Music Share Records

Music Share Records A & R Program

Founder — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:30:00 GMT

I'm batting around ideas as to how I can integrate a Music Share Records A & R program into the royalty concept. Basically the idea is to pay music fans a royalty to act as A & R reps for our "netlabel" (nice buzz word eh!). To really get them involved in the site and earn them some money in the process.

The basic idea is this...music fans would be able to refer artists to the web site. If those artists contribute music to the site the user would get a song credit which in turn would earn them a royalty just as if they were an artist with a song on the site. They would earn a song credit for each artist they refer that adds music to the site...pretty cool idea I think.

I just have to bat this around a bit to make sure it is workable and hopefully I will have it integrated into the site by the time it launches on June 1st.

The other cool thing I found is a commercial license calculator for the site which makes it easy for commercial users to obtain a quote for using our artists music for commercial purposes. This would be part of the integration of the new Creative Commons CC+ licensing. The new protocol provides an infrastructure to leverage commercial value out of otherwise free content...this should all come together in time for the site launch...I hope!

Talk soon!

Chip Gall - Founder
Music Share Records

How it works.....

Founder — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:01:00 GMT

I guess a little lengthier description of what Music Share Records is all about is in order, since at the moment know one has heard of the site yet. This is a good thing because if you are reading this you are at the front of the line if you choose to submit your music!

The concept behind Music Share Records is based on the sharing of music to maximize distribution and generate donation income which is shared between the artists based on the amount of music they share with music fans.

Here is how it works....

Artists submit their music for inclusion on the Music Share Records web site. The music (in MP3 format) is made available for download under a Creative Commons license ensuring the music cannot be used for commercial purposes or be altered in any way, however it may be freely shared providing the artist is credited as the author of the material.

The Music Share Records business model is "donation" based. In other words the music is freely available for download we just want music fans to donate what they can so the artists can continue to record, tour etc... and ultimately create more music for people to download and share!

This is key to the success of the label and the artists so it's imperative that the artists and the label itself promote the music and the site to it's fullest, so music fans can easily access the music and financially contribute to the artists.

As I said Music Share Records is donation based...100% of the net donations submitted monthly is split equally between the artists sharing music on the site.

Now, "is every fan that visits the site going to donate" ...?? The answer is no. However, a certain percentage will and that's good. I bet you already have a fan base that would be happy to donate some of their hard earned money to support your career so you can record more great music.

"Are the fans who don't donate "stealing" your music"...?? Again the answer is no...they (along with the people who donate) are acting as the "distribution arm" of the label...getting the music out there and sharing it with friends, co-workers and telling them about the label and the great music available on the site etc...this is never a bad thing for an indie artist. The more your music is heard the more exposure you get as an artist...create it, share it and they will come!

Now some artists and "industry experts" may not agree with this business model and I completely understand that. However, take a look at your "We owe you" CDbaby digital distribution account and look at the total
(please don't get me wrong... I am not knocking CDbaby at all, they are a great company and a wonderful service but only approx. 12% of artists are making 90% of the money on CDbaby).

What you have to ask yourself is... are you getting the exposure you need (and by that I mean are music fans actually listening to your music, downloading it and spreading the word...). I would also bet your answer is no.

By making your music available for download you are maximizing your distribution...music fans are always hungry for great new indie music and it is my belief that they will help support an artist financially so more great music can be recorded and shared.

Never under estimate the loyalty of your fans...I know I was in the Canadian band A & M recording artists SYRE for 20 years and there were times when all we had was our fans and they never (even to this day) let us down.

That is it in a nut shell...I am jumping into this experiment eyes wide open and ready to take what comes...as I have said before this will be a team effort...fans, artists and the label working together to get the word out there about Music Share Records.

So let's hear your comments (good and bad), ideas and input and we will build this thing together!

The site launches June 1st 2008!

Cheers,
Chip Gall - Founder
Music Share Records

Welcome to the Music Share Records Blog!

Founder — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:41:00 GMT

Welcome to the Music Share Records Blog!

I just wanted to kick things off here with a brief explanation of what Music Share Records is....

Music Share Records is an exciting and unique new concept in digital music distribution providing donation based MP3 downloads to music fans and paying artists an equal share of 100% of all net donated income.

The main web site www.musicsharerecords.com is scheduled to launch June 1st 2008....and we are accepting submissions now!

For further info e-mail me at chip@musicsharerecords.com

I'd love to get your thoughts and feedback on my business model and I'm gonna need all the support I can get from both music fans and artists to get this thing whipped into shape!

Talk to you soon....

Cheers,
Chip Gall - Founder
Music Share Records