Is there a need for an all-encompassing music hub?
Ever since MySpace, the world has decided that music can’t be a social world of its own and the SaaS and web tech solutions in the industry have dispersed between a myriad of solutions.
These days both musicians and music lovers have a nearly endless choice of places where to consume music and run a music business.
The default solution for most musicians is to try and become a social media influencer or sensation and get the attention of concert promoters, big-name producers, labels, and teams of pros who can help run their brand and music business.
This approach means creating profiles on several social media, coming up with unique content for all of them, figuring out your key selling point there — what useful or entertaining content you can provide to your audience. And after all that effort the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of fans still need to be converted into real customers of your music.
Yes, a social media influencer can use brand collabs and ad revenue to profit, but that is a) not that easy to do if the musician wants to actually live off these profits, b) most musicians want their music — records and live shows — to be the source of their income providing validation to them being an in-demand music pro, an actual musician as a day job.
This means that even artists with large followings on one or several social media platforms need to work on setting up revenue streams off their music — distributing music through a variety of services, hustling to set up concerts and gigs (both offline and online), promote show tickets, merch, Patreon subscriptions and Twitch donations, as well as actually asking people to listen to your tracks and buy your albums.
This can get exhausting not just for the artist but the fans as well. The number of platforms one has to use to just be a music fan these days is overwhelming.
Having said all that, didn’t the music industry already have an experience with a music space that connected musicians, fans, allowed for music listening, music video consumption, interaction with artists and music-related content, and was the overall destination for anyone into music. I am talking about MySpace, of course.
The platform was a force to be reckoned with. More than 14 million artists uploaded their songs to MySpace. Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, Katy Perry, Colbie Caillat, Tyga got their traction as music institutions on the platform. At one point the site has overtaken Yahoo is popularity across the US.
In 2008, the platform began experiencing gradual and inexorable loss of its active user base and faded out from people’s minds, but not before turning into a proverbial ghost town with some of its devoted users still trying to make the best of it on the once busy but now empty pages of their favorite artists.
Many consider the demise of MySpace to be a warning to any other network vying for the attention of music fans, lovers, and creators. Nonetheless, the success of music creators on YouTube, Patreon, Twitch, and the new generation of bedroom musicians who create music from home and distribute directly to fans seems to hint that there’s more to it than a simple no-go.
Can a music network that offers musicians a string of monetization options along with the social element of fan interaction be this decade’s answer to MySpace?
Today, social networks aren’t just the place to entertain yourself and connect with others — they have become a primary source of income for millions of people across the globe. Incessant advertising is turning some of the available hubs into places barely worth the effort to dig through all the ads.
Moreover, music fans are tired of hopping from platform to platform to follow any given artist — music is on one platform, concert tickets on another, online shows are streamed sometimes on socials, sometimes in standalone services, subscriptions are usually available on yet another third-party platform, while the interaction and updates mostly happen on one of the major social media platforms.
That’s a lot of hoops to jump through for a fan. And most probably don’t.
Show4me is tackling just the issue.
The music interaction network provides an ad-free, music-only environment. On Show4me, fans can follow the artists they like, subscribe for free or with a paid subscription that starts at $1/year but can include a tip (!). Fans can discover new tracks, listen to music, and buy albums, EPs, and singles all in the same space.
In Artistclubs, fans have the opportunity to interact with their favorite musicians and bands, consume the updates and content the creators share, as well as track upcoming shows and get tickets for them.
Show4me also has built-in concert streaming, so fans do not have to go anywhere else while the creative teams can have an easier time promoting their recurring events with their core audience already on the platform.
With the option to add up to 20 ticket tiers to any show, music creators can easily add merch, music lessons, beat writing sessions, shoutouts, and other perks into their concert ticket sales.
Show4me allows for concerts advertised and ticketed on the platform to be offline, hybrid, or online, catering to the needs of the creators now confined to the new in-person gathering limits prompted by the pandemic.
On Novemer 23, 2020, the platform released a major update, aimed at helping musicians and fans get the best out of the experience. One of the new additions is a mobile app for iOS and Android.
The app provides an immersive experience for fans where they can listen to music, discover new releases and artists, subscribe to Artistclubs, support artists through paid Artistclub memberships, album, ticket, and merch purchases.
The app is ad-free, just like the web version of Show4me.
Can Show4me become the next hub for music enthusiasts and professionals? Comment below what you think!
