- The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (“UMAW”) has waged war against music streaming companies such as Spotify, demanding that they change their revenue structure to benefit featured artists more
- The Fan Pass platform combines the revenue structure of traditional music streaming sites but with a unique spin, offering artists more opportunities for individual revenue streams
- Friendable has worked hard since launching Fan Pass in 2020 to find ways to increase revenue for artists, including PPV ticket sales, upcoming NFTs, and more
Music streaming companies like Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) have come under fire recently for not sustaining artist livelihood because the revenue structure they offer does not truly benefit musicians. In the United States, the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (“UMAW”) was formed to help ensure that musical artists are being paid their fair share of royalties from streaming services. The goal is to create a more just relationship with labels and create safer guidelines for venues. The primary target of the UMAW seems to be Spotify, with the Union demanding:
- Pay of at least one cent per stream
- A user-centric payment model
- Making closed-door contracts available to the public
- Revealing existing payola, then ending it
- Crediting all labor in recordings
- An end to legal battles that are intended to impoverish artists further
A 34-year-old British musician, Nadine Shah, describes her experience as being financially crippled during the pandemic. She is one of the artists who has banded together to force a change. “If we got paid a meaningful income from streaming, that could be a weekly grocery shop; it could contribute to your rent or your mortgage when you need it the most. That’s why I felt compelled to talk about it. I saw so many artists struggling,” Shah said (https://nnw.fm/uemHZ).
Under Spotify’s current structure, artists are paid a portion of subscription fees based on the popularity of their music streams. The more popular you are, the higher the potential to earn revenue. Spotify isn’t alone. Many music streaming services utilize the same structure.
But Fan Pass, a music streaming platform and application from Friendable (OTC: FDBL), takes the traditional revenue structure and puts its own spin on it. Through the Fan Pass structure, artists earn a portion of the monthly subscription revenue, much like Spotify, but artists who set up ticketed live-streamed events also earn the revenue from their ticket sales. These artists can leverage their fan base for income, not only from monthly subscription revenue, but ticket and merchandise sales as well.
Fan Pass was launched at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in July 2020 as a way to enable artists and fans alike to engage in a safe way. “COVID-19 transformed many industries, especially the entertainment/music industry. Audiences have gravitated toward live stream video through social media, virtual group meetings, and even get-togethers, so fans have been acclimated to consume content digitally. We’ve made the direct-to-consumer experience an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experience for both artist and fan,” Friendable CEO Robert A. Rositano Jr. said at the time (https://nnw.fm/BBoWo).
He also underlined that Fan Pass is meant to redefine the artist-fan relationship by delivering a unique virtual experience that will be a very lucrative and profitable revenue-sharing model for both the artists and Fan Pass, as fans continue to be invited back for more.
The revenue generated by subscriptions and ticket/merchandise sales was only the beginning for the artists on the streaming platform. As recently as April 2021, Friendable has announced expanding the revenue opportunities for artists to include non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). NFTs represent a unique opportunity for artists and mark the beginning of “Fanpasscrypto.” Each NFT will represent an item such as a photo, video, audio, or another digital-based file. NFTs have generated approximately $237 million in revenue, since 2018, most of it reported in January 2021 (https://nnw.fm/8uRVL).
The NFT offering is yet another way in which Fan Pass focuses on empowering artists and helping them increase revenue and elevate their careers through the platform. Fan Pass aims to serve as a true partner to its artist members, who retain full control throughout the entire process and can leverage numerous support tools and services, including marketing materials, logo design and merchandise design services, and more.
This approach enables Friendable and Fan Pass to cement their position as a top platform of choice for musicians and fans, as well as a prominent role in the fast-growing global music streaming industry. Before the pandemic, in 2019, the music streaming market was valued at $20.9 billion. The sector is expanding at a CAGR of 17.8 percent, being expected to reach $76.9 billion by 2027 (https://nnw.fm/0Mm7j).
For more information, visit the company’s websites at www.Friendable.com or www.FanPassLive.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to FDBL are available in the company’s newsroom at http://nnw.fm/FDBL
About NetworkNewsWire
NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is a financial news and content distribution company that provides (1) access to a network of wire services via NetworkWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible, (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets (3), enhanced press release services to ensure maximum impact, (4) social media distribution via the Investor Brand Network (IBN) to nearly 2 million followers, (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions, and (6) a total news coverage solution with NNW Prime. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.
To receive SMS text alerts from NetworkNewsWire, text “STOCKS” to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information, please visit https://www.networknewswire.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer
NetworkNewsWire (NNW)
New York, New York
www.networknewswire.com
212.418.1217 Office
[email protected]
NetworkNewsWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.
