A new music streaming app for unsigned artists called Insidr Music is set to launch this year and the startup claims that its direct-to-fan subscription model could see artists earn “4,000% more than other music streaming platforms”.
Insidr says that it is inspired by the success of creator-centric platforms like Patreon and Substack, and takes aim at the gap in the market for artist-specific fan subscriptions, it said in a press release on Wednesday (January 24).
Instead of relying on the payouts of traditional streaming services, fans can directly support artists on the Insidr Music app with a subscription whose monthly price is set by the artist. This subscription grants exclusive access to unheard content, including unreleased tracks, demos, and alternate versions of songs.
The focus on fan engagement comes amid rising frustrations with traditional streaming services, said Insidr.
Insidr added in its press release announcing the new service that “with unsigned artists’ total revenues having quadrupled in recent years up from $375 million in 2015 to $1.78 billion in 2022 there is still often a misnomer that unsigned artists don’t have a healthy fanbase”.
Spotify‘s recent announcement of a 1,000 annual stream minimum for royalty payouts further added to the challenges these artists face, Insidr said.
“So if just 10 fans stream an artist’s song once a day for a month they will earn £37.24 vs £0.86p on Spotify.”
Insidr Music
The change at Spotify was first reported by MBW in October, and was confirmed by Spotify in a blog post in November.
Insidr claims that through its subscription model, artists are able to earn 4,000% higher potential earnings versus traditional platforms like Spotify.
“If just 10 fans stream an artist’s song once a day for a month they will earn £37.24 vs £0.86 on Spotify,” the platform said.
Insidr says it aims to help build a sustainable monthly income for unsigned and independent artists and give their fans access to more of their work.
The platform was founded by former corporate lawyer and music artist Kima Otung and AI product engineer and musician Dan Ryland.
“We built Insidr to make sure unsigned artists could properly monetize their work and reach fans that really crave hearing more of their work. Patreon for video creators is valued at $1.5 billion with over 8 million fans subscribing to over 250,000 creators – demonstrating a clear market for this model,” Otung said.
“We built Insidr to make sure unsigned artists could properly monetize their work and reach fans that really crave hearing more of their work.”
Kima Otung, Insidr Music
“For music, there is no equivalent and Insidr was created to meet that need. We have launched a platform that’s both ethical and viable which artists have already started making money on, and we look forward to building the Insidr community.”
Insidr Music is slated to launch this year after launching in beta in late 2023.
The app is the latest music streaming platform to offer direct-to-fan services. Some web3 apps have emerged in recent months, offering decentralized music streaming services that even let fans invest in artists’ music. Among them is Tune.FM, which recently secured $20 million in funding from global investment group LDA Capital.
Fave, which describes itself as social media platform and fan-centric home for celebrity fans, raised $2 million from Warner Music, Sony Music, Lyor Cohen (the Global Head of Music at Google and YouTube) and Shiva Rajaraman (the Chief Business Officer at OpenSea and a former VP at Meta and Spotify, among others).
SONA, another market entrant founded by Jennifer Lee (aka producer and DJ TOKiMONSTA), launched its web3 music streaming platform last month after raising $6.9 million in its seed round.
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