NASHVILLE, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Bandbox) - In an unprecedented move for an artist of this magnitude, Big Machine Records recently launched the limited edition pre-sale of Taylor Swift's sophomore album FEARLESS (releasing November 11, 2008) exclusively through Bandbox's direct-to-consumer distribution platform.
Bandbox's free direct-to-consumer platform affords Taylor fans the opportunity to pre-order her new album directly from any of Taylor Swift's network of websites including TaylorSwift.com, Taylor's MySpace profile and her Facebook profile, TheTaylorNation.com and BigMachineRecords.com. Bandbox's policy to give content & pricing control to the artist and labels has also enabled Big Machine Records to offer 3 creative product configurations for Taylor's new release. These includes a limited edition FEARLESS Collector's Box, which contains the FEARLESS CD, a FEARLESS leather bracelet, a FEARLESS t-shirt, a FEARLESS picture book, a "The Taylor Nation" decal, and a locker poster of Taylor along with a chance to win the PINK ticket - The Ultimate Taylor Swift Fan Experience. As part of this exclusive pre-order, Taylor's fans will also have the unique opportunity to have their own picture included in Taylor's album packaging, within a special mosaic photo poster which will appear both on the album packaging and online at TheTaylorNation.com starting November 11th.
Fans will also be able to aid in the promotion of Taylor's new album by easily placing the Bandbox widget store on their own web sites, blogs and social network pages, essentially creating a fan-based, globally dispersed sales team. This strategy was a key factor in Big Machine Record's decision to use Bandbox:
"Bandbox provides a unique ecommerce platform to us for our digital and physical sales," says Kelly Rich, VP Sales & Marketing for Big Machine. "Taylor is an established leader in the online space and her fans are highly engaged. Her active fan network will help spread the widget to all corners of the Internet, essentially providing a Taylor-branded 'end cap' on countless web sites."
Bandbox, whose primary focus has been to equip independent artists with its "100% Back For Free" distribution tool, has also seen significant interest from major labels and blockbuster acts (Bandbox similarly partnered with Jewel earlier this year).
"We continue to receive positive feedback from the independent artist community, but more unexpected is the growing interest in Bandbox from record labels, large and small," said Brian Peterson. "It seems our platform provides a powerful solution for an imminent need among labels. And it is absolutely free."
As labels manage the transition from a retail-only sales environment and adopt a highly beneficial direct-to-consumer sales channel, Bandbox offers a compelling alternative to the proprietary, in-house options labels are considering. Aside from its strong technological advantages, Bandbox's core appeal is that it passes nearly 100% of the revenue to labels. "We've intentionally created a business model whereby our revenue is generated through other avenues, preserving total earnings for the artists and record labels," Peterson says. "We have a product that is as good as or better than any in-house tool being considered by labels. With 100% back, and a cost savings in the hundreds of thousands, there is a fairly decent incentive to sell using the Bandbox platform."
For more information about Bandbox, visit Bandbox.com online or contact Brian Peterson direct at 615/579.6592.
