Slicethepie and Bebo announced a co-venture this week whereby Bebo members will have the opportunity to grab the A&R seat at Slicethepie’s artist career-funding network. Strikingly similar in concept to Sellaband, Slicethepie is tapping into the leading British social network’s community assets while Sellaband remains very much an independent platform. The music “business” role-play idea has been embraced by a number of players in one form or another, including Songness, TheNextBigSound, and Soundout, a Slicethepie imprint, based on the belief that if potential fans are provided with both a true hand in an artist’s fledgling career as well as a financial incentive, consumer loyalty and word-of-mouth shall follow. Perhaps the shape of things to come.
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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