Speakerheart
Speakerheart was built by artists, for artists. It is a music community that was established by a team that exists to aid individual expression of and interaction with digital media for both musical artists and music fans in an increasingly connected yet proprietary world. The primary goal is to create a simple system for artists to promote and sell digital content, and a convenient and interactive method for fans to showcase and recommend the music they love.
Speakerheart exercises this philosophy by lowering the barriers for artists to create and maintain their own digital storefronts complete with a secure digital checkout system conducted with fair transaction fees. This, in turn, allows artists to offer music at prices lower than the traditional $.99 model, which greatly benefits the fan. So fans should be able to access the music they like, sample it wherever they may happen to discover it, and purchase it in a format that enables them to consume it as they choose.
There are two types of Artist accounts, Basic and Pro. The Basic account is free and allows artists to upload and sell up to 10 tracks spread across 3 albums. The Pro account is $25 annually and allows artists to upload and sell up to 100 tracks spread across 10 albums. Speakerheart charges a flat fee of 25 cents on all sales regardless of price unless the song is marked for free. Artists can mark their tracks either free or anywhere in between 25 cents and $3.00.
The brand is built upon two icons, the Speaker and the Heart. The Speaker provides listeners the chance to quickly sample music throughout the site while the Heart provides listeners the opportunity to bookmark and share music with the click of a button. The Shelf provides artists the opportunity to promote their albums and tracks in social networks with direct links back to their storefronts.
