Zurich-based restorm.com recently introduced a label-focused version of their Facebook app for bands. Billed as the "world's first Facebook app for labels", restorm.com offers a number of features ranging from music sales to news to events listings. restorm.com is also creating a platform of services for multiple sectors of the music ecosystem, including individual artists, labels, venues, media and fans.
restorm.com's new Facebook Label App provides:
- Music sales directly on your fan page
- Automatic synchronisation with all artist profiles
- Artist roster, releases, events, videos and news
- Slider for personalised banners
Apparently the app itself is free and they charge a 10% fee for music sales. restorm.com also offers separate licensing services but I couldn't find a specific commission amount for those services.
Check out postrap's label app on Facebook to see how it works.
So far I haven't found another label-oriented Facebook app and being the first would be a significant move. However, they also claim to have the lowest fee for handling music sales at 10%. Given that Hypebot sponsor Vibedeck offers music sales on Facebook and other locations for free, one is reminded of the problem of making such broad claims.
Since we live in a world in which web apps and services are often copied as soon as they catch attention, in the long run the best or best-marketed service often trumps the first service. What I find more interesting about restorm.com is the fact that they're building a platform that provides related but role-specific services for everybody from artists to media that could even be opened up to service providers from marketers to retailers.
Given the more typical focus of web services on one or two players in the larger music ecosystem, such an approach creates the potential for identifying gaps that they can fill while benefiting from being able to connect diverse industry sectors.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
