EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Speakerheart CEO Jozef Nuyens

Recently PassAlong Networks spun off its Speakerheart division which
enables download transactions for indie and D.I.Y. artists.  From Snocap to Sonific to Musicane and beyond, Speakerheart has plenty of competition, so we asked CEO Jozef Nuyens what sets his offering apart.

Hypebot: How do you differ from snocap and other sales widgets? 

Speakerheart: Our Shelf provides the artist with a functional embed that blends a static banner ad with a complete sales widget.  Designed to seamlessly complement the artist’s branded network pages, the Shelf consists of 1-5 Album minis, in the order of the artist’s choice, to provide fans the opportunity to preview, bookmark and share music, and a direct link to the artist’s storefront on Speakerheart.com.  The commerce within Speakerheart takes place within our site rather than the actual widget, with the Shelf being the "window display" of the artist’s store to browse and click through to purchase.

Hypebot: What are the basics of your revenue sharing model? 

Speakerheart: There are two types of Artist accounts, Basic and Pro.  The Basic account is free and allows artists to upload and sell up to 10 tracks spread across 3 albums.  The Pro account is $25 annually and allows artists to upload and sell up to 100 tracks spread across 10 albums.  Speakerheart charges a flat fee of .25 cents on all sales regardless of price unless the song is marked for free.  Artists can mark their tracks either free or anywhere in between 25 cents and $3.00.

Hypebot: The press release alludes to promotional tools. Can you elaborate?

Speakerheart:  We are a functional brand built upon two icons, the Speaker and the Heart.  The Speaker provides listeners the chance to quickly sample music throughout the site while the Heart provides listeners the opportunity to bookmark and share music with the click of a button.  The Shelf provides artists the opportunity to promote their albums and tracks in social networks with direct links back to their storefronts, hosted at a dedicated URL such as Speakerheart.com/bandname.  The Speaker and Heart are found both on the shelves and within the site, extending our brand to encourage the previewing and bookmarking of independent artists everywhere.