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01.02.13 MusicWeek 3
DIRECT-TO-FAN PLATFORM SAYS IT HAS ‘GAME-CHANGING’ AMBITIONS
PledgeMusic eyes retail space, ticketing and streaming in 2013
MIDEM BY TOM PAKINKIS
P
ledgeMusic is considering ticketing options for its artist campaigns in 2013 as
well as a post-campaign ‘Buy’ button and integration with streaming services. While gig tickets have been
offered to Pledgers by acts such as Bring Me The Horizon in the past, managing director Malcolm Dunbar (pictured, right) told Music Week at Midem 2013 that the direct-to-fan platform would look at implementing more fully this year.
“On the Bring Me The
Horizon campaign, the fan had the ability to purchase the album and a ticket to the show for a small exclusive window before sales opened, which I thought was amazing,” said Dunbar. “It was a brilliant offering and
we’d like to discuss ticketing in much more detail. I think that’s a really important part of our development this year. We’re
having discussions about integrating ticketing into our site in a much more serious manner,” he explained. PledgeMusic founder and CEO Benji Rogers (pictured, left) added, however, that “there’s a complexity to that space”. “It’s not insurmountable but
it’s definitely something that’s on a lot of our artists’ minds,” he said. While fans using
PledgeMusic are currently able to pledge money prior to the release of an artist’s studio project or tour – with options to buy extra merchandise and exclusive memorabilia from the act – the company is also looking at the option of implementing a ‘Buy’ button for completed campaigns. “When a Pledge campaign
closes, the fans can carry on buying [a product] as opposed to just Pledging for it,” Dunbar explained. “So it becomes a store post-campaign.” For Rogers, discovery will be the main focus point for the direct-2-fan platform in 2013
NEWS IN BRIEF
with recommendation features being “the most requested feature” from Pledge users. “Then the other thing that
I’m determined to do is to fit [the Pledge] layer into streaming,” he added. “An artist is infinitely
frustrated that fans are streaming their music but are not aware of their new album. It drives
them crazy. “It’s a very simple technical
integration to do, there just has to be the will on the part of the streaming service to take that leap,” he added. “If we can inject Pledge into that – and we’re in advanced discussions with a few of these guys now – it will change the game.”
USM Songs’ 10-year plan to become go-to indie publisher
USM Songs’ Martin Costello and Jonathan Kyte have spoken of the newly-formed joint venture’s 10- year plan following the acquisition of Rock Music Company Ltd, announced last week. The Rock Music catalogue owns a number of hit songs including titles recorded by Nick Lowe, The Damned, Dave Edmunds and Dr Feelgood. The acquisition was a seven-
figure investment, Costello told Music Week. “It sends out a
signal,” he added. “It shows that Union Square
is pretty serious about signing catalogues and becoming a proper independent publisher.” Since the JV between Union
Square Music and former Complete Music MD Costello was announced in June last year, both USM Songs and sister company USM Publishing have secured deals including representation of the catalogues of The Farm, Stiff Little Fingers, The Go-Betweens, Charles Mingus, Swing Out Sister and UK songwriter Russ Ballard. “We’re very much going to be like an old-fashioned publisher now,” Costello said when asked
about USM Songs’ future. “It’s going to grow organically and we’ll buy the right catalogues. “There are some companies
out there boasting about having reached a million copyrights,” he added. “That’s great, but if you’re a guy that’s got 150 songs as a nice catalogue and you’re lost under a million songs… That’s going to be the attraction of not just us but a couple of independent companies – you can get the attention.” But Costello and Kyte’s vision
of a smaller publishing operation is part of a big ambition. “There’s still a gap for a decent independent publisher,” said Costello. “There’s nobody
filling the gap left by the companies that have been sold over the years. BMG, for example, is a massive company with massive funding, Imagem has got massive funding as well. There are very few independents that people can go to.” While USM Songs will continue to seek out acquisitions throughout 2013 and beyond, Costello spoke of a 10-year plan to reach a specific goal. “We’ll be the main independent company that people go to, and when I say independent I don’t include BMG Rights or Imagem. I mean privately owned independents,” he said. “We’ll get there. We’ve done it before we’ll do it again.”
WIN: The Worldwide Independent Network introduced the Independent Manifesto and the formation of the WIN Global Council on Monday, setting out a clear view of the beliefs and values that bind the global independent music sector. Its founder members called for action in lobbying for equal market access for indies as well as pushing for transparency within digital and improved independent representation within collection societies. EVENTIM: Eventim UK, part of German-based CTS Eventim Group, and the UK’s biggest arena operator SMG Europe have launched a long- term ticketing co-operation. The move sees the Eventim ticketing system being implemented in five of SMG’s major venues in England. HOPPUS: Blink 182 frontman Mark Hoppus told a Midem audience that sponsored albums would be the next step in the relationship between music and brands. The pop-punk artist suggested that clothing labels will be the next corporate entities to fund LPs, after "the fallout of labels". MYSPACE: AIM CEO Alison Wenham, Beggars boss Martin Mills and Glassnote’s Daniel Glass were among the indie voices to speak out against MySpace during a Midem panel this week. The online platform chose not to renew its licensing agreement with Merlin but said that official takedown requests would have to be sent for all tracks associated with the member labels to be removed entirely. Wenham called the response “arrogant”. PRS FOR MUSIC: The collecting society confirmed during the Midem period that it had added world renowned publishers, Warp Music Ltd. and Nettwerk One Music Ltd. to its Independent Music Publishers’ European Licensing (IMPEL) collective, bringing the total membership to 20. EU COMMISSION: European Commissioner Michel Barnier made a pledge to Midem 2013 attendees to craft a more inclusive digital infrastructure on the Continent. “Europeans are often frustrated at not being able to access content,” he said, adding that, while the situation had improved, the availability of music, and unavailability of some websites was still uneven between some member states.
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