Drip.FM

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
regretfullySaid
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Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:55 pm

DRIP.FM
Anyone familiar with this?

Got an email from Stones Throw that they're putting a $10 monthly subscription on Drip.fm.
"...a subscription music service where we share every new Stones Throw release delivered right to your inbox. Members get every new Stones Throw album, single and EP as they are released, subscription price is $10 a month. Check out the details...
http://sthrow.com/drip"

These are non-drm downloadable mp3s@320 to keep FOREVER.

I hope SoulJazz and Finders Keepers follow suit, this is fucking awesome.
Way to go, Ghostly. Check out the bottom of the Terms of Service.

This is not meant to be an ad.
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Ryanmf
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by Ryanmf » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:52 pm

Wow.
  1. Awesome. Fucking awesome.
  2. I have never spent anything approaching $120 in a calendar year on Stones Throw releases, but I'm very strongly considering subscribing to this.
  3. I really hope that in a couple of months PB Wolf or someone else at Stones Throw does a public writeup on how much revenue they've generated from Drip.fm, how much of that was distributed to artists on their roster (and preferably a breakdown of how they determined how much each artist would receive), YoY sales metrics, estimates of impact on unauthorized downloads (torrents, linkblogs, etc), and whatever else they deem relevant and choose to share.
Thanks for the heads up.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:57 pm

Yeah. I can't remember if I thought of it before or reading it from someone else, but labels having subscriptions is a no-brainer. Expecting to see this more often, or hope to. I've been curious about the direct-to-vinyl releases but haven't gotten any, and am behind on the last couple Medicine Show releases, and there's more new stuff that's gotten my interest, so this is the ticket.
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Ryanmf
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by Ryanmf » Wed Jan 25, 2012 2:17 am

Important to note that you're only guaranteed access to whatever comes out once you subscribe. From the horse's mouf:
Stones Throw wrote:…Members get every new Stones Throw album, single and EP as they are released, select music from the catalog…
So availability of any Medicine Shows you've already missed, for instance, fall somewhere between "maybe" and "probably not."

Also, Ghostly has their own subscription page up.
Ghostly wrote:Join the Ghostly family, where we share with you every Ghostly and Spectral release, delivered right to your inbox to download and stream. Members get select back catalog releases, unreleased, exclusive and curated music.

How it Works:
- Get every new Ghostly and Spectral release, delivered to your inbox
- Download (WAV, MP3) or Stream anywhere
- Exclusive tracks, and mixes and sessions from Ghostly artists and more

- Additional Benefits:
- Receive an extra 15% discount on all Ghostly Store purchases
- Exclusive newsletter for members
Notable differences being WAV availability, 15% off store purchases, and their offering is $15/mo rather than $10.

Another thing I was thinking about: the ToS are very specific about these files being for personal use, I would imagine largely to dissuade people from uploading the files to torrent trackers, etc. But I wonder how the terms apply to DJs. Do you have to pay for another copy of the song if you want to play it out? It's not really addressed anywhere that I can find.

beats me
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by beats me » Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:13 am

Don't know Stones Throw but that's a really cool concept I hope more labels adopt. I have absolutely no loyalty to labels, started DJing way past when that was something you did and partially as a result of so many independent and small new labels releasing tracks that labels are almost becoming unnecessary. This type of thing would really help peak interest in labels for both the listener and artists looking for labels.

IMHO. :x

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:10 pm

I wouldn't call it loyalty as much as more like being a fan because of track record. I'm not huge on Stones Throw's nuts but I like their style.

I don't think labels will be unnecassary because they can handle a lot of the things a musician doesn't have to. I'm not into the whole DIY everything grassroots spamming that a lot of musicians have success with. I'd rather have a label take care of promo and touring, plus there's the collective aspect of it; collabo not just between other muso's but the graphic/visual/video artists...
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Ryanmf
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by Ryanmf » Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:41 pm

beats me wrote:Don't know Stones Throw but that's a really cool concept I hope more labels adopt.
With Def Jux on hiatus and Rawkus having been bought by Geffen/Interscope, then splitting back off when Geffen went under and subsequently establishing a partnership with Sony, Stones Throw is the biggest independent hip hop label left (although they've always had an eclectic roster, really it's just a label filled with people who love old music, many of whom happen to be independent hip hop artists).

