SongBits is revolutionising how independent artists fund their careers. In the conventional music industry, barely 10% of revenue reaches musicians. The overwhelming majority of generated revenue goes to record labels, publishers, and streaming services, and much of what’s left pays for legal fees and other costs.
There are also far fewer physical music sales than in previous decades, with artists contending with rising costs affecting everything from merchandise production to fuel for tour buses.
As a result, up-and-coming artists struggle to get their feet off the ground, no matter how talented they may be. However, thanks to innovators like SongBits, artists have new avenues for funding, promotion, and fan engagement that could make a difference in their promising careers.
In this article, we’ll explore the new groundbreaking music service from SongBits. We’ll consider the company’s history, examine the platform’s features and run through how the site works. We’ll also take a closer look at the forthcoming release from exciting new artist Phoebe Willo and discuss the promising collaboration between SongBits and Music Gateway.
What Is SongBits?
SongBits is an innovative new online platform that empowers artists with funding solutions and allows fans to personally invest in their favourite artists’ songs. The basis of the endeavour involves the sale of ‘bits’. These are small slices of a particular song that fans can buy from songbits.com. By purchasing bits, fans own a portion of a specific song’s streaming rights. This entitles them to a share of future streaming revenue earned every time the song is streamed on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
The SongBits Backstory
The Story of SongBits’ heritage dates back over 50 years to the legendary Trident Studios of Soho, London. The recording facility was founded by Norman Sheffield, drummer for The Hunters and the original manager of the band Queen. Between 1968 and 1981, Trident Studios hosted some of popular music’s most iconic artists. Big names like The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Carly Simon all used the studio.
Some of the most popular songs and albums of all time were laid down at the recording facility. Elton John’s “Your Song”, David Bowie’s album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, and the Queen albums “Queen”, “Queen II”, and “Sheer Heart Attack” are just a few of the amazing albums created there.
Presently, Norman’s sons, Russell and Justin, have continued their father’s legacy of outstanding contributions to music by creating SongBits. Working with music industry professionals, music management experts, and Dave Stewart, of Grammy award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Eurythmics, SongBits aims to offer the world’s first affordable music ownership marketplace for fans and collectors worldwide.
Buying and Selling with SongBits
The SongBits platform revolutionises the bond between fans and artists, creating deeper connections based on collaborative investment and rewards. Besides supporting their favourite artist with up-front funding, fans who invest with SongBits share the ownership of the song they have purchased a stake in. Accordingly, they also stand to benefit from the song’s success, receiving a share of its revenue through streaming royalties. Streams are monitored across 11 of the most popular Digital Streaming Platforms in 116 countries.
Furthermore, fans who invest can enjoy unique additional benefits that collaborating artists may offer as a token of appreciation. Possible benefits include access to exclusive shows, merch, special releases or edits, live event tickets, and more.
From the artist’s perspective, SongBits offers the chance to gain a new and revolutionary avenue of music monetisation. Moreover, participating artists can build a dedicated community of fans, music lovers, and collectors along the way.
How Does SongBits Work?
The SongBits platform uses blockchain technology in the background to facilitate the buying and selling of bits. However, you don’t need any crypto or NFT knowledge to use the platform. Purchases can be made using cryptocurrency, but credit and debit cards are also accepted for all sales.
After signing up, you can visit the platform’s Hot Drops section. Here, you can find all the latest songs with bits available for purchase. Each bit represents a millisecond of a song, and prices start from as little as $0.06 per bit. To buy bits, choose the quantity or value you’d like to purchase and then hit the buy button to checkout.
Once you’ve completed your purchase, you’ll receive an mp3 download of the full song you bought bits for. You can keep an eye on your bits in your SongBits account. Here, you can also view any royalties you’ve accumulated, withdraw revenue, and sell or gift your bits. If you like, you can also convert your bits to an NFT and export them to an external crypto wallet.
SongBits for Artists
With SongBits, artists can sell part-ownership of their songs to fans, investors, and collectors. As a result, the platform represents a fresh way for artists to take back control of their music and develop a powerful connection with their fan base.
