Royalty Free Radio

[Sam Spoons]

What do we think of this business model?
https://royaltyfreemusicradio.com/

[awjoe]

The composer waives royalties in favor of 20% of subscription revenue.

A couple of thoughts:

* So if I get a song played in Pete's Place Italian Food Ristorante on Tuesday evening, 20% of subscription revenue, shared out amongst all the other wannabes works out to...?

* They must have a filter/selection process for submissions. How high's the bar? Or, put another way, how bad can you be and still get your pennies?

* By requiring the business to play nothing other than their playlists, they're ensuring that listeners will hear nothing they recognize. That could come across as refreshing, or really, really boring.

* I wonder if they prioritize favorites? Do you get played more often if you sound like Adele?

Okay, I just listened to a handful of tunes, and it all sounds more pro, more commercial, than anything I've ever done. So it's not fronting bedroom producers. I'd be curious to know who supplies them music.

[BWC]

Haven't found any way in from the artist side, but looks like these are the folks behind it.
https://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/About.shtml

*Edit - Just saw where it says,
"please contact Mark directly
• if you are a composer looking to place your work
• if you have a new business venture you'd like to discuss
• if you are a media representative looking for information"

[OneWorld]

I click on the links and all I get is an 'access denied' page?

[OneWorld]

Is it a scam then?

[Drew Stephenson]

It's an interesting alternative model I think. Definitely worth a look.

[James Perrett]

Isn't it a bit like Muzak for the 21st century?

[Drew Stephenson]

Surely Muzak was re-arrangements and recordings of well-known songs? Whereas this appears to be an opportunity to play original and unknown songs?

[James Perrett]

Surely Muzak was re-arrangements and recordings of well-known songs? Whereas this appears to be an opportunity to play original and unknown songs?

You could well be right - though the target market appears similar.

[Drew Stephenson]

True. Background music is a huge market though!

[MOF]

This might explain the music playing in my local gym’s changing rooms. Only one track got someone humming along in all the time I’ve noticed the change in content, which is a few months now.
I must Shazam a track and see if it’s recognised.

[ManFromGlass]

This smacks of another method of taking advantage of composers.
Do you think it’s 20% before or after expenses? And as we’ve seen in Hollywood accounting those expenses can eat up all revenues in the biggest of hits.
I’d also wonder how accurately play counts are tracked. I’d be curious if the composers sign over ownership of their tracks, in which case the new owner can do anything with those tracks including reselling them onwards, creating private libraries, licensing them to films and third parties etc.

Personally I would not go to a restaurant that plays it’s own commercials every few minutes.

[awjoe]

This smacks of another method of taking advantage of composers.

Mm...maybe, but I'd rather just view it as somebody trying to make a buck. The point of view of the music makers is more interesting to me than that of the organizers. I listened to a handful of their tunes in different genres, and it's really respectable. So what I'd like to know is who is supplying the music and what their motivation is. I mean, if they're good enough to make decent music, and since they're not going to get known on royalty-free radio, what's the draw? Can they actually make more money than streaming their stuff on Spotify? How much more?

[forumuser840717]

Surely Muzak was re-arrangements and recordings of well-known songs? Whereas this appears to be an opportunity to play original and unknown songs?

It depended to which service package customers were subscribed. Could be anything from general purpose anonymous/non-descript library music though sound-alikes to cover versions, to reproductions, to 'premium content' offering original artist tracks ranging from oldies to current chart material or various mixtures of any/all of those. And it could be on weekly, monthly, seasonal, or longer changing cycles or continuously live programmed content changing in real time to customer specific requirements like a customised radio station whose output could be tailored subliminally to make customers relax and linger, or move faster, or various other manipulations according to the business' wishes at different times of day.

(I once acted as an expert witness in a case which led to me being read in to the Musack manuals and operational methods and trade craft (none of what I just wrote was actually part of the confidential stuff). It turned out to be far more intersting than just some tune in a lift which sounded a bit like something one can't quite identify. And when I'd found out some of the 'secrets' I noticed and heard background music in a completely different way.)

[Drew Stephenson]

I stand (well, sit) corrected.

[ManFromGlass]

I recall that Muzak was based on studies of how to influence shoppers and others. I would think tempo is part of that equation as well as major or minor keys. It probably goes deeper than that. Are there any other specifics that can be shared? I am fascinated by this area.