Comments on: TrueAnthem: Record Label in Sheep’s Clothing?

By: Universal Indie Records

Universal Indie Records — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:27:34 +0000

Sounds like a good idea. I’d be even willing to put up with the low quality mp3 (for myspace only) as long as the service is not exclusive.

By: Mister Sweaters

Mister Sweaters — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:26:02 +0000

Forget my CPM comment – just tell me how much % the rev split on the ads is for the company/artist?

By: Mister Sweaters

Mister Sweaters — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:23:33 +0000

Um. WTF? The ONE thing I’ve managed to retain from my crazy lawyer father is this – if it’s in the writing, it doesn’t matter what is SAID verbally, or in passing, it’s still there in writing.

I know how you’re model works, and how you’re MOST LIKELY making money through CPMs on the ads, which as I understand are attached to the mp3? Just out of curiosity, what percentage do you share with your musicians? THIS I have to hear.. I wouldn’t normally ask but all it says is “flat-rate”..

By: Daniel Hollister

Daniel Hollister — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:07:25 +0000

Hi Joanna, I have a source who is a TrueAnthem artist who claims they are not encouraged to do this. In addition, the FAQ on your own website says: “The contract between the Artist/Band and trueAnthem is exclusive, and is usually 12 months in length.” Where is the confusion?

By: Joanna

Joanna — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:25:23 +0000

Hello. My name is Joanna Ifrah and I am Co-Founder/Cheif Creative Officer for trueAnthem.

I would like to address a few major inaccuracies in your review. You wrote that “the worst part about working with trueAnthem is that you need to sign an exclusive contract with them…for a year” and continued to write how artists cannot sell or distribute your music in any other fashion. I am not sure where you got your information, but you are completely incorrect. We built this company for the exact OPPOSITE reason. All of our artists are NON exclusive deals. In fact, we encourage them to continue to sell on i-tunes and amazon and at every other retail site they can. We are so confident in our model, and how much more money the emerging and independent artists will make with us, that we push them to continue to sell for that exact reason..because, as we predicted, our artists are ttelling us that they make more money on trueanthem then they do anywhere else. I agree with you, the whole reason the music business is a mess is because of exclusivity. We DO give the consumers the power to choose how they want their music. And if they do not like the trueads, then they can feel free to actually purchase these artists anywhere else they are available.
We take no rights and there are no fees to work with us. We believe that artists should get paid for what they have created; that fans want free music; and that the best way for an advertiser to reach a targeted audience is through the distribution of music. And we deliver all that on a fully NON exclusive basis.

I hope you will continue to follow our company and our artists and try to understand the core of what trueAnthem stands for and why we created this company. trueAnthem increases artists exposure, income and their autonomy, and never asks for any rights or exclusivity.

Regards,

Joanna