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Dropcards.com: New Look, Even Better Tasting!

Kyle Bylin (@kbylin), Associate Editor

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In January, Dropcards unveiled their new download card platform.  Then, late last week, they held a short webinar to take people through a tour of the new features they added.  I was in attendance, and while I was not familiar with the inner workings of their previous site, I became quite impressed with their rather neat and current offerings.

It goes without saying, that for any artist, the detailed redemption reporting and interactive graphs that the staff over at Dropcards has added to their site, will prove to be extremely useful.  As they will help artists keep all of their offline marketing efforts focused and data-driven.  Plus, they also have this really cool redemption map powered by Google, wherein each user who redeems their media is pinpointed according to their actual location.  Giving artists even more insight into potential tour routes and where their fans cluster across the globe.

Another source talks about the potential for selling Dropcards instead of CDs at merch booths, which — while it is something that I’ve never encountered — I’m sure isn’t a exactly a new idea to many of you.  What’s good about Dropcards is that — when redeemed — you can chose whether or not to collect emails from those who do so.  Thus, widening your contacts for your direct-to-fan campaigns, where you could then establish a connection and make a unique proposition to your new contacts, whom, hopefully become new fans as well.    

Have any of you used Dropcards and what are your thoughts?

(See below for image.)

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8 Comments

  1. Not a new concept at all, Discrevolt and others have been doing this for years. The analytics is a cool feature added, but ultimately for the cost (avg $.50 a card?!?!? – with most services) you’re better off printing up bulk cds and giving them away at shows for an email addie on your list there and getting zipcode there.

  2. Kyle,
    Thanks for writing about our company. We all worked really hard on our new website and are quite proud of it. I’m glad that the webinar was well received too.
    Be well,
    Jon @ Dropcards.com

  3. Hey Kyle-
    I work with the Canadian band Sloan (www.Sloanmusic.com) and we were very happy with the Dropcards we created and the data that we gained from their sales.
    We released Sloan’s Hit & Run EP as a digital-only EP last November and were hitting the road in December..it was a MUST to have something to sell to the fans from the Merch booth that had no idea we put it out or had yet to buy the EP. Thus, we chose to print a Dropcard and hand sell just like a CD from the Merch booth. The Dropcard also comes with a full color multi-page Digital Booklet so it is the full release as we intended the fan to experience it.
    We just wrapped a second leg of the Hit & Run Tour and I am proud to say that night after night the biggest seller at the booth was the Dropcard. We even added value to the EP by offering some stickers, buttons and Sloan Trading Cards to the “Hit & Run EP Fan Pak”.
    We will end up importing all the e-mails collected from the Dropcard process into our Topspin application and thus will have added all of these people as new e-mail list fans.
    As for the price per card, we had no issue paying what we paid for them and it was MUCH less than $.50/card.
    So from Sloan’s experience, I highly recommend use of the Dropcard system and would use it again in the future.
    Jay Coyle
    Team Sloan
    Music Geek Management

  4. I actually checked out the Nimbit site and they claim that their free giveaway of ‘250’ cards is a $125 dollar value… I did the math and thats $2 dollars per card. I checked out Dropcards site and their ‘special’ price was .34cents per card if you buy 1000, and .49cents if you buy 100, which is the most expensive option. If an artist sold 1000 of these cards for only $5 bucks, thats $5,000 dollars… talk about a huge profit margin… I’m impressed:)

  5. I’ve used dropcards for an artist I used to manage and they worked brilliantly. That was a few years ago now, so I’m anxious to see what’s new with the platform.
    I worked with Jon Collins personally to get my cards designed, mfr’s and distributed. He was very responsive at every stage in the game.
    Dropcards are a no brainer. They are more eco-friendly, cost effective and provide the metrics that CD’s will never be able to give you.
    Do yourself a favor and try out the service. You won’t be disappointed.
    Best,
    Kevin

  6. I think the idea is great. I’m not entirely convinced though.
    I’d love to hear from more artists who have actually sold them… anyone out there??
    I’m somewhat skeptical that people are willing to pay for a piece of card with a number on it… I’m not trying to be an ass, just being realistic. The cool thing about buying a CD is that it is something physical, this seems to be an attempt at bringing the digital world into the physical… as it is, it’s tough to get people to offer p emails for a free download (everyone does this nowadays) let alone have them pay for a card and then still have them supply their email address?
    Thoughts?

  7. Hey Matt,
    We actually gave our Dropcards away. It’s very hard to sell a piece of plastic today, whether it be a CD or a download card, so I opt for the one that provides the best metrics for future marketing campaigns.
    You’ll have to determine if the cost to re-market your next release is more or less than what you are making in CD sales to know what is right for you.
    I’ve seen bundling of Dropcards work with apparel and even alongside blank CD’s (encouraging people to make their own playlists). You will have to get more creative with this option, but its def worth a shot.
    Best,
    Kevin

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