Vinyl On Pause?
Even under global lockdowns and quarantines with closed record stores and music lovers at home alone, an ever-increasing number of fans and artists are eager to experience today’s music on vinyl. Those are a lot of problems, which spell perfect opportunities for the right companies and vinyl-obsessed entrepreneurs. Accordingly, QRATES has been quietly trying to debug these issues for years. Leading into the COVID-19 crisis, vinyl’s triumphant return to prominence was experiencing growing pains. A relatively involved and complex manufacturing process, coupled with dramatically bolstered fan and artist demand, means that it takes longer and costs more to release music on vinyl. Extensive turnarounds, heightened expenses, cumbersome storage requirements, shipping inconveniences, and the immense risk of excess inventory have, in many ways, prevented independent artists from accessing the music industry’s fastest-developing sphere.
Who Is QRATES?
QRATES is essentially a vinyl-exclusive crowdfunding platform that takes the hassle – and financial risk – out of pressing and distributing records, thereby enabling as many artists as possible to drop LPs. Now, that debugging is going into overdrive at QRATES applies its creative workarounds to COVID-19’s seemingly-insurmountable manufacturing bottlenecks. At QRATES they’re helping artists rally fanbases while raising funds for vinyl releases. To get started, interested musicians need little more than a love for vinyl and a passion for their craft; the company has worked with indie artists and major-label stars alike.
Every Artist Is Welcome
One of QRATES’s much-publicized offerings was a vinyl edition of Vulfpeck’s Sleepify, an all-silent album that Spotify users were encouraged to play during slumber. “A thousand people actually bought the silent album,” QRATES CMO Taishi Fukuyama relayed. “Since then, the band has repeatedly released their vinyl with QRATES.” The protest album’s very presence on QRATES made clear that each and every artist is welcome to see what the crowdfunding, production, and distribution entity is all about.
For typical listings (the platform’s emphasis on flexibility has resulted in several available options), a crowdfunding goal is set, a promotional page is created, and fans can then browse – and purchase – the corresponding record with a few clicks. Once a project meets its goal, production initiates. QRATES has established close relationships with vinyl manufacturers, and the record creation process is accordingly streamlined.
Best Days Are Ahead
Embeddable description-page widgets and stress-free processing options make it easy for artists to maintain a steady stream of vinyl sales – and revenue – as their careers grow. Simply enough, the idea behind QRATES Storage is to bring more artists and fans onboard a quickly growing platform. As you can imagine, QRATES firmly believes vinyl’s best days are ahead, and gigmit has gladly teamed up to help spread that message. But perhaps the trick to unlocking this potential involves discovering innovations and administering meaningful improvements, all without losing sight of the characteristics that have made vinyl a mainstay of the music world for nearly a century.
100 Free Records
Now, QRATES’ crowdfunding, storage, and distribution infrastructure is proving invaluable to artists that know about it. The company has just announced ‘Press On with QRATES,’ a commitment to supporting artists during the COVID-19 crisis with 100 free records. In an effort to help artists push through COVID-19 challenges, QRATES is helping artists who have completed a crowdfunding campaign with another 100 records at no cost. The extra records pressed for artists are stored in the free QRATES Storage, and can be sold anytime for instant fulfillment.“The current pandemic has affected all of our lives on a global scale – now more than ever, we need to support each other where we can,” Fukuyama relayed. “We know as an artist, it’s important to get your music out there and into your fan’s hands. During these difficult and uncertain times, we want to help you be able to continue to do this.”
You’re NOT HOME ALONE with QRATES and their vinyl offer. Learn more about the special campaign HERE.
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