SONG CONTEST BLOG

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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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.

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.