If you’re familiar with the music industry at all, then you know that most artists don’t make a lot, if much money simply from just streaming their music. Music is like many other creative and business industries where a middle man is acting as a gatekeeper between the creator and their audience, taking a share of the revenue generated and withholding seamless 1:1 connection.
That’s to say nothing of a change in algorithm or product roadmap that can often leave the artist or creator at the mercy of the company and their shifting priorities. Many other industries have been positively disrupted by going direct to consumer and we believe it’s time to do the same for music.
That’s why we launched EVEN.
EVEN was founded on two simple, yet powerful beliefs:
- Artists should make a living off of their music.
- Artists and their supporters should have a direct connection.
That premise, that there’s a better, a fairer way for artists to make a living off of their art, and that artists and fans deserve to be connected in a meaningful way, is the foundation of our mission and how we support the artist and fan communities.
EVEN’s technology allows artists and their teams to sell their music directly to fans before uploading their music on streaming patforms. Artists and their teams determine how many albums they want to sell, the price point of each and get paid instantly. Artists and teams are able to input payment splits upfront so all collaborators are paid out daily as opposed to the typical quarterly or longer industry payouts. Artists also determine the type of rewards and access that they want to offer to fans.
Our first release with LaRussell, I Hate When Life’s Going Great, generated not only headlines across media and the music community, but we also proved out the value of the platform and signaled a new possibility for artists and creatives.
By leveraging a pay-what-you-want model, LaRussell was able to generate almost $100K in direct sales from over 4,00 fans. To put that into perspective, he would have needed to stream about 31MM+ times and would’ve needed millions of fans to stream to be able to come close to what he earned using EVEN. Beyond the financial payout, LaRussell was able to leverage his audience insight, building a list of his most passionate fans to better optimize his live strategy.
Fans were rewarded for their support as well. They got to listen to the music sevin days before the streaming release, received lifelong access to the project and everyone who made a purchase was rewarded with a physical CD and opportunity to connect with LaRussell directly online and IRL. Our technology allows fans to be rewarded with physical goods, online and IRL experiences, merch, tour tickets, whatever the artist can dream up.
We saw so many people commenting, supporting LaRussell and rooting for him. They felt more invested because they took an active role in his and the music’s success. This exchange of value is part of what makes being a creator and a fan so special.
That is not to say that we’re anti streaming. We recognize the value of streaming and streaming platforms; we just believe that artists should have more tools at their disposal. On EVEN you can sell your music first, earn the proper revenue and connection, and stream second. We’ve seen that this strategy, selling first to a core group of dedicated fans, has positive trickle down effects on the overall success of a project. Artists end up streaming more, targeting their audience more efficiently and gaining valuable insight for each subsequent release.
So far, we’ve done releases with LaRussell, French Montana, Xavier Omar, 38 Spesh, Destin Conrad and many others during our soft launch. This year we’re gearing up to open the platform to more artists and to build more tools for artists and fans to connect and community features that enable fans to connect with each other. We’re passionate about and invested in the success of the artist community and are excited to become a resource of education and knowledge for any artist to learn the ins and outs of the industry and how to best succeed in it. Be sure to follow us on Instagram for more information, more updates and to be the first to know about new releases and features.
If you’re interested in learning more or connecting with the EVEN team feel free to email info@even.biz.
