Today, Sessions announces a $75,000,000 marketing fund for musicians to promote and build audiences through its live streaming platform. Co-founded by digital music pioneer and Pandora founder Tim Westergren and serial virtual game entrepreneur Gordon Su, Sessions stands alone as the only platform that is making a direct investment in audience development.
The rapidly growing service combines the power of live performance with the most sophisticated techniques of advanced virtual gaming to create a platform where artists are building real audiences and earning substantial and steady income.
“We have a very simple goal. To help artists earn,” said Tim. “That takes two things that have been in very short supply for the vast majority of musicians: marketing and monetization. We have a highly developed set of monetization skills, and that, along with the efficiency of our growth engine affords us the capacity to invest in audience development. Our business model essentially makes us a true partner to the artist. I think that’s a first for digital music.”
And it is already working. Artists from across the over 200 countries where Sessions is live are cultivating audiences and earning money at unprecedented rates. From Mexico, Portugal and Romania, to Kenya, India and Australia, amateur musicians are making as much as $700 per hour long show, while working musicians are earning upwards of $20,000 for a single performance. Global chart topping duo Icona Pop, plus celebrated singer/songwriter Ally Brooke, R&B pop artist Jake Miller, alt/singer songwriter Matthew Goode, plus celebrated singer/songwriters Lee Brice, James Lee, and K-pop sensation Eric Nam are just a handful of the thousands of artists who have leveraged the marketing prowess of Sessions. Established artists are also coming aboard with likes of legendary country artist Hank Williams Jr, Bare Naked Ladies, EnVogue, Xzibit, and multi-platinum-selling artist Scotty McCreery performing in the coming weeks.
“It has taken ten years to develop this software and hone these capabilities,” said co-founder and CEO Gordon Su. “With Sessions for the first time, working artists have in their hands the kind of scaled technology usually confined to massive online consumer platforms. Sessions finds, attracts and monetizes fandom at a rate never seen before in this industry.”
Just as he did before with Pandora, Tim is reinventing a new category. This time, the change is far more fundamental and far reaching – a reinvention of the economic model for musicians by placing in the hands of musicians all over the world, from emerging artists to global stars, the power of income and audience generation. “Everyday another livestreaming company joins the fray. But artists don’t need more tools. They need platforms that generate audience and revenue and whose business models put the lion’s share of that revenue directly into the artists’ pocket. That’s Sessions.”
