“Do you pay artists?” — Let’s clear the air.

Hey everyone,

Last week I received a message from one of our Revibed users.
It contained just one question: Do you pay artists?

And I know — that’s the question. The one around which most of the speculation tends to swirl. So I thought it might be a good idea to share my response with all of you here.

Here it is:

“The answer is yes — we do pay artists. There isn’t a single release on our platform that we sell against the will of the rights holder, let’s put it that way.

Here’s a link to our Instagram — in the ‘New Signs’ section, you’ll find some of the artists we’ve signed over the past year. Many of them have dozens or even hundreds of releases. Revibed was created precisely to discover and work with original artists.

We’ve tried different ways of approaching this, and today we have a team of five people working daily to track down original rights holders. But the most effective method turned out to be quite unexpected: we publish a release for open review — and let the internet’s envy do its work. Strange as it sounds, it actually works.

If someone spots a release on our site they think we shouldn’t be selling, they usually do everything they can to get it taken down — and that’s often how we discover the original artist or their heirs. Most don’t have their master tapes anymore, and many have long given up on the idea of their music ever being reissued digitally.

So, to put it plainly: we either already pay the rights holders, or we’re actively trying to pay them once they’re found. We work with SABAM, who monitor all our revenue flows. If the rights holder hasn’t been identified yet, that income is held in a fund. Once they’re located, they can claim it — and from there, choose whether to work with us or not.

That’s how it works.

If we get a takedown notice, we remove the release immediately. And in most cases, we not only forward the revenue, but also pay compensation. It’s not an easy business.

We’re still a subsidised startup, backed by a venture angel who believes in our long-term vision: to become a niche streaming platform with truly unique content.”

So there you have it. In closing, I just want to say this:

Revibed is a kind of miracle unfolding right in front of us. Don’t take it for granted. And if you know about amazing music that still hasn’t made it to the digital world — go ahead and open a pre-order.

Also — thank you to everyone who responded to the digger-editor position.

We’re now thinking about how to create the right setup for a community-led editorial team, where you can help shape the trends and directions of our catalogue — which, as I mentioned above, may soon become the foundation for the very first digger-powered streaming platform.

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Peace, Labour and May,

Anton