The rise and importance of social platforms like Facebook and Twitter to promote one’s tracks has led to artists giving away their music in exchange for a follow on either social media network. However, Facebook’s recent announcement of their plans to ban “Like to Download” has prompted artists to find alternative methods to release free music. Rather than encouraging tools like “tweet to download”, ToneDen gives artists the ability to provide their fans with an exclusive download for their track in return for a follow on their SoundCloud page. Unlike Twitter or other social platforms, artists can expect to receive some sort of revenue stream from the upcoming changes being brought by “On SoundCloud.”
The feature is quick to set up: artists pick a song and upload a background image to instantly create a landing page they can direct fans to for their free releases. Artists aren’t limited to featuring only one song, nor are they limited to only requiring themselves to be “followed”. ToneDen’s “Spotlight” feature also includes the ability to have multiple songs be available for download, in addition to providing the option of requiring more than one SoundCloud account to be followed, a useful solution for collaborations.
With Facebook soon to be rid of their “like to download” feature, this will surely be a strong alternative for artists looking to grow and expand their fanbase through incentivized features.
A live example of the Spotlight feature can be seen here through Main Course who is also holding a remix competition.
