Reverbnation sponsorship offer

[Poker99]

Just got this in my reverbnation mail :

 

You are among a select group of Artists being invited to participate in an sponsored music opportunity that actually pays you to give your music to your fans. We have allocated $50.00 for "my band name" for this campaign. To collect it, follow these basic steps:

 

1. You submit a song that you have never given away for free.

 

2. You agree to allow a branded message to be added to your digital cover art.

 

3. You promote the song, and get paid for giving away downloads.

 

 

 

Program Details Below are the basic details of the program, if you have more specific questions after reading these then checkout our FAQs section at the end of the page or contact us at sponsoredsongs@reverbnation.com . You get paid for giving away music. We have allocated up to $50.00 to Naked Gun from this sponsor. You will earn $0.50 per download, up to a maximum of $50.00 total. This is your 'Cap' for the program. You submit an original song and that is not free anywhere else The song needs to be one that you have never given away before. This could be an unreleased track, a live recording — anything — as long as your fans will want it and its never been available for free before. The track cannot be available anywhere for free during 120 days while the program runs. If your song is being sold somewhere (physical CDs, or digital downloads) that is okay. You allow a branded message to be added to your digital cover art The sponsor will place a small, branded message on digital cover art of your download. The message will appear each time the song is played. Click here to see an example. If you don't like the sponsor, you will be given the opportunity to opt out of the campaign. You use ReverbNation tools to promote the song to your fans for free Use our FanReach email system, free banners, and more to help you promote that song, just like you normally would. To help you out, the sponsor will be spending money to promote your music on MySpace, ReverbNation, etc... by driving traffic to your song. If you have more questions please see our FAQs below. FAQ 1. Who is the sponsor for this campaign? We know this is important to you, and we wish we could announce it right away, but the sponsor needs time to get press release out and get all the legal issues squared away, so we need to wait for right now. We wanted to give you an opportunity to polish up or create original content for the campaign, and that means giving you as much time as possible. We will announce the sponsor to you prior to the start of the campaign, and if you don't like the sponsor, you will be able to opt out. We can tell you it is a major, internationally recognized brand. 2. What if I don't like the brand for this campaign? You will always have the option to opt-out after you have submitted. You will be able to see the advertiser and preview the art before the campaign goes live. Once you see the advertiser, you will have 48 hours to opt-out of the program. 3. How is my Cap determined? Your cap is determined by your Band Equity Score at ReverbNation, the size of your fan base, your historical download activity, sales (if applicable), and the target demographic of your fan base. You will be paid only for the downloads given away up to your Cap, however, we encourage you to continue to promote these free downloads after you have reached your Cap. Exceeding your download Cap will increase your popularity as a band, which can have a direct impact on playing more shows, or selling music. Most importantly, exceeding your Cap factors heavily into determining your Cap for the next program. The more downloads you give away, the more likely you are to have a higher Cap for the next campaign, and ultimately the more money you can make. 4. What if I don't hit the download cap established for me? You will be paid $0.50 for each qualified download that you received during the campaign, up to the cap. For example, say your cap is 100 downloads, that would make you $50.00 if you gave away all 100. If you gave away only 15 songs during the campaign you would receive $15.00 x $0.50 or $7.50. 5. What if I exceed the download cap established for me? You will be paid for downloads up to the cap. Anything beyond that will only help your popularity (that's a good thing), and put you in a good position to have a higher cap for the next campaign. 6. Will the sponsor be promoting my songs? Yes. The advertiser will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to drive traffic to all of the songs in the program. 7. During the campaign, can I sell my music on iTunes, Amazon, etc? Yes. You can sell the music in other places, but it is critical that this be the only place the song is available for FREE during the period of the campaign. 8. Do I have to market the song to my fans using ReverbNation tools? Yes, you are expected to support the campaign by using the banner(s) and widgets provided by ReverbNation to promote the giveaway. If you use the FanReach email service or the widgets from ReverbNation, we will automatically promote the song in a tasteful way via those channels for you. All you need to do is keep communicating with your fans as you do now. 9. After the campaign, can I give the music away for free? Yes, but only after 120 days from the start of the campaign, which is scheduled to begin on June 10th. 10. What happens if I give the song away for free during the campaign via some other channel? If you violate the terms of the agreement, you will be ineligible to collect the money owed to you and will not be considered for future similar campaigns. 11. When will I be paid? You will be paid within 60 days of the conclusion of the campaign. Right now, the campaign is slated to end in early October. 12. What if I download my own music over and over? Don't do this. We employ a variety of fraud prevention techniques, and we have mechanisms in place for detecting bots, click fraud, link automation and other fraudulent activity. If we find Artists that are downloading their own music, we will remove them from the program immediately, and they will be ineligible to participate in all future campaigns. Period. 13. Who is responsible for paying the songwriters, etc.? You. By agreeing to the terms of the program you are waiving any statutory royalty rights you have. If you don't own 100% of the rights to your music, we recommend checking with an attorney before agreeing to the terms and conditions. 14. Is this part of Fair Share? No, this program is totally different. The only similarity is you get paid for both! 15. Will I be giving up any of my song rights for this opportunity? No. You are only giving up the right to give away the submitted song via any other method during the 120 days of the campaign (but you may have it available for sale during that time). Instead, you will receive $0.50 per download up to the maximum cap assigned to you for that song. Once the campaign is over, you may use the song as you wish. You will also be waiving the statutory royalty rights associated with the song during that time frame (see below). 16. Why do I have to waive my statutory rights during the period? We are paying you for giving away free music, which is different than getting paid for selling your music. By waiving your statutory rights during the period you are basically allowing us to find new ways to get you paid that are outside of the old model of selling CDs or digital downloads.

