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FEATURE

Scissor Sisters RDIO

Rdio CEO on their new Artist Program

04 October 2012

Drew Larner, the CEO of Rdio, speaks to TMN about Rdio's new Artist Program.

How exactly does the Artist Program provides revenue directly to the artist?
This is a new way for any artist to make money from streaming music. Artists already use Rdio to share their music and the music they love with their fans right on the service and through Twitter and Facebook. Now with the Artist Program, they’ll be rewarded with $10 USD for any new subscriber they attract to Rdio - effectively rewarding them for fan enagement. Artists will also get access to a dashboard where they can customise their Rdio artist page and view real-time stats on referrals.

How does this differ from traditional royalty payments?
Rdio does not pay royalties to artists directly. We have agreements with labels and distributors and they have deals with their artists. This program is meant to complement the licensing deals we already have in place with labels and distributors for access to music on the service, adding an additional direct revenue channel to artists and providing a new element of transparency around the streaming music model.

Money is paid to the artists through subscribers brought in through an affiliate link tied to an artist. Could you explain more about this?
Artists receive access to a dashboard where they are able to convert any link on Rdio to a unique trackable link associated with their account. From there, artists can share those links with their fans on Twitter, Facebook or other online properties. Anything from their own album to their favorite new artist can easily be shared, giving fans a window into their musical inspirations. For new subscriber artists attract to Rdio through social sharing they will earn $10 USD.

How about non-artists who are often sharing music and therefore helping to draw subscribers; are there plans to open this up to them?
This program is specifically about artists. It aligns our focus on social music discovery with our fundamental belief that artists deserve to get paid for their work. Artists make the music that is the key to Rdio. We are committed to supporting the community and strive to create a sustaining and engaging model that benefits everyone involved.

Our 'Influencer' program really encompasses anyone who has a significant voice in music. In addition to artists, we have magazines, radio personalities and other influencers in music who share their musical tastes with our users around the world. They are people whose opinions are important and respected, but not necessarily people whose livelihood is directly affected by the success and growth of digital music services like Rdio.

::HOT SEAT INTERVIEW WITH DREW LARNER

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