Vault.FM and Bandcamp Subscriptions

Curious what people think of this James Blake / Vault.FM thing. 

https://cdm.link/2024/03/james-blake-is-pitching-vault-a-subscription-download-service

I kinda want to use subscriptions on Bandcamp but wondering if people actually pay for that for no-name artists.  I know Amon Tobin has a good subscription community on Bandcamp, but don't know of other artists I follow.

I’d feel stressed as a musician knowing people subscribed to my music. Would feel obligated to release something just to not feel like an ass. 

I agree with Pizza,

I don't really think Vault is the best solution to the problem that is modern streaming. Blake took a stance against Spotify and then announced his Vault venture only a few days later. Because of that it looked like he was just trying to stir up something/ promote Vault tbh. id'prefer it if people just put their music for purchase instead of these weird half assed subscription services.

I feel like the quality of music released under the guise of a subsciption service would diminish because the artist feels obligated to release something for the people who pay for it.

I think that, besides the pressure to release new material, a subscription system can be a nice thing for lesser-known artists. Death Dynamic Shroud seem to do very well with their exclusive mixtape club thing ! (in France, we also had a big name of cheesy pop music who launched his own streaming platform a few years ago, he releases exclusive stuff on it, perform private concerts etc. - zero interest to me but if you're a big fan I imagine it's something very worthy)

It also depends a lot on the amont of money you ask from your fans. If I were to pay 2 or 3€ / month to support an artist I love, I would understand that there wouldn't be something new to listen to every month.

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Wait, a monthly subscription for unreleased music… with community features.

You mean like Bandcamp subscriptions, which offer subscriber-only downloads and a community page? (And some extras not seen here.)

Or there’s Patreon, of course, which offers effectively the same download features.

https://cdm.link/2024/03/james-blake-is-pitching-vault-a-subscription-download-service/

Kirn kinda rips it apart here, and it's justified. it's just a new wrapper around the same idea that's already been done, but Blake's name is attached. hard pass. it's DOA.

ra.co had some interesting thoughts on that matter:

https://links.ra.co/e/evib?_t=56db52daed1340ed9759912c44bef532&_m=3c8ed8cac5f0498c9961fa0222b483e3&_e=wEXK6nERGCuDe7AnBs-hJje1AlcT0inzSq5k41qOWKCit7n2bY2sCQLKMSay_YbnwbxIakXm6017LgoZ0kE4Lw%3D%3D

i'm glad this exists as it's a nice idea for certain artists who are already fairly prolific, but definitely not a blanket solution.

i'd imagine for most artists this would eventually be perceived as a mundane chore.

  On 3/28/2024 at 9:17 AM, iococoi said:

ra.co had some interesting thoughts on that matter:

https://links.ra.co/e/evib?_t=56db52daed1340ed9759912c44bef532&_m=3c8ed8cac5f0498c9961fa0222b483e3&_e=wEXK6nERGCuDe7AnBs-hJje1AlcT0inzSq5k41qOWKCit7n2bY2sCQLKMSay_YbnwbxIakXm6017LgoZ0kE4Lw%3D%3D

 

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Great read, thank you for sharing !

I really like the idea of having a lower pressure place to publish fringe work.  I'm a little apprehensive about it being hidden from the rest of your fans that don't want to pay the subscription.  I can see indie artists having a little more freedom to publish whatever they want and major artists having to be more careful with releases (but wanting to share more of what they do)

Seems like there is a lot of great music that out there that gets axed because labels /artists fear it wont be successful enough.  Play it safe. 

Possibly shaking up normal expectations for what's worthy of publishing could give us more interesting music.