Between widespread innovation in the online payments industry and special ecommerce tools designed for musicians, we're seeing a deluge of options that are radically improving music ecommerce. Last week Green Day joined the growing ranks of musicians using Chirpify to sell music and merch via Twitter. Chirpify's not just adding clients but they're also adding such features as Soundscan reporting and direct payments via Twitter. And WePay is getting some attention for new developments in their struggle against PayPal including a new easy payment button.
Green Day Sells Albums Using Chirpify
During last week's MTV Video Music Awards, Green Day used Chirpify to sell their three new albums via Twitter beginning when they hit the stage. In the first four hours they "had 250 people reply 'buy' [with] one purchase every 55 seconds." In addition, the listing was retweeted 1496 times and favorited 596 times.
Last month Amanda Palmer sold a bunch of tshirts via Chirpify on Twitter and at one point was selling a tshirt every 30 seconds.
Chirpify Adds Soundscan & Direct Payments
In addition to helping musicians sell stuff, recent upgrades to their service include Soundscan reporting and direct payments via Twitter, features which are making their service both more interesting and more valuable.
WePay Offers PayPal Alternative
PayPal is the big target for new payment services and they are vulnerable on many levels due to a sometimes complicated integration process, a tendency to try to coerce buyers into setting up PayPal accounts and a history of questionable freezing of accounts. For example, an indie record store owner in Asheville told me that his business was damaged during an already difficult period when PayPal suddenly froze his account.
WePay is one of those targeting PayPal. Launched in 2010, WePay claims PayPal freezes 2% of accounts while their freeze rate is less than 0.01%. Their credit card fees are now comparable to PayPal's and they charge less for payments from linked bank accounts.
In addition they recently introduced simple Payment Buttons that are easily embeddable and don't require users to leave your site. Buttons can be used for sales, donations and even registration.
Definitely worth a look if you're selling music, merch and tickets directly to your fans.
More:
- Simple Ecommerce For Musicians: Gumroad, Shoplocket, Kout, Chirpify
- Sellbox And Sellfy Provide New D2F Ecommerce Options For Musicians
- Sell Music & Merch Bundles Via NuPlays With Extra Rewards For Fans
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
