Yep, you read that right. No more monthly vinyl pressings or shipments. Aunt Cynthia’s Cabin, which shipped out for June, will be our last monthly release.
Why? When we began Feedbands it was essentially an experiment. What would happen if we let people vote on virtually unknown artists and pressed one to vinyl each month? The results of that experiment are now in: we’ve impacted the lives of many artists and listeners around the world, and found it to be financially challenging to release an unknown artist every month. Nevertheless, we persisted for 6 years and released over 75 artists on vinyl, which we are really proud of!
But alas, the experiment has run its course and it is no longer financially sustainable for us to continue releasing an artist on vinyl every month, so we will unfortunately be discontinuing our monthly vinyl releases effective immediately.
Yes, we did consider pouring more money into clever marketing to drum up new subscribers, but we are instead taking all that we have learned from our 7 years and are choosing a new direction. We are choosing to go after something that has become increasingly meaningful to Feedbands: climate change. This is not an easy decision for us, but we feel it is the right one.
Back in 2013, when there was a lot more ice in the poles, vinyl was a spiritual mission for us. We loved that Feedbands let us pay artists, give them some product to sell, and get their music out to the people. This felt like the best thing we could be doing to make the world a better place.
But, as you’ve probably noticed, a lot has changed in the last few years. We’ve found ourselves looking at the bigger picture for what feels most important and deeply fulfilling.
Now we are asking, how can we–us here at Feedbands, and you, our amazing subscribers– make our shared love of music even more impactful? How can we help not only the artists on our platform, but literally every human alive today and those still to come? How can we use our resources to drive meaningful change? And how can music be used to make the world a better place?
So, what’s next for Feedbands?
We know that, for many, it will be hard to imagine Feedbands without a vinyl record subscription offering.
After all, that’s what Feedbands is, right? Well…the answer is “yes, and”.
Most people know Feedbands for its vinyl, but that isn’t all we do. We are a diverse, experimental music and live events production company that is constantly trying new things and experimenting with new technologies.
We will now be leveraging our platform, our technology, our artist base, and our incredible members in an effort to combat climate change by planting trees for digital streams and focusing solely on this mission.
Our goal is to plant one billion trees using the power of music.
Going forward, we will measure our success not by how many records we sell, and not even by how much money we make, but by how many trees we plant.
And you can help.
Every time you stream a song on Feedbands, we get one step closer to planting a tree. For every 100 streams, one tree is planted through our partner, Trees.org.
We already know how much you love listening to music. Now you can listen and make a positive impact for small farmers, communities, and the planet.
Will Feedbands ever release another vinyl?
Yes! We still look forward to working with select independent artists with whom we can release vinyl in a financially sustainable way. Vinyl is in our blood, and we’re going to keep going with it, just more selectively and not on a monthly basis.
What if I prepaid for more records?
You will be given the option of a pro-rated refund on any unused portion of your subscription or your choice of records from our archive.
What about the website and apps?
We are rolling out an overhaul to our website and apps over the next few days. They will be refocusing on our tree planting initiative, counting how many trees have been planted with live progress bar updates.
Even free accounts will be allowed to comment and vote now, and we will begin serving audio ads in the feed of free accounts, with digital subscribers getting an ad-free experience.
So what should I do now?
If you have a pre-paid subscription, write to us at [email protected] and let us know if you prefer a pro-rated refund or your choice of records.
If you were a vinyl subscriber, your subscription has been canceled but we would love to keep you on as a digital subscriber! We just didn’t want to assume anything and make the change without your explicit permission.
If you know any independent musicians who want to expand their audience, plant trees as fans stream their music, and earn some Bitcoin please direct them to Feedbands! We are paying our musicians digital royalties and we love getting new music on the site.
If you have friends who want to make an impact just by listening to new music, let them know what we’re up to! With a choice between free and paid digital subscriptions, Bitcoin kickbacks, and trees planted for every stream, we think it’s a no-brainer to give Feedbands a try.
Thank you for all of your support and we look forward to seeing you in our next existential iteration. Yours till the end,