Home to J Dilla, Madlib, Quasimoto, and more recently folks like Mayer Hawthorne, Dimlite, Guilty Simpson, Dâm Funk, and Jonwayne—who I happened to catch the first time he ever performed live, at which point I think he may have been too young to be inside the venue he was playing at.
beats me wrote:This type of thing would really help peak interest in labels for both the listener and artists looking for labels.
I think this sort of thing provides a really interesting opportunity for labels to recapture the role as curator that was always supposed to be their raison d'être. Admittedly, independent labels like Stones Throw, Ghostly, and others are already damn good at that, but this just gives them more tools to work with, and a more direct connection to fans to foster engagement, gauge fan response, and ultimately measure results and make more informed decisions in the future. Fuck Soundscan.
shadx312 wrote:…plus there's the collective aspect of it; collabo not just between other muso's but the graphic/visual/video artists...
Yes. I don't like using the word "collective"—I think it's become sort of meaningless, and to the extent that it has any meaning I get the impression that other people would think it means something different than I do in this context. But as far as internal business practices are concerned, this might represent a first step towards groups of affiliated artists working together and pooling resources in a fashion that might be called a collective. I think a better word could be "guild". Or we just come up with a new word, but there are some significant parallels to the artists' guilds of yore. And you're right, that kind of organizational structure lends itself really well to situations where a variety of creative types (vocalists, traditional musicians, producers, DJs, VJs, visual artists/designers, illustrators, animators, set designers and other craftsmen, electrical engineers, programmers, and so on) with some common artistic bent are in the mix.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:15 pm

No Limit? I'm sure the vultures finished cleaning that carcass up years ago.

Ok, looks like No Limit Forever is just starting to stand but I doubt it'll be nothing more than a starting place for up'n'comers. I don't see that in the same field as ST. ST is more traditional and mid-stream while No Limit had great success but wasn't it technically on the outskirts, more self-contained, street-biz type...
Last edited by regretfullySaid on Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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H20nly
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by H20nly » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:19 pm

i was thinking the same thing about No-Limit. i don't think that their influence is all that influential anymore. especially north of Mason Dixie line and west of Houston city limits.

Rap-a-lot does at least have some classic appeal (Ghetto Boys/Scarface).

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:30 pm

Looks like Rap-a-Lot might be restarting with a new generation...lots of Greatest Hits and Comps in the last couple years and now a couple new artists...didn't really listen to much of their old roster, though, mostly Scarface.
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H20nly
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by H20nly » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:37 pm

yeah but both those labels have put out a lot of disposable rap with few classics that will endure.

i mean even Mystikal and some of the other more memorable cats:

A) are signed to different labels almost every release
B) are regional at best

the only reason i even know Mystikal's (to stay with the one example) music is because i lived in the dirty south. i can say his name to someone in Cali and for the most part they're like "who?"

Master P himself is no different. some folks will recognize a song or two and be like "oh yeah i forgot about that" immediately before turning their attention elsewhere.

i think both those labels have waxed and waned, but there again that doesn't really distinguish them from Stones Throw... or any other indy label for that matter.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:06 pm

In the late 90's when I lived in KY I decided to do a Columbia House order and saw Mystikals cd and ordered it based on the name and being able to tell it was going to be rap. I think it may have been his 2nd album. I was disappointed when I couldn't tell most of what he was saying though I think I expected to hear the P sound.

Shortly after that he blew up thanks to who, Busta?

Even earlier than that I worked with a guy who was on Silkks nuts hardcore so I ended up checking some stuff out and ended up being impressed with the production...
Someone gave me a soundtrack to one of the movies P directed and a chorus on one of the songs was "Feels so damn, good to me, when I'm pushin' inside of you..." and it was hard to take seriously but funny that others took it seriously. Of course now that's nothin.

I don't care what label it comes from though, those CGI album covers are cheesy as hell.
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Ryanmf
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by Ryanmf » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:32 pm

Don't get me wrong, I love Southern rap—both the good stuff and the ignorant ass party/trunk music—I love a ton of artists who came up through the No Limit/Cash Money/Rap-a-Lot ranks.

But that doesn't change the fact that the No Limit we used to know filed for bankruptcy in 2003, there was a fairly long period where they weren't really doing much, in large part because the rappers coming up at that time in Texas, Louisiana, Atlanta and elsewhere wanted to set up their own shops and do their own thing (Swisha House, Grand Hustle, Chamillitary, etc), and the No Limit Forever imprint that exists now is just a different entity.

As far as Rap-a-Lot is concerned:
Wikipedia wrote:On May 18, 2010, Rap-a-Lot Records announced that it recently signed a distribution deal with Fontana Distribution.
Wikipedia wrote:Fontana Distribution is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group that was launched in 2004, which deals in distribution, as well as in a range of sales, marketing, and back office support services, for a diverse roster of independent record labels and their artists.
Which, in my mind, makes them decidedly less independent.
shadx312 wrote:I don't care what label it comes from though, those CGI album covers are cheesy as hell.
It's the corniest shit ever, but that's part of what makes it so awesome. I get really nostalgic when I see that cover art.

regretfullySaid
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by regretfullySaid » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:44 pm

heheh, true.
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The Carpet Cleaner
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Re: Drip.FM

Post by The Carpet Cleaner » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:44 am

$10 per month is a lot ! and only for one label ! no interested.

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