AFM Launches GoProTunes
In response to the enormous trend of self-produced material and dying record label support, the AFM has been working on their own means of distributing member music electronically. The long awaited launch of GoPro Tunes, which has been in beta development for several years, is now a reality, and members can now upload and sell their music through this new platform. GoPro Tunes is unique from other electronic distribution platforms in a number of ways. All of the music featured on GoPro is created by union musicians, and GoPro does not charge any processing fees, nor do they take a percentage from music sales. All proceeds, minus the credit card processing fees, go directly to the musicians. Musicians also have complete control of the process—they retain the rights to all material, decide what material to upload, what audio format they wish to distribute it as, and what price they wish to charge; there is no uniform pricing.“It’s kind of like a fair trade concept,” says AFM Web Developer and Tech Support Specialist Matt Plummer, who is largely responsible for designing the GoPro website. “When the public buys something from this site, they know that the musicians have been treated fairly, which is not something you can find anywhere else.”
“We want to stress the whole concept of the union’s concern of fair dealing with musicians,” Sharpe adds. “We’re just concerned that the people producing the music get the recognition, both creatively and monetarily, that we think they deserve.” Plans are now in the works to expand GoPro Tunes to an aggregate model, which will allow union musicians to seamlessly distribute their music through other, larger platforms, such as iTunes and CD Baby.
To add your music to GoProTunes or for more information, visit www.goprotunes.com/primer.
Write reply
Comments must be approved before being published.
