Eighteen years ago, a little-known performer (and one of my favorite singers ever), Victoria Williams, was in the middle of an opening stint on the road with guitar god Neil Young when unexplainable, debilitating symptoms forced her to leave the tour. She was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Saddled with medical bills, she got by with a little help from some of her famous friends (including Lou Reed, Pearl Jam, and others), who put together a tribute album called Sweet Relief (after a line from Williams' song "Opelousas") to provide her with financial support. Knowing that other musicians -- often uninsured -- could use a helping hand during times of medical and emotional crisis, Williams took some of the proceeds she received from the album and started the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Since 1994, that org has provided financial assistance to all types of career musicians facing illness, disability, or age-related problems.
On October 15, 2011, musicians and venues across the country are banding together for "Night of Sweet Relief", a national fundraiser for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund that will engage thousands of fans at hundreds of live music events all around the US. It's cool that participating venues are building in a $1 donation to the Fund for every cover charge or ticket fee collected that evening, but what's even more interesting is how the fundraiser is being propelled by an innovative music promotions and technology company called ReverbNation.
The Daylights, an unsigned band from Los Angeles, will perform for Night of Sweet Relief at L.A.'s Hotel Cafe on October 15. Tickets available here.
Passionate about the belief that nothing is more important to artists than the relationship with their fans, ReverbNation knew there was a way to gain momentum for Night of Sweet Relief: invite music fans to this one-of-a-kind evening by reaching out to its database of more 1.7 million artists the week of the show.
"A lot of artists don't have money [to donate to charities], so we don't ask them. But what they do have is influence," says ReverbNation CEO Mike Doernberg. "We give them the chance to raise their hand and back charities they believe in by participating in events and engaging their fans."
ReverbNation's venues were given the chance to "opt-in" for participation in Night of Sweet Relief, and fans will have the opportunity to see their favorite bands at choice locations for a good cause.
Although the biz's charitable record is strong (it also recently collaborated with Mission One Voice to give artists a chance to open for R&B singer NeYo on a tour of US military bases), ReverbNation is not a nonprofit. Since its inception in 2006, the goal of the company has been to "build a set of services that drives a revenue model" both for itself -- and for the growing number of artists, managers, and labels it serves worldwide.
Astonishingly, ReverbNation grew 300% in 2010, not an easy task considering the downward spiral of the music industry in the post-digital world.
So, how does it work?
Chances are, if you're a fan of an unsigned band, you've landed on ReverbNation.com before. It's not only a great place to discover new music, it acts as a hub for various levels of industry professionals. ReverbNation provides a wide array of distribution and promotional solutions that give bands (both established and up-and-coming), managers, and venues easy access to eachother -- and to many tools (such as targeted geographic outreach to fans) that they would otherwise be unable to maintain or afford.
Doernberg says "leveraging the power of aggregation" allows the company the flexibility to perform tasks even traditional major labels can't, such as offering artists licensing and promotional partnership opportunities and accessing millions of fans at once through its extensive database and its website, which receives more than 30 million visitors each month. In addition, ReverbNation is able to position targeted advertising brands to the widest or most localized fan demographics -- a big bonus when it comes to bringing in necessary corporate dollars.
For ReverbNation, being the "middle man" never looked so good.
"We're ambassadors for the music," Doernberg says. "At the end of the day, our most important customer is the artist."
For more information about Night of Sweet Relief, coming to a venue near you on October 15, click here. Click here for more information about ReverbNation.
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ReverbNation is a mixed bag. As far as providing opportunities, nearly all of them require fees. The "holy grail" licensing opportunities are extremely unfavorable to musicians, usually paying very small compensation outright (seducing writers with the promise of "exposure") and requiring contracts musicians can rarely afford lawyers to negotiate, that also insure the writers will not earn maximum publishing income.
It is the desperation of musicians and the general devaluation of what they do (every free download takes bread out of our mouths) that enables these practices to continue while companies like ReverbNation grow bigger.
I do appreciate the new model music industry services that help working musicians use the web to make contacts and grow their businesses. I just haven't seen one yet that really empowers musicians to use their talent and hard work to earn money in proportion to what they inevitably end up enabling companies like ReverbNaion to earn.
We actually work very hard to convince opportunity providers to remove their fees altogether, but many insist on keeping them for various reasons (some financial, and some under belief that requiring them acts as a quality filter on the Artists that apply).
As for the sync licensing program, again its a fair criticism about the legal complexity. Unfortunately, sync licensing is by its very nature a complex business. We continue to work very hard to make understanding the opportunity easier for everyone.
In general, we strive to align our interests with the Artists whenever we can, so that we succeed when they succeed. And we try always to keep our prices lower than everyone else's on the products that cost money for the very reasons that you state about the situation for most Artists.
Jed Carlson
Co-Founder, COO, ReverbNation.com
As for the contracts, while it is each artist's responsibility to advocate on their own behalf, its sad that nobody, including ReverbNation, seems to be looking out for our interests in these areas.
There is a great dialogue taking place in America at the moment, as those who feel exploited challenge the attitudes of those entities who feel entitled to exploit them. Musicians' ignorance and lack of money and power doesn't make it alright. Its time we all, including ReverbNation, stop thinking that doing just something for musicians (providing a resource, any resource, no matter how flawed) is good enough.
I welcome the chance to engage in this dialogue with you, I feel that ReverbNation could be a leader in championing the cause for artists, I hope they will.