Digital Promotion Companies

Topic(s): Comparison of Digital Audio Promotion Service Costs

Comparison of Digital Audio Promotion Service Costs

Introduction

This document compares several leading options available to record labels, distributors and publicists wanting to digitise their promo sending operations. Broadly, each service offers a tailored and customisable solution to allow users to move away from expensive and time-consuming CD-based promotion.

The services evaluated are:

1. http://www.digital-promos.com
2. http://www.fatdrop.co.uk
3. http://www.eatdigital.com
4. iPool (http://labeltools.com/musicpromotion/en/)
5. http://www.releasepromo.com

The services are evaluated on the following bases:

1. Operating model
2. Full cost analysis based on sending full-length album and three-track single promo to 50 and 100 recipients
3. Final cost-per-service indicating the cost of servicing each individual with digital promo
4. Additional setup and/or monthly subscription costs

The information presented herein has been prepared for the sole use of [label name removed] and should only be used as guidance. It does not constitute a recommendation of any kind.

Please refer to the Summary below for an overview.

1. www.Digital-Promos.com

Introduction

Digital-Promos.com maintains its own list of DJs within the house, techno and breaks genres. Their database consists of top-level “tastemaker” DJs (including names such as Carl Craig, Timo Maas, Slipmatt and Kid Kenobi) plus separate larger lists of reviewers, resident DJs at clubs worldwide, and FM/web/satellite radio DJs.

Their pricing model is geared to the dance music industry and they concentrate on allowing labels to send out single tracks to their database, which the label selects pool-by-pool. While this suits white-label and promo vinyl releases, it is less cost-effective for larger remix packages and full albums.

Cost Analysis

10-track CD

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost £245.00 (€193.55) £390.00 (€308.10) Cost-per-service £4.90 (€6.15) £3.90 (€4.89)

3-track Taster or Single

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost £73.50 (€58.07) £117.00 (€92.43) Cost-per-service £1.47 (€1.85) £1.17 (€1.47)

Setup costs Nil.

Source

Other Considerations

• The Digital-Promos.com DJ database is a useful option for new or small labels who have no contact database of their own. It is also an attractive prospect for any label wishing to get their music heard by top-tier DJs around the world.

However, Digital-Promos.com’s contacts remain Digital-Promos.com’s contacts. There is no direct interaction between label and DJ and the site needs to ensure that this gap exists if it is to maintain its usefulness.

• It is also a possibility that by servicing Digital-Promos.com’s club and web radio lists with promo material, a label may be supplying free music to somebody who would otherwise have purchased the release.

2. FatDrop.co.uk

Introduction

Also focussed on the dance music industry, Fatdrop does not maintain a database of DJ’s. Labels specify to whom they would like to send promo material, and each of those individuals is sent a link to a page on the Fatdrop site where they can stream each track available. Recipients must listen to and leave feedback for each streamed track before they are allowed to download it in a higher-quality format.

Cost Analysis

Fatdrop’s pricing is based on amount of bandwidth used in servicing contacts, as opposed to a concrete cost-per-service. Their monthly subscription of £35.00 includes 2GB of download traffic, after which additional traffic is charged at £6.00 per GB.

This bandwidth comprises both streaming and downloading. Fatdrop’s own estimates are 5MB for a streamed track, and 12MB for a downloaded track.

On this basis, if an individual streams and then downloads every track on a ten-track album, the 2GB download limit is reached once 12 people have completed their downloads. This reflects a cost-per-service of £2.91 (€2.30.)

10-track CD

Based on 10 tracks streamed @ 50MB + 10 tracks downloaded @ 120MB = 170MB

Number of recipients 50 100 Size in GB 8.5GB 17GB Allocation 2GB included + 7GB @ £6/GB 2GB included + 15GB @ £6/GB

Total cost £77.00 (€60.83) £125.00 (€98.75)

Cost-per-service £3.85 (€4.84) £1.25 (€1.57)

3-track Taster or Single

Based on 3 tracks streamed @ 15MB + 3 tracks downloaded @ 36MB = 51MB

Number of recipients 50 100 Size in GB 2.6GB 5GB Allocation 2GB included + 1GB @ £6/GB 2GB included + 3GB @ £6/GB

Total cost £41.00 (€32.39) £53.00 (€41.87)

Cost-per-service £0.82 (€1.03) £0.53 (€0.67)

Setup costs £50.00 signup, £175.00 design (optional)

Source: email dialogue following online enquiry.

Other Considerations

• There is no inbuilt mechanism to prevent multiple downloads. So, if somebody gets sent a download link they can send it to as many contacts as they like for them to check out. Fatdrop will alert the label when this happens so they can approach the DJ directly, but for each person downloading the music – whether invited or uninvited – the bandwidth cost accumulates.

• There is no provision for broken downloads; if a user fails to download a track and keeps retrying, consumed bandwidth accumulates.

