It’s worked for Trent Reznor and the rest of the NIN ensemble. Perhaps it’ll prove attractive for lesser known independent artists.
That’s the premise of an attempt by Grant Blakeman and the Backstage project, a startup that seeks to present bands with an easy way to grow their listener bases through the distribution of free music and video downloads.
Built squarely upon the concept that the release of music albums and singles need not directly cost the prospective fan - or even the existing follower - anything other than his or her attention, consideration, and basic personal information like name, area of residence, and email address, Backstage presents bands with the option to create pages through which to promote recordings, DRM-free, with audio fidelity reaching as high as 320kbps, for a small fee: $12, $24, or $36, depending on desired download limit. (150, 500, or 2000 downloads, respective to the price plan, with file size limits of 50MB, 75MB, and 100MB. Per-download overages are $0.02-0.03.
Music promotion via Backstage can work one of two ways. People can first pay a visit to the site, where they can download albums, and subsquently be listed to receive tour announcements and other relevant updates about artists through email. Or, if a event is planned, artists can purchase cards ($50-$210, depending on quantity) to distribute to attendees, who in turn can venture to Backstage to grab downloads of songs they may or may not have heard at the live performance.