creative deconstruction

ReverbNation Paying Artists to Give Away Free Songs

Posted on 22. May, 2009 by refe in NEWS

ReverbNation announced a new feature yesterday designed to generate revenue for the site and for some of its artists. The Sponsored Songs program will add a small, branded message to the digital cover art of each download. The message will then show up every time that song is played. In exchange for allowing the ad to be attached to their song, the artist will receive $0.50 per download up to a cap of $50. Not all of ReverbNation’s artists will be eligible – only about 1000, which is a small fraction of their members – but those who are have probably been notified already.

I’m not sure what I think about this program. When I first saw the news on Hypebot, it seemed like a decent gig. The more I look into it, though, the more I think it might do more harm than good. First of all, $0.50 per download isn’t a bad cut for a song you’re giving away for free. You’d make more selling your track on iTunes assuming you aren’t sharing your $0.70 with a label or any other services, but still – not bad. The $50 cap seems very low, however.

The idea that a track’s cover art has become ad real estate makes me a bit queasy. I’m not opposed to ads – I’ve got ads on this site, and just made a deal to acquire a few more. Ad revenue is one of the only things keeping the internet humming right now. But on cover art? Maybe I am making a bigger deal than I need to about this, but there’s got to be another way (and there are other ways.)

As far as the positives are concerned, when a brand sponsors a song they take some ownership of promotion. According to ReverbNation, “to help you out, the sponsor will be spending money to promote your music on MySpace, ReverbNation, etc… by driving traffic to your song.” This is something that the indies don’t get to hear all that often. Without a record deal, most bands are completely on their own when it comes to marketing and promotion. Getting a little boost could be exactly what an artist on the brink of national exposure needs to push them over the edge.

ReverbNation also appears to have some understanding of where the industry is at right now. Here is a statement by Michael Doernberg, CEO: “Traditionally the music business has been synonymous with the record business where the lion’s share of revenue came from selling music. With reduced emphasis on music sales, the music business must develop new revenue streams that leverage the artist as a brand.” I think he is exactly right, and I am glad that they are trying to respond to this with new business models. I would just hope that we can find away to ‘leverage the artist as a brand’ without compromising that brand in the process.

Tags: bands, business models, INNOVATION, MUSIC INDUSTRY