Hitting the Jackpot
HOW DOES IT WORK? Pure-
intentioned DIY artists
upload their music, which
is initially offered for free.
But once they become
popular, the site does
their selling out for them:
As downloads increase,
the MP3s get more
expensive, maxing out at
98 cents per track.
IS IT WORKING? AmieStreet
hasn’t broken any new
artists (unless you’re
familiar with Hypnoskull),
but already-established
ones like Cold War Kids
and Justice are selling
albums through the site.
THE ECONOMIST SAYS:
“Basic theory suggests
there’s wisdom to charg-
ing more for something
that’s popular, but I’m
not sure this model
motivates customers to
tell friends about new
bands—by the time they
go to buy a song, it’s more
expensive.”
HOW DOES IT WORK? If you
enjoy venture capitalism
but hate making money,
SellaBand.com could be
just the thing. Bands post
demos and solicit $10
donations from fans. Once
they’ve raised $50,000, the
site hires a producer who
isn’t Timbaland and sends
them into the studio. All
profits are split between
the site, the musicians,
and their investors.
IS IT WORKING? Of the
site’s 6,600-plus registered
artists, 14 have made it
to the studio. Nobody’s
won any Grammys yet,
but Netherlands goth
metallers Nemesea scored
a distribution deal through
Rough Trade in their
home country.
THE ECONOMIST SAYS:
“I’m a little skeptical. The
customer is paying $10 in
the hope that he’s going
to get a CD…in a year.
Also, people are suppos-
edly investing to get a cut
of the proceeds, but there
probably won’t be any.”
HOW DOES IT WORK? In
18th-century Vienna, art
patronage could buy you
a Mozart symphony. On
Strayform.com, it can help
fund a song by Rhode
Island–based singer Bob
Ricci about mastering
Photoshop. Artists submit
proposals; fans donate
money and in return can
get a production credit
or have their name
mentioned in the lyrics.
IS IT WORKING? The site
launched in August, and
only a few proposals have
been funded so far. But
baby-boomer Dallas trio
Acoustic Distortion did
get some publicity when
their local Fox News
affiliate cited them as part
of a story on Strayform.
Next stop: the Garden!
THE ECONOMIST SAYS:
“There’s a nonegalitarian
sense to it—you’re
disproportionately
rewarding people who
pony up the most money.
And the lack of immediacy
makes me skeptical.”
HOW DOES IT WORK? On an
Internet full of Sanjayas,
Kelly Clarksons can be hard
to find. OurStage simplifies
the process with an
American Idol–style voting
competition, in which
visitors rank artists’ songs
and decide who wins a
monthly $5,000 prize.
IS IT WORKING? Since
launching last April, the
site has given away more
than $250,000 but hasn’t
discovered any next big
things. Still, October’s first-
place winner was a scrappy
singer/songwriter named
Jason Schwartzman, and
he seems to be doing
pretty well for himself.
THE ECONOMIST SAYS:
“Other companies have
tried ad-supported music,
and none of them have
taken off. But this site
has a filter—you get what
economists call a network
effect, where a couple of
artists get a dispropor-
tionate amount of atten-
tion relative to everyone
else, and that’s probably a
20Ranking on Pop
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We don’t even know her!
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CAMERON S TE WART (REZNOR)
References:
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