email addresses in exchange for site access and a free and exclusive download of the song.
Associating brands with entertainment media and music celebrity is tried and tested territory for corporations such as VW, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Apple, and other leading giants of cool. However, the phenomenon appears to be spreading to more conservative brands attempting to revitalize their message and acquire a new audience base, both to listen and to buy.
Digital music distribution is a hot item on this blog and those who read it know that I keep a close eye on the three major players catering to small independents, namely ReverbNation, TuneCore, and CD Baby. All three have lowered the barrier of entry for indie artists and small labels to distribute their catalogues to iTunes and other major online retailers for upfront fees as opposed to hefty commissions by the likes of The Orchard, INgrooves, IODA, IRIS, and others, who generally avoid small players anyway. Now, a new digital music distribution dotcom has emerged but with an ad-supported business model. WaTunes aims to thrive on ad revenue by providing artists and labels with a free (no frontend fees, no backend commissions) distribution channel to online retailers such as iTunes, Napster, and eMusic.
The slightly questionable website service description and makeshift appearance promises to provide the same level of content marketing and distribution as its rivals, and much more. In theory, WaTunes is offering a very attractive service to a huge potential market, but is it sustainable? SpiralFrog, We7 and Qtrax have yet to prove that their ad-supported download services have legs. In this economy, I’m not sure that any upstart can scale on advertising revenue alone.
Business models aside, I’m somewhat concerned about WaTunes’ cryptic service description and the fact that their web pages are riddled with spelling mistakes and poor marketing copy. It’s a bit like walking into a fancy restaurant only to notice that the toilets are overflowing with shit halfway through your dinner. Going with my gut here (no pun intended), I feel that the musician-led platform may be biting off more than they can chew… but I would love to be proven otherwise. I like free. Who doesn’t?
It’s been more than a week now since I downloaded Officer Roseland’s album and I’m still waiting to receive my $1. I don’t want to be a jerk about this because I love the concept but, clearly, the band was unprepared for the overwhelming response. Their strategy was to pay users $1 if they downloaded the entire album for free. Fans had the option to donate their dollar to charity but it appears that the band’s target audience, myself included, is not as selfless as the band members anticipated. As such, Officer Roseland is facing a backlog of downloaders who submitted their PayPal addresses but have not yet received the one dollar contribution promised to them. I imagine that the group’s arrangement with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation is more flexible than the opportunistic demographic the campaign was aimed at. I received a group email from the band this evening assuring me that the money is on its way… and that I can still change my mind and donate my one dollar, if I wish. I think I’ll stick to my guns on this one, not to be a jerk or anything, just to see what happens.
Here’s Officer Roseland’s response to the campaign:
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