Music Business: SlicethePie.com
I recently read about an interesting approach to the currently failing / struggling / changing-/ evolving /-eating itself music business. I have a theory about the music business - their focus on short term success and hit singles has not been healthy. The music industry has never treated the artists fairly. The R.I.A.A always seems to be suing people for pirating music, often under questionable legal grounds. Then there is the continual bribing of politicians / donating to election campaigns / funding slippery lobbyists to protect the music biz’s rotting business model. The lawyers seem to benefit the most from this state of affairs. Ultimately, the industries head in the sand approach to new media and technology will be their undoing.
The E.F.F recently posted a PDF of various R.I.A.A law suits. PDF Link to EFF Document
Anyways - there is a web site called Slicethepie. Slice the Pie Web Site
Here is how it works:
What is Slicethepie?
Slicethepie enables artists to raise money directly from their fans to professionally record and release an album.
How? We turn every music fan into a record label.
On Slicethepie:
o Artists can raise money directly from their fans to professionally record albums
o Fans can become emotionally and financially involved at all levels of the music industry - scouting, breaking, investing in and influencing real artists
o Investors can gamble on, trade in and profit from the success of these artists
o Artists who secure finance pay Slicethepie a small royalty on album sales but keep all their copyright and publishing rights.
How It Works
This is how it works:
1. Artists sign up, upload their profile and join an Arena.
2. When the Arena is full (up to 1,000 Artists) the Scout Room opens.
3. Music fans earn money scouting each track at least 10 times rating it 1-10 and writing detailed reviews.
4. The 20 highest rated artists from the Scout Room go forward to the Showcase.
5. Music fans vote for and finance Showcase Artists by buying Backstage Passes.
6. Backstage Passes give fans exclusive access to the artist, participation in the recording process, a free copy of the album and exclusive rights to buy Contracts in the artist at a discount.
7. Fans buy Contracts that entitle them to a return based on the number of singles and albums sold by the Artist over a 2 year period
8. The Artist receives the money (non-recoupable) and goes off to record the album, keeping in close contact with Backstage Pass holders in a private area of the site.
9. The Contracts become fully tradable on the Slicethepie Exchange, fluctuating in value depending on the anticipated number of album and single sales.
10. The album is released and Slicethepie receives £2 royalty on every album sale.
11. The Artist keeps all their copyright and publishing rights and remains free to sign a record deal at any time.If you already have a dedicated fanbase of over 5,000 fans then you may be able to go directly to the financing stage, if this is the case, then please contact us, alternatively, if you are not yet well established, you can join a Slicethepie Arena.
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