The Growing Bittunes Global Community

There’s something interesting happening in Bittunes..

Although the community is still quite small in terms of total numbers, we now have members in more than 90 countries. A number of these users have invested in the business, (securing around 10% of Company equity) and are deeply committed to our mission. It is now very clear that by involving both Artists and music buyers in the economic process of distribution, significant ‘lock-in’ effects naturally occur. i.e. When every purchase is an investment, users have little incentive to leave.

Comments left by some Bittunes users on Google Play  Android App page

Leveling the Music Industry playing field

Right from the beginning we encouraged users to self-sort into three classes. ‘Music Makers’, (Artists), ‘Music Movers’, (Buyers/Fans), and ‘Music Managers’ (Service Providers). This was in part an effort to allow limited industry involvement (Music Managers), but to do so in a way that leveled the playing field. i.e. a lighting technician has the same status as a record company.

Now, almost 50% of our users are Artists, but we expect significant growth in the other categories as Bittunes 2.0 opens up.

It is clear that not all Bittunes users completely understand the significance of the ‘distributed earnings’ business model, but many seem very interested in being part of an open global marketplace for independent music, and have been defining their individual identities within this new mini ecosystem.