Alandis contacted me after checking out the SoundCtrl blog. He told me a little about Go Forth Music and to clarify a few things, I had him answer a few questions because it seemed a lot like Artists House Music.
Q: What’s your pricing model?
A: Basic Membership to the site is free, which provides access to all articles/videos, forums, and the on-demand training library. We get paid when musicians purchase the services described in the previous email. Further down the line we also plan to offer a paid premium membership (geared more towards music industry entrepreneurs) that will provide access to more in-depth features like independent market research. Other revenue will come from ads./sponsorships once we get some steady traffic.
Q: Why would artists want to pay that if they can go to sites like Artists House Music and Music Think Tank for free?
A: Artists won’t have to pay for access to the site. They only pay for the services, something a lot of other sites aren’t offering. When we offer the premium membership, we will make sure that premium content is exclusive to our site (i.e. access to independent market research and data).
Q: How do you plan on promoting the site and its services?
A: We’re purchasing ads on a prominent music business site to run for the next few months.
- Our first compilation is already accepting submissions through Sonicbids, and I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the site through those submissions.
- Our freelance service providers will do some promotion via their social networks.
- We’re providing free memberships to music business students and working on partnerships with colleges/ student music business organizations (coming up with activities to involve students like the project described in the previous email).
- Above all, we’re developing high-quality, practical content with the hope that our visitors will gain our trust to provide them with services with the time comes.
Go Forth Music will be launching in Beta on September 20 with Basic memberships, but for the meantime, check out their blog for more details.
Music submission through sonicbids already looking shady. Perhaps submissions through soundcloud or some where free for artists?
@sowait Thanks for the SoundCloud suggestion, as well as the concern that artists had to pay to submit through SonicBids.
I would like to address your paid submission concern. Artists actually submit their music/press kits to our compilation for free via Sonicbids. Our listing is “no-cost”, which means that artists don’t pay a submission fee and Go Forth Music does not receive any money from Sonicbids or the artist.
Not charging artists was very important to me, as I did not want to compilation to be/appear as a scam. For this reason, we’re also not charging artists a “participation fee” (or any other fee, for that matter) if they’re selected for the compilation.
Our goals for the compilation are to a) give emerging artists exposure on college campuses, and b) give college students hands-on experience promoting these artists on their campuses. We’re not even selling the compilation (it will be given away free as a promotional item).
I hope this addresses any concerns you have. I’ll check out your SoundCloud suggestion. It might be a viable option for our Spring 2011 compilation. If you have any other questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me via email at alandis@goforthmusic.com.
Best,
Alandis
Go Forth Music