Some acts have come together to create a new artist-centric and artist-empowering music streaming platform. But it’s not a Tidal rival or a Pono revival. People, currently in beta, has been set up by Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) along with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.
It will be free to use and acts putting up music do so with an eye on the art statement and possibly triggering collaborations within the community. Monetisation is not the goal. It’s not even an afterthought as there will be no fiddly micropayments to be gathered and distributed.
The founding acts are putting their money (well, their music) where their mouth is and have put up music that they feel is good but that just, for whatever creative or release cycle reason, does not fit on their ‘normal’ albums. It’s a ragbag of ideas and clearly aimed at the kind of fan who wants to track all creative outlets and processes by their favourite acts.
“We are a steadily growing group of artists, freely creating and sharing our work with each other and everyone,” the blurb on the website runs. “We call it PEOPLE [their caps]. It was born of a wish to establish an independent and nurturing space in which to make work (generally around music) that is collaborative, spontaneous and expressive in nature and where all unnecessary distractions or obstacles that get in the way are removed. PEOPLE is for the benefit and development of the artists involved and just as importantly, for those who would like, to access and enjoy the output. It is as much about the process of making work and showing all that openly, as the final outcome.”
The founders know that if they just pack it with their own music then the appeal will be limited – so they want other acts to circumvent labels and join this quiet revolution for creators. There are plenty of other big or cult names on there already, including a Leonard Cohen song (albeit him as a writer rather than something recorded before his death) that Sufjan Steven is one of the performers on as well as a track with Will Oldham on.
Getting lots of acts on there is all well and good in theory, but some labels – often with exclusive recordings agreements with their acts – will not be overjoyed at the idea of them (possibly) giving away raw gold for free.
Asked by the Guardian why 4AD and JagJaguwar, the labels they are signed to, are excluded, Aaron Dessner said, “They are two of the best, artist-friendly labels in the world, but they still exist within the structures of the industry, of agents and managers, and those structures don’t often permit the kind of music-making we’re interested in, where musicians interact directly with each other. This is much more spontaneous and free, without promotional timelines and requirements and the label demands that come into play. We’ve been 20 years in the National and gone through every phase of doing that. We see this as something else entirely.”
With Neil Young fully opening up his vast archives – with detailed notes and annotations on pretty much everything – for a $19.99 annual subscription, it is fascinating that artists are now taking on a new curator role outside of the main DSPs. They are, it seems, less interested in generating vast profits and more in actually giving super-fans something of genuine worth.