After joining SongBits, artists get access to the platform’s Artist Dashboard. This facility contains all the data they may need to engage with bit holders. Artists control which songs are available for bit purchases, how much they sell, and any additional benefits they wish to offer purchasers.
By making the most of the fan engagement opportunities that SongBits offers, musicians can forge long-lasting connections with dedicated fans and source potential additional sales and future revenue streams.
Upcoming SongBits Releases
As a platform that supports fresh new talent, SongBits works together with several innovative and talented emerging artists. One such exciting prospect is Music Gateway’s Phoebe Willo, who has been working with SongBits for the release of her single “Lost in the Music” – and the track’s SongBits sale will begin on July 28th 2023.
Regarding the single, Phoebe said, “I wanted to write a song about what happens when we allow ourselves to really immerse ourselves in a great track. Music has an almost magical power to wrap around you when you need it, like therapy. You can completely lose yourself in a song, and all your stress dissolves as the song takes you over.”
About Phoebe Willo
Phoebe Willo, a 20-year-old singer-songwriter residing in Brighton, is a pianist, ukulele player, and guitarist. Phoebe’s music is an eclectic blend of indie and dream pop, inspired by the likes of Lorde and Billie Marten.
Within a week of Phoebe releasing her first song, “My Friend Sarah Tonin”, in September 2022, she gained nearly 10,000 listeners and appeared in Spotify’s “New Music Friday” playlist. Indeed, two of her first three releases were featured on the influential playlist, and she achieved over one million streams on Spotify within six months of her first release. Written during the pandemic lockdowns, her debut song emphasises the importance of friendship and the joy it can bring during isolation.
Phoebe’s songs run the gamut of emotions, discussing personal feelings and experiences, both positive and negative. With themes relating to everything from beauty and body image to the joy of close friendships, her lyrics are touching, emotional, and highly relatable. Phoebe’s forthcoming single, “Lost in the Music”, celebrates music’s power to envelope the listener and provide joy and an escape from stress.
Phoebe sees songwriting as her calling and isn’t interested in fame or fortune. However, she’s thrilled when people enjoy her music, and she’s already received excellent reviews in the music media.
SongBits + Music Gateway
Music Gateway aims to “empower independent artists” by providing services across playlisting, radio, press and digital media. Accordingly, the collaboration between Music Gateway and SongBits, another innovative and forward-thinking company, is a natural progression. The partnership will offer new avenues of development and promotion for fresh and untapped talent. At the same time, fans, family and friends will have a unique opportunity to be a part of their trajectory.
Having already partnered with Music Gateway during her career, Phoebe Willo’s forthcoming release, “Lost in the Music”, will be the first joint effort between the two companies and one of SongBits’ largest releases so far. This initial effort heralds the start of a promising relationship that can positively impact the growth and development of up-and-coming artists.
Dave Stewart
Dave Stewart is best known for being one-half of the iconic 80s pop band Eurythmics, featuring Annie Lennox. During a highly successful and influential music career, the group secured a slew of awards and nominations, including winning a Grammy award and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Also an award-winning producer, Stewart has consistently strived to make the music industry more accessible for artists. Significantly, he is a co-founder of SongBits and was an active supporter of Music Gateway in its infancy.
Regarding the collaboration between the two companies, Stewart said, “This is a great partnership between two very different companies, SongBits and Music Gateway, both with the same intention – which is to help artists on the road to support themselves in this ever-changing and complex industry”.
Final Thoughts
In the modern music industry, innovation, investment, and new funding are key to ensuring the continued development of the stars of tomorrow. By enabling fans and collectors to purchase a bit of a song from their next favourite artists, SongBits empowers musicians to regain control of their music and keep 100% of the funds raised.
With investors able to receive future music streaming revenues from the song, exclusive benefits, and the chance to connect with the artist, the platform offers incredible opportunities to cultivate a dedicated and invested fan base.
SongBits, together with Music Gateway and champions of new music talent like Dave Stewart, are providing fresh artists with a helping hand to achieve their goals and dreams. In doing so, they are promoting and protecting the music industry of tomorrow.
Do you want to be the next SongBits artist? Get involved and potentially be the next campaign by applying below.
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