WeedShare Marketing

[Havagr8da]

Probably a been there done that scenario.

But I was wondering if many of you have tried the WeedShare Marketing for your music. It is the 3x plays buy if you like format. There are many websites growing on the net that have music for sale in this format. The site owners usually do a pretty good job of screening for quality content. They have to host and pay for the bandwidth so most of them are not hosting crap. If it isn't selling it is not using up space either. So to stay on the site the music must have some marketable qualities.

Heart, an 80s or was that 70s rock band released their last CD as WeedShare.
This marketing system is gaining momentum.

I have a WeedShare site, I am not posting to promote it. I just wanted that said to make clear I know a bit about it.

CDbaby has just released all their catalog for WeedShare. This will add thousands of titles to the listings on web sites providing this marketing platform.
Check out some of the sites out there and see which one your music will fit well with. Contact the owner and most of them have the ability to encode your tracks for marketing. Many will do this for free and if they do it is because they see the possibility of it selling well.

Some Stats

WHAT’S LEFT OF THE DIAL: A March survey of 5,000 consumers conducted by NPD Group reveals that radio listening has dropped 4% in the last year, while listening to music through those crappy computer speakers has increased by 22%. While the gap between traditional and online radio is narrowing considerably, the airwaves still rule: According to the survey, online radio listening increased 18% to 53.5 million, and streaming was up 37% to 46.1 million, for a total of 77.2 computer listeners (including overlap), compared to 194 million traditional radio listeners. The number of computer users ripping music was up 102% from a year ago, adopters of MP3 devices increased 127% and users of legal download services grew 93%. Said NPD's Russ Crupnick, "The rise of digital listening and storage for music continues unabated this year… Music companies are answering the call for more content, and consumers are responding positively." At the rate things are moving, the picture will look dramatically different a year from now, with more and more people embracing portable players and satellite radio and DIY programming becoming a factor. Podcasting, anyone?

 

[drummerdude666]

I don't understand what it is/what it does?

 

[Havagr8da]

What it is. What it does.

To find out, the easiest way would be just google Weedshare. WeedShare Media Licensing has a home page.

To have your music formatted for marketing you will need an ICP there are many of them. Most will format for free. One that also offers free band sites is 96decibels.

You may also want to take a look at their Yahoo group. There is a lot of activity there and you can get a feel for how dedicated they are to prmoting the artists that sign on.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

I checked these guys out 2 years ago and decided to pass. I checked into them again for a publishing company that I work for a few months back and decided to sign up. They've been around for a few years, they are still growing, and they finally have mac support in the works. They've got some big names starting to use their system, as well. Its pretty cool.

The system is pretty straightforward. Weedshare encodes your files in a protected Windows Media Audio format. This allows anyone to listen to the file 3 times for free before they have to purchase it. The transaction is taken care of by Paypal. The artists always get at least 50% of the price (usually around $1), Weed takes 15% and the remaining 35% is split between the last 3 people who owned that file.

So if I sell your music, I get a few cents to go and buy more music with. And it doesn't matter where that files goes or where it comes from: you will always get your 50% no matter what. And why would I rip the file and distribute it for free when I can make money off of other people buying it. I think its a really good system- its also the only way into protected digital distribution that has no upfront fees.

I became an ICP for the publishing company and the studio where I work, so I know the process pretty well. There is the initial paperwork to fill out that give WeedShare *non-exclusive* rights to distribute your music, collect, and disburse funds for it. Then you ship off your music to an ICP (Independent Content Provider) They are they go betweens- they handle setting up your files and accounts. They'll get your files back to you encoded and, voila! you're ready to go.

Most ICP's have websites where they distibute your music so that's one potential outlet for your stuff. WeedShare will also link to your site once you have it up. Then you're faced with the same challenge everyone trying to sell things online has: how to get people to your site. No magic bullets there, but you can include your website on your business cards, posters, fliers, etc.

Again, after a couple months of research for a publishing compnay looking to distribute audio and video, I found that Weedshare is the only DRM (digital rights management) system that is easy to use and free to set up. There's no risk, so why not use it? They are definately worth checking out. www.weedshare.com.

I can answer questions about the service and send anyone a copy of the service agreement, as well. There is only one legal agreement and its a few pages long- its even written in plain english, for the most part.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Havagr8da]

Chris,

Nice write up and very informative. Thanks.

I have been doing the WeedShare file swapping since it's beginning. I carved out a niche and provide Family Friendly Content on the World Wide Web. I have enjoyed supporting the artists and have built some lasting relationships with them.

Some of the artists that I have worked with have given me permission to use their music on my local TV program. It has worked out wonderfully for me and the artist as well. Their name, the name of the song, and web site is in a lower third while the music is playing. All contact information they provide rolls with the credits.

At this time I am looking into starting an Indie Net Radio Station and use it as a means to support Indie Artists that are signed on with WeedShare Media Licensing.

We are currently operating a Non-Profit Music collaboration site to get musicians together. On this site an artist can collaborate with others and take their music from concept to full marketing.

This is How it Works

Uploading seed tracks.

Registered Artists may upload an original track on the seed track page. A project manager can then choose to use that track as the base of a project.
Format is WMA
Not every track submitted will necessarily result in inclusion in a project.
You may choose to be the project manager for your seed track, or allow someone else to manage the project. We have found that some people just want to play -- they aren't interested in managing the project themselves.

