Hydroshare's 2012 white paper on the value in releasing a free album online for a modern recording artist.

1. So You
Want to
Put out a
Free album?
www.hydroshare.tv

2. In today’s crowded music Here’s wHat tHe Industry
Is sayIng about tHe value “In this landscape it’s
market, album-quality free of free albums easier to reach the
audience, but it’s
releases have become a “A new generation of harder to get heard
necessary strategy for [recording artists] is above the fray”
- eric weinberg, President of
actively trying to
industry success. Hydroshare build a new business
entertainment at nielsen
Digital Distribution provides model in which “Major labels’ adjusted attitude
releasing free
our clients with a cloud-based material online
towards mixtapes isn’t only
rooted in compensatory
software solution that enables builds a fan base motives, but also in the
emphasizing of talent — to
that paves the way
artists to better connect with for revenue streams:
build careers with longevity.”
- sha Money XL, vP a&r,
their audience and generate touring, merchandise,
even something as
def Jam recordings
revenue from free albums. old-fashioned as a “Independent statistics makes
record deal.” sense because music companies
can’t afford to do much research
- The New York Times, on their own anymore.”
“For some, Free Music is
an investment that Pays off” - Bloomberg Business Week, helping
indie Musicians Market their tunes
“...there can be long-term benefits of releasing exceptionally
popular mixtapes to fans. In September 2009, Drake’s mixtape
So Far So Gone was cut to a seven song EP and released for
sale with new commercial packaging. According to SoundScan,
the So Far Gone EP has sold over 608,000 copies.”
- Billboard magazine, Mixtapes: why hip-hop’s stars Continue to Give away
Full Produced works for Free
distribution@hydroshare.tv I www.hydroshare.tv I 2

3. Hydroshare digital distribution gives you
the tools to maximize value and reach.
Trying to stand out? Create quality Concerned about lowering the value your music?
1 2
original music and content. Release the album using a specialized music
hydroshare.tv is a curated distribution platform distribution service, not a file locker.
only for professional-quality free albums and viral to your fans, file lockers are cheap and
videos. no vevo videos, stolen compilations, or unreliable. the hydroshare.tv software utilizes the
bootlegs are allowed. rackspace Managed Cloud, resulting in reliable
data collection and premium distribution without
our software serves as a unified destination fear of disabled links or comingling your album
for album artwork, audio, and videos, forming with unauthorized content.
a high-quality location for streaming and
downloading content normally spread across
various websites.
Use your free album to develop your fan base. Use the album to sell merchandise.
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hydroshare digital distribution provides our hydroshare.tv’s advertising software allows
clients with individual accounts where they hydroshare distribution to target album pages
can track online traffic based on geographic at-will. this enables our clients to monetize fan
and digital location. artists can utilize these traffic by launching merchandise and concert
maps and charts to coordinate tours and mini-ad-campaigns where their music is being
digital initiatives around the demographics downloaded/streamed.
of their growing fan base.
the hydroshare software allows clients to easily
hydroshare.tv provides users with robust partner with sponsoring brands in executing ad
sharing opportunities, making it easy for fans campaigns targeted to one or several albums. our
to redistribute artist content via social media. ad campaigns allow sponsors to deliver look-books
and other custom advertising to a given album page.
we then send advertisers detailed reports outlining
the effectiveness and reach of their campaign,
ensuring positive return on their spend.
distribution@hydroshare.tv I www.hydroshare.tv I 3

4. free album distribution vs. Commercial album distribution
Coordinate your free projects with your commercial release.
Statistics/ Buzz Buzz Statistics/
Analytics Growth Growth Analytics
New New
Release Release
Saturation Introduction
Project Project
Maturity Hybrid Maturity
Promo
Single
Fluid Product Cycle Commercial Product Cycle
Hybrid
Tours/ Tour Tours/
Concerts Concerts
Merchandising Merchandising
Upstream/ Upstream/
Decline Commercialize Commercialize Decline
1. new release saturation: Get the right 5. merchandising: utilize consumption 1. new release Introduction: Get the right 6. decline: Consumption starts to decline, as
people to hear and like your music via points to sell merch where fans are people to hear and like your music via other products become more popular and
digi-parnertships with media outlets. getting your music. digi-parnertship. saturation has taken place.
2. buzz growth: Promotion efforts start to 2. buzz growth: Promotion efforts start to 7. upstream/Commercialize: release the
6. decline: Consumption starts to decline,
pay off and the album gains traction. pay off and the album gains traction. album through subscription based music
as other products become more popular
services/clubs.
3. statistics/analytics: Capture detailed and saturation has taken place. 3. statistics/analytics: Capture demographics.
geographic and consumption 8. tours/Concerts: use analytics to book tours
7. upstream/Commercialize: best time to 4. Project maturity: ramp up distribution.
demographics. and concerts.
re-release the album commercially as
5. merchandising: utilize consumption points
4. Project maturity: ramp up promotion to an eP or through subscription based
to sell merch.
the max by releasing videos. music services/clubs.
8. tours/Concerts: use analytics to book
tours and concerts.
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5. artist services - Album / EP / Mixtape Distribution
The Hydroshare Album
Distribution Page
utilize cloud-based widgets,
video, and advertising, to reach
your audience and maximize
the value of a free album or eP.
expandable
album artwork. Hydroshare.tv video
player and playlist.
each video is fully
embeddable and sharable.
sharing and social
media widgets.
solve media ad CaPtCHa
widget. used to monetize
launches pop-out downloads and for
and embeddable security purposes to
player widget. maintain the integrity
of our statistics. ad
component optional.
streaming audio player.
amazon widget. auto
searches the amazon
store for digital mP3
downloads from the
album artist.
Hydroshare custom
ad template for artist Hydroshare custom
merchandise. ad template for brand
sponsor lookbooks.
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6. artist services - Album / EP / Mixtape Live Statistics
Hydroshare Premium Distribution Services
a hydroshare distribution account allows artists
to track album page views down to the city and
referring web page, making it easier to book and
promote shows around the world. we also work
with artists in designing ad campaigns for their
merchandise and upcoming tours that can be
targeted to individual albums or fan demograph-
ics. artists/Management please contact us directly
at distribution@hydroshare.tv for all inquiries.
City level maps and statistics
artist advertiser Charts
visit Charts
merchant ad templates
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7. album sponsor / advertiser services - Ad Targeting and Reporting
Hydroshare Advertising Services
hydroshare enables advertisers to easily partner with
artists to sponsor free albums, ePs, and other compilations
by providing a variety of opportunities to increase brand
and/or message recall at the point-of-download. sponsors
can track type-ins, banner clicks, and page views to gauge
the effectiveness of their campaigns. advertisers/sponsors
please contact us directly at advertising@hydroshare.tv for
all inquiries.
reach statistics
CaPtCHa ad
visitor maps Conversion statistics
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