• Fatdrop is not ideally suited to CD-album promo, as recipients can cherry-pick the tracks they are interested in rather than download and listen to an album as a whole. Similarly, there is no provision for the inclusion of a onesheet and other media sundries such as press photos, which are crucial in any album release promo campaign.

• Fatdrop’s £35.00 (€27.65) subscription fee is payable each month. This is useful for labels constantly releasing music throughout the year but the model renders it less attractive for those with a lighter release schedule.

3. EatDigital.com

Introduction

EatDigital.com prices its service based on number of downloads completed. There are no bandwidth or storage penalties, and there is no ongoing monthly fee.

The service is geared to full-package promos. Recipients are sent secure, single-user links to download a single .zip file containing all tracks and associated documents (onesheet, artwork, etc.) EatDigital does not charge the label for any recipient who chooses not to download their promo.

Like Fatdrop and iPool, EatDigital does not maintain its own official database of DJs to whom they send your music.

Cost Analysis

This Cost Analysis assumes, for the sake of an even benchmark, that every person invited to download a promo completes their download. If only 75% of individuals choose to download, these costs will be revised accordingly.

10-track CD

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost €50.00 (£63.29) €100.00 (£126.58) Cost-per-service €1.00 (£0.79) €1.00 (£0.79)

3-track Taster or Single

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost €25.00 (£31.65) €50.00 (£63.29) Cost-per-service €0.50 (£0.40) €0.50 (£0.40)

Setup Costs Nil. (Optional premium branding €125.00)

Source: email dialogue following online enquiry

Other Considerations

• Labels are free to specify the length of their promo campaign and determine this on-the-fly. There is no monthly subscription fee, so the label is not penalised for running a promo campaign over several consecutive months.

• Additional contacts can be added at no cost to the label.

• Unused download credits are refunded to the label at the end of a promo campaign or are carried forward to a future promo.

4. iPool

Introduction

iPool is operated by Labeltools Gmbh and is marketed to larger users as a standalone web application. It has several levels of service and requires its own hosting under a unique web address (e.g. www.labelname-promo.com)

The entry-level iPool package, which costs €69 (£87.34) per month, excludes core features that are standard to other comparable services, such as reaction feedback reporting and download statistics. As these features are a key benefit to the concept of digital promo, for the sake of even comparison we are using as a benchmark iPool Basic.

iPool Basic has a monthly subscription cost of €129 (£163.29).

Full details of levels of the iPool service are available here.

Cost Analysis

iPool’s pricing is based on the number of users (recipients) you wish to service with your music. There is no limit to the number of downloads or bandwidth consumed; iPool’s restrictions are based on the total storage space of all promo material available.

iPool Basic includes 1GB of online storage. Based on our benchmark album-download size, this would allow for 5 simultaneous album promos available at any one time.

This different approach to pricing makes a direct comparison somewhat awkward. For the sake of simplicity we will assume that a label is using each download service for the same promo runs: promoing both a full-length album and a 3-track single to 50 and 100 people.

10-track CD

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost €129 (£109.91) €129 (£109.91) Cost-per-service €2.58 (£2.04) €1.29 (£1.02)

3-track Taster or Single

Number of recipients 50 100 Total cost €129 (£109.91) €129 (£109.91) Cost-per-service €2.58 (£2.04) €1.29 (£1.02)

Setup costs €19.

Source

Other Considerations

• iPool’s packages are limited on the number of users (recipients) you wish to give access to your promo material, with iPool Basic having a limit of 200 users.

• If you wanted to promote a release to more than 200 people you would need to upgrade to a higher package: iPool Standard allows 500 users with a per-month cost of €249 (£315). iPool allows two free package upgrades per year, with a charge of €49 (£62.00) for additional upgrades.

• iPool’s subscription fee is payable monthly regardless of whether or not a label is actively promoting a release.

• The above Cost Analysis has been carried out assuming that the promo campaign starts and finishes in the same month. If the promo campaign runs for six weeks, this will fall across two separate months and the above Total Cost and Cost-Per-Service will double.

5. ReleasePromo.com

Introduction

ReleasePromo.com operates on a different mechanism to other services discussed here. They do not charge labels anything for sending out their material to their pool of DJs: instead they charge DJs US$99 per month (€62.81, £50.00).

It is geared solely to the dance music sector and claims to be promoing between 75 and 100 tracks per week.

Cost Analysis

Labels can send out their promo material to all ReleasePromo.com members free of charge. There is limited functionality in choosing to whom the music is sent.

Other Considerations

• It is unclear exactly how many subscribing DJs are members of ReleasePromo’s pool, but it raises the possibility that someone who has been serviced with a free promo might have otherwise been somebody who purchases the music, digitally or otherwise, upon release.

ReleasePromo is certainly a cheaper option for heavy consumers of music; 350-400 MP3 singles per month for $99 is significantly cheaper than the same amount from a dance music digital store such as Beatport, or even a generalist online retailer such as iTunes.

• There has been some debate as to the validity of ReleasePromo’s service given that they are collecting payment from subscribers without passing any revenue on to the label.

Share this: