Today (June 4) marks the official first day of the Midem B2B international music event in Cannes, France – and one startup at the expo is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
An upgraded version of UK-based platform Show4me, dubbed a ‘Music Interaction Network’, is being presented to artists and industry figures at Midem, having been released in April.
Initially launched in 2015 as a crowdfunding platform by the UK-based company Wefuture Ltd, Show4me was transformed into a music-related network after the company raised a $12.8m investment in January 2019.
Show4me says it has raised a total of $13.5m investments within three rounds since its launch.
The company has used these funds to upgrade Show4me into ‘one network of specialized tools [for] music monetization’, which it says are designed for unsigned artists, and those signed to record companies, as well as labels themselves and other industry players.
“By presenting this model to the market, Show4me aims to bring back the value of music as an art form, which has been debased in the past few years.”
Karen Chiftalaryan, Show4me
These tools include, amongst others: (i) a $1 fan membership model; (ii) music and concert crowdfunding abilities; (iii) music sales; (iv) direct-to-fan interaction.
The company says that this ‘powerful mix of tools will open broader opportunities for artists and music industry professionals compared to concert crowdfunding, music streaming and other existing models’.
“By presenting this model to the market, Show4me aims to bring back the value of music as an art form, which has been debased in the past few years”, said
Show4me founder and CEO Karen Chiftalaryan.
The $1 fan membership model is particularly interesting; it allows artists to monetize fans by asking them to subscribe to dedicated Artist Clubs on the Show4me platform.
Show4me claims that the membership system ’empowers artists to earn up to 300 times higher profit compared to music streaming’.
Show4me is presenting its platform at stand P3.B4 during the Midem event, which is held until the end of this week.Music Business Worldwide
