Topspin Media Are The Future of Music

I used to skate once too.

This blog post has a gushing title.  But I really believe if there’s a company right now that can change the way artists connect with fans, it’s Topspin Media.

I expect the TopSpin platform to become the standard delivery model for music.

Last week I chatted with Ian Rogers, Topspin’s CEO in the lead up to SXSW and their major announcements about the commercial release of the platform and their partnership with Berklee.

Update: Topspin have made an announcement on their blog too.

Ian Rogers: “Pro tools democratised the production space.  We are aiming to do the same for marketing and distribution.”

Topspin’s mission statement is to provide artists the tools they need to build successful businesses.

That means helping them manage their content, connect with fans and monetise that relationship.

ProTools made studio recording accessible to anyone.  Topspin’s platform makes managing, marketing and selling music available to anyone.

Topspin is terrific.

“Ian Rogers: We’ve been in stealth mode to this point, working with around 40 artists.  Expect us to be working with hundreds of artists by the end of the year.”

As far as stealth mode goes, Topspin wouldn’t last long in the jungle.  David Byrne and Brian Eno, Paul McCartney, Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Josh Freese, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Metric.

NB: For Australian readers – they’ll be releasing a Drones record shortly thanks to Ian’s cheeky “Dear Drones, Let Us Help You” blog post.

By remaining selective about the artists they work with, Topspin have avoided the Snocap quandary of having 120,000 artists on the books and only a handful to point to as successes.

Topspin make their money via a rev-share model.  They take approximately 10-20% depending on sales volume with an additional 5-7% for any additional artist services.  Given that model, it makes sense from a business perspective to start with a smaller number of higher profile artists.

Topspin announced as SXSW that they are now debuting their end-to-end platform and offering private demos (I will be getting a demo shortly so stay-tuned Mum).

In the future, all album titles will be 3D.

Ian Rogers: “There is no more Tower Records, no more Virgin Megastores in the US.  CDs are now fighting with washing machines and chainsaws for shelf-space. Artists are now marketing directly to people who love music rather than mass marketing a commodity.”

As a startup in the worst recession in a long time, Topspin has sharpened its focus to having a practical impact for the artists they work with.

In his GRAMMY Northwest MusicTech Summit Keynote, Ian used the David Byrne example:

“… we asked manager David Whitehead how he would be judging success. David told us the number he expected to be offered as an advance on the album from a record label.

Gross revenues on the project reached that number on the fiftieth day via Topspin alone, and the album went to iTunes, Amazon, etc on day sixty and is headed to physical release approximately ninety days in (next week).

Because there were $9, $13, and $70 price points, the average purchase amount per fan was many times greater than the ever-declining industry average.”

Keynotin’.

Ian Rogers: “We want to empower artists and managers to operate as small businesses.”

Topspin’s platform will allow artists and labels to manage content, manage fans, build campaigns and then be analytical about the campaign.

For example, artists will have the capacity to segment fanbases, aggregate statistics about their music online including sales streams and statistics around MySpace, Last.FM and the artist’s SEO.

Artists will also get a Topspin rank based on their social media indexes which will allow them to improve their online presence where it is lacking.

Ian Rogers: “We are going to create a new generation of Topspin certified marketers.  Just like you have ProTools experts in the studio, you can have Topspin experts to market and distribute your music.”

Starting in September, Topspin will be partnering with Berklee College of Music’s online education division berkleemusic.com to offer a course on “Marketing your Music with Topspin”.

The course will cover marketing, management and content distribution through the Topspin platform as well as fan acquisition and relationship management tools, widget publishing, content management, packaging and promotion.

Rafa’s a Topspin addict.

Having been a fan of Topspin since I first heard about it last year, I can only say that speaking with Ian has made me a bigger fan.

It’s also made me more sure that Topspin have the balance right.  They are true music people.  As well as being well connected, Ian interrupted the interview a bunch of times to show me some Sabbath he’d just bought on vinyl and the Money Mark and Flava Flav dolls that sit atop his desk.  And Topspin are total tech-geeks.

Given where music is headed, that’s the right foundation from which to launch a revolutionary platform.