As the main correspondent for Bandwith Radio, I get a lot of questions from bands about joining Bandwith.org. I’d like to take a minute to share my answers to some of the more popular questions. Note that most of these answers can also be found on our FAQs page.
1) Why join Bandwith when I already have other web accounts?
Answer: In brief, Why NOT? We offer yet another place for you to be heard. The truth is that the more often your band name and song titles are on the internet, the easier you are to find. In addition, listeners find music in different ways… thus, placing your music in a number of different locations gives the band more complete “coverage” as far as reaching new fans.
2) Can I/we really have a FREE profile? Really?
Answer: YES! The musicians on our site are not, nor will they ever be, charged for being on the site. Our income is based on stream subscription and not from the band signup. Also notice that we are largely ad free site, making it less cluttered and more about the music.
3) Why do we (the musicians) only get 60 cents on the dollar?
Short answer: Bandwith pays the credit card transaction fees, sales taxes, and money distribution to bands (on average 35 to 40 cents per song).
Long Answer: 40 cents of the dollar goes to paying for the actual transaction, sales tax (where applicable), and money distribution to bands. BandwithRadio pays the credit card company and the eMerchant gateway for credit card protection and processing. Depending on the payment method used, we pay 27 to 40 cents for transaction. If we are ever able to, we will renegotiate this deal with the credit gateway but need buying power to do so. So bandwith is “making” up to 13 cents per download with an actual average around 6 cents. This 6 to 13 cents goes to sales tax (average 6 cents) and postage (42 cents) for mailing checks to bands. If you are any good at math, you’ve noticed that these amounts add up to more than $1. That is why we wait until the band has earned $50 before we send a check. Note that this does not include check printing and general paperwork. At the end of the day, the math comes out to about 2 cents per song going to BandwithRadio.
Because there are other sites that are able to offer a larger percentage to the band, we allow and encourage bands to put these links on their profile page. In this way we are able to give both the bands and the fans, respectively, options of how to sell and buy their music.
4. Do we (the musicians) get streaming radio play?
Answer: When the streams go live all genre related songs will get air time. Our programming does not exclude any bands or songs for any reason. YOU WILL BE HEARD!! It is also FREE to be heard. Just by being a part of Bandwith, you will be played. In short: NO PLAY FOR PAY!!
5. What does BandwithRadio do for us (the musicians)?
Answer: We give you a venue to be heard (radio streams), a place to sell your music, a profile that is searchable by genre, an events calendar that is searchable by geographical location, a spam free site that DOES NOT ask you for money or sell your contact information, a non-corporate company that works for you… not only for themselves.
We truly believe that if we do everything we can to take care of the musicians, the rest will take care of itself.
6. Does BandwithRadio promote my band directly?
Answer: We do not promote bands directly. We are not an agency, but we do our best to bring outside attention to the site and the bands. We hope you are able to use the site to your advantage, and we will push the music to the public. In short, by promoting the site we are promoting all of the bands on the site.
7) We don’t want to compete with Big names, how will Bandwith protect the little guy?
Answer: We don’t allow large labels or names on the site… PERIOD! In turn, if any bands on the site become big, they will be asked to leave the site as friends. Don’t worry, this could take some doing. Normally when a band signs a big deal, the other party (major label) will nullify any other agreements the band has, thus indirectly taking care of the problem. Honestly, we’d love to kick everyone off the site for becoming famous!
I hope this answers some of the questions you have about BandwithRadio and what we are about.
Keep rocking!
Tony Vanden Bush, Co-founder
BandwithRadio, LLC