In a previous post I mentioned Magnatune now has music podcasts. It was not clear at the time how often the casts would be updated. I came across an article on Business Wire (actually posted on the Magnatune website) that answered some of these questions. The article states, in part:
[John Buckman, CEO and founder of Magnatune], himself developed the algorithm against which the podcasts are generated automatically each week. The Magnatune podcasts imitate the radio “rotation” model, featuring new songs more, and making “hits” by playing the strongest tracks more frequently. Several podcasts have already seen several thousand user downloads since the launch, including the Bach podcast with 30,000 downloads in just over a week.”
By most measures, the casts wildly successful. The question becomes ‘does Magnatune make any money’? I did a bit of digging and came across some information on the Music Dish website:
“[Magnatune] Tout[s] a 30 percent annual sales increase, 10,000 daily visitors with one of every 42 visitors buying music, Buckman is has 9sic) something interesting going on at Magnatune.” (10-21-05)
Apparently, the answer is yes. Well then, maybe Magnatune is making the money, but what about the artist? Is he or she getting a royal rogering rather than royalties? According to the Magnatune website, half of the money from each album purchased goes directly to the artist. There appears to be different formulas for other licensing but it seems to be advantagous to the artist as well as to Magnatune.
Musician Victor Stone had this to say in a blog post:
“[I]f anybody ever wondered what it is that Magnatune does for its artists over and above just hoisting your CDs on a website with a PayPal button, there’s yet another push for the groovy on line licensing that professional music consumers (film makers, etc.) can feel very confident about. I mean it’s all businessy and stuff.” (Feb. 6, 2006)
At least one of the artists associated with Magnatune is please with the association.
Magnatune’s success seems totally counterintuitive. Giving away music for non-comm
ercial use as a way to make money. In a time when the RIAA is suing its customers over music sharing, Magnatune asks you to share any album you buy with three other people. I don’t remember the last time I purchased a CD in a store. I would venture to guess it was in the mid-90’s. This last year, though, I purchased on album directly from an indie group called the Candy Butchers and two albums from Magnatune.
What we are witnessing is a revolution in media and media distribution. Viva la revolucion!
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