How did we start?
Stereo9 was created by a small group of designers and developers who realized that the music industry was broken and wanted to figure out how to fix it. After digital music became available and the public started moving towards the internet to get it, it became apparent that the music industry was changing and the public demand was to get their music for free. The trick was how to accomplish that in way that is both effective and legal.
When one of the founders of Stereo9 started looking deeper into the music industry’s structure and how the revenue was distributed, he noticed that artists generally make very little from record sales and actually make the majority of their money through concerts. This was a bit of a revelation, because it meant that the easy and free distribution of music on the internet could actually help the artists because it creates more of a demand for their concerts which is where they make most of their money. This value created through the free distribution of music became the foundation that Stereo9 was built on, and our goal became to create a viable business model from the free distribution of music.
How does Stereo9 work?
The public is able to download as much music as they like for free on Stereo9, from the artists (or record labels) that choose to distribute their music for free. Stereo9 is then able to communicate to the artists where their fan base is based on who has downloaded their music, and suggest cities that they will be able to attract the largest audiences to their concerts. When artists book a concert, Stereo9 notifies all of the fans that have downloaded their music and live near the concert venue so that their fans are easily aware of local concerts they would be interested in and have the ability to purchase tickets to the event. Through this system, artists are able to sell the maximum number of tickets for each event which allows them to make a good living off of their music and fans are able to enjoy all their favorite music through both downloads and concerts.
Stereo9 also serves the music venues where the concerts are held, so that concert locations of all sizes are able to view the most popular artists in their area that fit their seating capacity and invite them to play. This allows smaller venues to schedule up and coming artists that will be able to fill their seats, while serving larger venues as well who are able to book the more popular artists. This serves both the venues as well as the artists who are able to hold more concerts and allows everyone to profit from the digital music revolution. With Stereo9, everyone wins.
Stereo9 allows artists to book the most concerts with the most seats being sold, which maximizes their ability to create revenue from their music and be successful. This also gives the public the ability to enjoy as much music as they like by being able to download the music for free and also enjoy the live concerts when their favorite artists come to town. With Stereo9, everyone wins.
What happens to the record labels?
Record labels do offer a valuable service to artists so if artists are looking to take advantage of the production expertise and the other services they provide, we encourage them to do so. If artists choose to work with the record labels so that the labels have the rights to their music, the labels are also allowed to offer their music on Stereo9 and be the marketing connection to the artist’s fans. Artists are then able to negotiate an arrangement with the record label so that they can take advantage of the direct contact the labels have with their fans in order to market the concerts. This allows the labels to also profit from the increased demand for concerts that comes from the free distribution of music and be able to sustain a business model that allows them to continue serving artists.
If you are a signed artist or a record label that would like to distribute your music through Stereo9, we encourage you to
Contact Us to discuss how we can help serve you.
Where is Stereo9 going from here?
We would like Stereo9 to become valuable to artists across the world, so that everyone can succeed from the music that they create and help produce. The Stereo9 staff will continue to develop the site so we can provide the most effective tools for exposing and distributing music, and we are excited about where the industry is headed. If you would like to give us any feedback on our site or services, we encourage you to fill out the
Feedback Form and let us know how we can help improve our services to fans, artists, venues, and record labels all across the world.