Uploading - Auditioning a Track

Available only for Registered Artists
Download the track from the project for which you wish to audition.
Using your PC based recording software. Add your recorded track. Mix down the tracks and save them in wma format. The bitrate should always be maintained at 192.
Upload the modified file to the project.
An e-mail is sent to all the contributing artists to let them know that a new track has been uploaded.
You may be asked to post a solo track for further work.
The process repeats till the composition is complete and ready for Final Mix.

The Final Mix*

Available to all Registered Artists.
Once the project manager is satisfied with the rough mix, he/she will ask the artists to upload a clean single track to the "Single Tracks" folder on the project page.
The single tracks are then downloaded, mixed, and re-uploaded.
Once the participants are satisfied with the final mix, the project manager will mark the project as complete.

Lyrics

Open to all Logged in Artists
Any Logged in Artist may upload original song lyrics to be used in a collaboration project.
Artists may create a project and begin the process by uploading lyrics as a "Seed Track"

Global Music Alliance

 

[Havagr8da]

Most ICP's have websites where they distibute your music so that's one potential outlet for your stuff. WeedShare will also link to your site once you have it up. Then you're faced with the same challenge everyone trying to sell things online has: how to get people to your site. No magic bullets there, but you can include your website on your business cards, posters, fliers, etc.

To see some of the promotional tools used by some WeedShare web site owners check out this article. [clicky]

 

[drummerdude666]

Great link - I read the first few paragraphs, i'll read the rest later.

 

[tanlith]

Cool... but remember, NOTHING is protected... So they encoded it so it can't be downloaded... "directly". Anyone with a spare sound card and one of those handy 5" long cables can get any streamed music easily.

1) Install second sound card
2) Plug sound card A's speaker out into Saound Card B's line in
3) Record the audio as it is "reprocessed" through the second sound card (Use your favorite software - WavLab is GREAT for this)
4) Save file as any type you like... MP3, WAV, etc...

This is why you might never see my stuf posted on the WEB (again).

Couple years ago I put some of my stuff online and caught some little prick with a Website and ALL of my stuff on it - claiming it was his... cost my $$$ to make it go away and I got $0.00 in punitive damages...

- Tanlith -

"Paranoia - it's more than a hobby - it's a way of life..."

 

[Havagr8da]

Paranoia is an Iron Maiden indead!

Let's see, here. You send your music to a radio station to get air play. I have a radio and a deck. Wow! This hasn't stopped people from getting their music out there.

I guess paranoia will keep you from promoting your music. Better to keep it for yourself then.

By the way instead of just reporting the little prick that ripped you off try building a case first. Buy some of your music and have several others buy too. Get the FEDs involved and they will go for all kinds of other charges you wouldn't even think of.

But that is another topic entirely

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Couple years ago I put some of my stuff online and caught some little prick with a Website and ALL of my stuff on it - claiming it was his... cost my $$$ to make it go away and I got $0.00 in punitive damages...

Good story! That sucks! Did you have your music copyrighted?

I wonder how often that happens. Did you know the little punk or was it completely random? That's so bizarre.

I know that digitial protection isn't perfect. My thought is that the web offers some of the least expensive and wide ranging distribution IF I can secure my music to some degree. Its even easier to rip a CD (shrug) so what do you do? I'd rather have some protection than none, and in the case of Weed the protection system is also a revenue system. I like that equation, even if there are a few folks out there with 2 soundcards pirating it.

Take care,
Chris

 

[tanlith]

Let's see, here. You send your music to a radio station to get air play. I have a radio and a deck. Wow! This hasn't stopped people from getting their music out there.

I guess paranoia will keep you from promoting your music. Better to keep it for yourself then.

By the way instead of just reporting the little prick that ripped you off try building a case first. Buy some of your music and have several others buy too. Get the FEDs involved and they will go for all kinds of other charges you wouldn't even think of.

But that is another topic entirely

Good idea, but I forgot to mention that the kid was a minor - can't be tried as an adult..... and I didn't send my music to a radio station (???)- It was posted for listening on my website... as I outline below in this response: I don't mind if people take my music to listen to - that's WHY I make it. I just have a problem with people taking credit for MY work ... people please read the posts before responding to them.

And it's not keeping me from putting my stuff out there - I just don't let ANYONE hear my stuff till AFTER it's copyrighted AND I have the papers to PROOVE it.

Good story! That sucks! Did you have your music copyrighted?

I wonder how often that happens. Did you know the little punk or was it completely random? That's so bizarre.

Random - If I'd known the little prick they never would have found the body

I know that digitial protection isn't perfect. My thought is that the web offers some of the least expensive and wide ranging distribution IF I can secure my music to some degree. Its even easier to rip a CD (shrug) so what do you do? I'd rather have some protection than none, and in the case of Weed the protection system is also a revenue system. I like that equation, even if there are a few folks out there with 2 soundcards pirating it.

Take care,
Chris

Just get it copyrighted - for the cost it's actually worth it - and it'll save you from possible problems later on.

As for pirateing using 2 sound cards, *shrug* shit happens. I don't have a problem with people taking my stuff to listen to... I've been broke before and used to use Napster, now I own all the music I listen to (With the exception of the stuff I've downloaded to review here and elsewhere... I'd stream, but I'm on dial-up and live in a place where high-speed won't be available for another 5yrs - But hey! I can jam in my back yard as loud/late as I want with no problems! )

I just didn't like the idea of some jerk-off taking credit for making MY music... Little dork probably never even HELD a guitar in his life.

- Tanlith -

 

[Havagr8da]

I agree a hundered percent. It doesn't get much worse than someone taking credit for your hard work.