I’m a successful songwriter/composer who recently found out about AudioMicro, and became so enamored with the concept that I now am their Artist Recruiting Manager. In the past few weeks I’ve been talking to a lot of fellow musicians about AudioMicro, and the micro stock platform in general. There seems to be some mixed feelings and some misunderstandings about how artists fit into the whole micro stock picture.
For those who aren’t fully aware of the concept, micro stock simply means that the content (in this case audio/music) is crowd sourced – meaning ANYONE can submit content – and it’s sold for prices starting at $1 (in this case it’s $1 per minute of music). A few of my composer friends who make some decent money selling tracks for $30 or so in the royalty free space feel that micro stocking audio is going to devalue their music. It’s an understandable point of view, but in my humble opinion, a limited perspective.
See, whenever and wherever anything is sold, there is always the option of spending money on the high-end, or brand name version of the product, or the “generic” version of the product. If you use laundry detergent as an example, there is usually a few dollar difference between Tide and the generic brand, even though the ingredients are EXACTLY the same and we actually feel – sometimes better in the case of crowd sourced content. Both brands make money and flourish because there will always be a market for both. Some people want to spend more money for the flashy brand, and some just want something that works regardless of the name or package. Sure you may make $30 or more by selling your music on a royalty free basis, but can it hurt you to open your “product” up to a consumer base that would rather spend less than that? Not at all in my opinion. People will still pay $30 for your music in that world just as fast people will spend a few bucks for your music in the micro stock world. You’re basically just opening up your customer base (the millions that can’t and won’t license audio for $30 a track) and creating new ways to make money by doing it. Not to mention the “theives” out there who only steal music — they’d also gladly pay $1 or 2 for music — it’s the same principle that has made iTunes so successful and has made people forget about scouring the internet for free music.
And above all, its risk free! At least take a handful of your tracks that haven’t ever earned a penny, and stick it up on this site. If you don’t like the way it works, just request to take em down. The artist has 100% ownership of their content and can remove it at any time.
In addition, AudioMicro offers the best royalty rate i’ve ever seen – 50% of every track sold. As AudioMicro takes off, artists will be in position to make more money than ever before. When this site becomes the one-stop shop for stock audio, its not far fetched to think that many an artist could easily be making hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month, just in micro stock.
I can see how this will be the wave of the future, and as much as some musicians will resist the change, its the natural progression of things. Check out what has happened in the photography world and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to find content, and how easy it is to make money from your art. Micro stock opens up opportunities for artists that never existed before, and makes it so much easier for those who need to place music in their visual medium. It’s the perfect give and take for both sides – its about as democratic as it gets. I see it as having your cake and eating it too – continue to sell some of your music for as much as you can. Take advantage of the high end and also upon up your content to an entirely new class of customer with micro stock. But while you’re plcaing tracks directly with high end customers you can put the rest of your stuff here on AudioMicro and make some extra money on the side and get a feel for the ease in which the micro stock concept works – for everyones benefit. We see some folks making over $100k per year in royalties in the micro stock photo realm and there’s no reason why this can’t be the case in the music space, which is actually a larger market than photos. It will just take some time for the concept to take off, but being there ahead of the curve will give you a huge advantage.
Thats my two cents. I’ve looked at other stock music sites, and AudioMicro is by far the most artist friendly, easiest to navigate, and the music upload process is a breeze. Not to mention that other sites offer only a measly 20% royalty rate or the ones that want you to “share your content for free” under a creative commons license or some other format. I applaud AudioMicro for seeing the future and trying to make sure that artists out there are well aware of the new market shift ahead of the curve and we encourage artists to jump on board and take advantage of the revolution rather than being resistant and scared of it.
Sincerely,
Gideon Black, Artist Recruiting Manager
www.audiomicro.com
Los Angeles, CA
Phone: (818) 849-6396
Fax: (320) 451-3838
Posted in: AudioMicro, micro stock audio, micro stock music, royalty free music, Sound Effects, sound fx, stock music
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