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?
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.
Following the example of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay will also be adding value this summer by providing fans attending dates on their international tour beginning May 15th in North America with a free copy of their album LeftRightLeftRight. A free download of the record will also be available at the same time on their site.
“Playing live is what we love… this album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.”
Digg founder, Kevin Rose, interviews Trent Reznor for his Dialogg interview series during which Reznor addresses pertinent questions “digged up” by the Digg community.
Trent Reznor’s revolutionary and somewhat controversial music marketing activities (read Reznor’s back story) continue to push the envelope with the release of the NIN frontman’s very own iPhone App. We are not worthy.
Philadelphia group, Officer Roseland, has taken the “free download” marketing strategy [flawlessly executed by Trent Reznor] a step further. As part of their marketing campaign for their fourth album release, “Stimulus Package”, the band is offering to pay $1 to every person who downloads the album. Each user has the option of “taking” the dollar or “giving” it to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. I entered my name and PayPal details to “take” the dollar on www.mystimuluspackage.org, opted-in for the band’s newsletter (by default), and received an email with a link to download the album. I am now waiting to receive my dollar…
Trent Reznor, a music pioneer on more than one level, has paved the way for a new music business attitude through forward-thinking marketing concepts to communicate with fans directly and provide them with a reason to consume his music and come to his shows. In 2007, Reznor under the famed band alias, Nine Inch Nails, prior to the release of the album, “Year Zero”, launched an online reality-themed scavenger hunt, intended to engage fans and deliver a unique user experience. In conjunction with this gaming initiative, Reznor dropped USB keys loaded with NIN music at his concert venue’s toilets for fans to pick-up and enjoy for free – and share. At the time, it was not clear whether the music was leaked by fans or by Reznor himself which spurred the RIAA to put up takedown notices, fueling the campaign even further. To make the album’s physical CD release distinctive, Reznor printed CDs that changed colour – a gimmick CD copies would not benefit from – to encourage fans to buy the originals to supplement whatever free digital content they may or may not have already had access to. After this episode, Reznor left his label and went on his own, beginning with the independent release of “Ghosts I – IV”. In this case, the 36-track album was offered to fans in a variety of attractive models, all under a Creative Commons license: first 9 tracks for free, $5 for all tracks plus a 40-page pdf booklet; $10 for 2 CD set plus a 16 page booklet; $75 Deluxe Edition Package (i.e. box set); $300 Ultra Deluxe Limited Edition Package, capped at 2500 units all signed by Reznor himself, which sold out in 30 hours. Collectively, Reznor grossed $1.6 million in the first week from this independent initiative. The album later became a number one seller on Amazon in spite of its attribution license which made the digital sharing of it legal. Reznor’s following album, “The Slip”, was offered entirely for free two months later along with sample tracks from NIN’s opening acts. All you needed to do is punch in your email address. Again, Reznor provided a unique fan experience, along with a visual depiction of the volume of downloads by location on Google Maps and a full tour venue listing and ticketing options. The tour was a huge success.
Starting at approximately $1000, emusu provides a turn-key solution for managing and selling your digital assets from your own domain, as opposed to distributing to third-party ecommerce websites or via social network applications. The system is entirely web-based and the company is sinking its teeth into the music industry. Ouch.
The service allows its customers to create custom web pages from a series of handy templates and enable fans to buy directly from the source or incorporate its technology into an existing site geared for music retail.
The fact is that most artists simply don’t sell. In fact, most labels don’t sell a volume of any note. As such, even if the service was free, managing your own music sales is not too far up your priority list unless you’re shifting so many units that iTunes’ commission significantly diminishes your bottom line. Furthermore, if MySpace, boasting approximately three million *active* musician users can’t make Snocap work on exclusive terms, how is emusu going to convince prospective clients that they can sell – and sell more – on their own?
At a time where the industry is shifting away from record sales and toward ticketing, merchandising, bundling, licensing, sponsorship, and advertising, emusu is a surprising entry into the space. Selling recorded music is no longer the end game but rather the marketing collateral to sell something else. The infamous 360 deal is a tribute to this strategy and Live Nation is a testament to its success. Starbucks too.
However, if emusu can leverage its platform to forward thinking megastars such as Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails, both of which ’sold’ direct-to-the-fan, they may have a lucrative client. Or two.
Philadelphia group, Officer Roseland, has taken the “free download” marketing strategy [flawlessly executed by 
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