 

[daddymack]

fascinating...if it was some 'fly by night' website I would be suspicious, but reverbnation has been around for a while. Sounds like a win-win as long as the rules stay the way they are and the sponsor comes through as promised. Since they have a time limit, you really have nothing to lose except taking that song off any sites where it was offered for free...so what is the net loss there?

[Poker99]

Thanks for your reply. Anyone else got this offer? It stipulates somewhere that we have been chosen because of :

 

"Your cap is determined by your Band Equity Score at ReverbNation, the size of your fan base, your historical download activity, sales (if applicable), and the target demographic of your fan base. "

 

 

We are first in the local charts for our region in the rock category, and 2nd overall (all styles), but we are nothing that special really on a bigger scale. So I guess a lot of artists get this offer.

[Poker99]

If you would like to participate in this Advertising Campaign, please check the “I agree to the Campaign Offer” on the signup page. In addition, please indicate your songs which you would like to submit for consideration. Please remember that even if you elect to participate, you may not get chosen by the Sponsor. Thus, this offer does not represent a binding guaranty that you will be chosen to participate or that you will receive any payments even if you are chosen to participate. We need to receive notice of your intent to participate (i.e., you need to complete the signup application) not later than May 28th, 2009 (the “Cut-Off Date”). No requests to participate will be accepted after that date.

 

[zuzz]

Really what it sounds like is "for a chance to make $50 whore your ReverbNation link all over the internet to help promote our website".

[Kramerguy]

 

Really what it sounds like is "for a chance to make $50 whore your ReverbNation link all over the internet to help promote our website".

 

 

That's what I was thinking too.

[Poker99]

follow up

 

 

Subject: Sponsored Song Brand Revealed Thank you for your interest in the Sponsored Songs program. We are excited to announce that the inaugural brand partner for this innovative program is Windows® (from Microsoft). Why Windows? Here's what they said: "More than a billion people worldwide use Windows everyday to pursue their passions and dreams and share their creativity with the broader online global community. This pilot program with ReverbNation is an exciting new way to engage audiences, and we hope we can play a role in transforming music distribution online while ensuring fair compensation for artists." In addition to compensating artists for downloads, Windows will be promoting this program - to drive music fans to learn more about the music available to them - via marketing campaigns at MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. In other words, they are going to pay you AND promote you! (yes, it's true) If you've submitted a song for the program, final decisions will be made on Friday, June 12th and notifications will be sent out shortly after that. You will then be shown the actual advertisements and asked for your approval. The program is scheduled to go live on June 24th with a press release and the launch of marketing programs. Cheers, ReverbNation.com