DOUG SCOTT:  We (Rhapsody and BandPage) jointly developed a segmentation of fans based on their behavior (listens, shares, playlist adds, etc.) so that we could understand the relationship between an individual's listening behavior for a given band compared to their "typical" listening behavior for all bands.  This helped us identify the bands that are each user's favorite bands.  Then, once the user takes an action that puts them into a specific segment (e.g., listening to an artist for a certain number of times over a given period moves them from "fan" to "super fan") for a specific artist, we select the appropriate offer to show them and send them a push notification in near real time, often while they are still listening to the artist.

 

DOUG SCOTT: Consistent with the rest of the BandPage Network, we don't charge anything up front to distribute offers to fans from musicians' BandPage Stores.  Then, when a fan clicks and buys something from the artist, BandPage receives a share of the revenue, typically 10% of the transaction value.  This "cost per purchase" model aligns us completely with the interests of the artist and incentivizes us to find the perfect offer to show to each individual fan.  This is why this Rhapsody partnership and the ability to use behavioral data to identify different segments of fans is so exciting and powerful. 

Can the artist know in advance the reach of a particular message –  for example, fans in Cleveland ?

 

DOUG SCOTT: These messages can be geo-targeted and we are sending concert ticket and VIP "meet-and-greet" offers on a localized basis.  As far as understanding the reach of each message in advance, because this is a living breathing real-time segmentation where message delivery is triggered by user actions, we can't predict exactly when a message will be delivered but we can certainly understand a general number of how many fans should receive an offer based on their past behavior.