Diplo is showing artists how to take their destiny into their own hands
It is only a matter of time before artists realize that they do not have to place their faith in others anymore. The revolution is constantly happening in the digital space. Now BitTorrent – once the music industry’s scapegoat, because people were using it for so called illegal filesharing – announced a distribution and payment model, where the artists and publishers keep 90 per cent of sales. None other than Diplo is accompanying this announcement with the release of his debut album “Florida” via BitTorrent Bundles.
BitTorrent Bundles allows artist of all kinds to be really flexible about the way they offer new material to fans. They can either give it away for free or charge people. They can also give parts away for free and only charge money for the bonus material and exclusive content. Thom Yorke – who, by the way, pulled his entire catalogue from Spotify – made use of this flexibility when releasing his current album “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes”. Now Diplo is offering his debut album “Florida” for five quid via BitTorrent Bundles. Pay and you’ll receive “new, unreleased content”, as Tech Crunch reports. The free version comes without “12 premium audio files”, as you can see in the screenshot below.
Diplo is taking full advantage of the flexibility of BitTorrent Bundles (Screenshot: https://bundles.bittorrent.com/bundles/diplo)
“Our goal with BitTorrent Bundle is to restore control to creators. We’re opening up applications for paygates to all publishers: allowing artists to sell content direct to fans, on their terms, while keeping 90 per cent of sales revenue”, says Matt Mason, chief content officer for BitTorrent, who is quoted by Tech Crunch. BitTorrent keeps a distribution fee of ten per cent, and the artist/publisher is also responsible for payment processing fees, which is typically less than five per cent. “This is a much better deal for artists”, adds Straith Schreder, director of content strategy for BitTorrent. So far, artists and publishers have to apply to be admitted into the BitTorrent Bundles program. Soon all artists are going to be able to participate, Mason confirms.
Unprecedented flexibility and transparency
The announcement comes at a time, when streaming services, that have been hailed as the future of the industry, don’t seem to be able to create a sustainable business for artists and especially songwriters. BitTorrent offers a solution by forwarding 90 per cent of sales to the artists/songwriter. They are also granted unprecedented flexibility and transparency, if the company follows up on its promises. We have been asking ourselves for a long time now, why music companies are not taking full advantage of the possibilities the digital age has to offer. Seems like once again the best model had to come from someone who started outside of the music industry.
If BitTorrent is really serious, it might set the record straight once and for all: This entire industry is worth nothing – say that again: NOTHING – without the artists.
