Amie Street is a site that is putting social media to work for artists who have embraced the power of the Internet to spread great music. Through member recommendations and a unique pricing structure, Amie Street highlights the performers that their community of users is buzzing about.
How It Works
Amie Street members have two tools for promoting the music they enjoy: RECs and money. RECs, or recommendations, let you tell the Amie Street system which music others might appreciate. By purchasing tracks from those artists, you also contribute to their buzz.
Each Amie Street member has a limited number of RECs that they can use to vote for songs by their favorite artists. These recommendations fuel the Amie Street charts, which show you popular songs from the last day, week, month, et cetera, as well as music specifically recommended by your friends.
Amie Street features a unique pricing structure that uses the purchasing power of it’s members to influence artist buzz. New music starts out as a free download, and can rise to a maximum price of 98 cents as more purchases are made. Tracks that rise in price are deemed popular and receive more exposure.
In addition to purchasing RECs and funding their account, Amie Street members can also earn RECs and credit by recommending music to their friends, and encouraging others to join the community. Downloads from Amie Street are DRM-free.
Why It’s Cool
The war between technology and the music industry is far from being resolved, but innovative efforts to promote and sell new music like those of Amie Street bring us closer to realizing how the Internet can change music for the better. The old guard wants to continue telling us what we should like, and set the prices for us. Amie Street turns that concept upside down by letting the listeners decide exactly what is worth our time and money. Oh, and any company who realizes just how ridiculous DRM really is earns a page in my book.
