Previously on June 25, 2020, Intercept Music, Inc. – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanwire Corporation (OTC: SNWR) – announced that it had added physical music distribution through major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and FYE, because of its growing services for independent artists. Sanwire sees itself as a technology aggregator. The company is known for doing business in fragmented markets, more specifically looking for innovative opportunities where technology can be applied to consolidate services into a single delivery platform. This has led to expertise in advanced entertainment technologies for the music industry. And this is precisely where the involvement of subsidiary Intercept Music can influence Sanwire’s business and result in an impact on the music industry.
Sanwire explains PSN about its business strategy
Value is created by offering consolidated services on a streamlined platform. In these ‘digital’ times, it has become clear that if you want to stand out, serious marketing skills are required on social media. With the current generation and the infinite supply of media, there is more to it than just marketing, think about: PR, playlists, reviews, videos and paid advertisements to get noticed. Sanwire is aware that independent artists who do not have the support of a label experience a huge range of responsibilities. Through automatization, Sanwire wants to deliver value to the independent artist market. This means the artists will focus on producing music, while Sanwire is responsible for generating as much revenue as possible.
In the music industry, the two largest sources of income for artists are concerts and merchandise. A lot of merchandise is offered at concerts, but by far not all of it is sold. This is where Sanwire thinks it has discovered a gap in the market. Online shops including artist brands where they can sell custom merchandise with the band look and logo that are left over after a concert/tour. This is where Intercept Music plays an essential role. They take care of all inventory, sales and logistics as well as revenues (with a nominal share going to Intercept Music). Artists are performing more live at home because of financial reasons and let’s not forget the impact of COVID-19. The intention is for Sanwire to help the artists to get in touch with their fans remotely and increasingly.
Intercept Music comes with big news
Intercept Music is a company that focuses on the needs of today’s independent artists. The way of doing business is unique because a full range of services is offered to the independent artist linking distribution, marketing and sales. This provides an efficient and promising solution for artists to focus on the music in particular. Intercept Music relies on recognised, professional software that has been used at enterprise level in the music industry.
Breaking, 29 July 2020: Intercept Music announces that Jim Urie, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group Distribution, has joined the board of directors. With more than four decades of experience, Urie is seen as the guru of maximizing profitability for music distribution. Previously, Urie has been named by Billboard Magazine as one of the distribution giants in the music industry and is responsible for Universal Music Group’s transition from physical to digital distribution. This has given Urie a lot of credits and makes him an enormous asset to the company.
How the music industry continues to change faster
With the pandemic and current technology, it is interesting to consider online concerts. Several great artists have performed during the quarantine and has been received with great applause by the audience. Accessibility and platforms for such a concert are also increasing, such as Patreon and TipJar. Here, too, more and more money is being spent on donations and the sale of merchandise. Artists acknowledge that they no longer need to be tied to a label to get the services they need. In addition, the number of artists per year is increasing significantly and it is becoming an even greater challenge to distinguish yourself as artist. The result, artists are finding new ways to make money on their own.
Warner Music Group EMP Merchandising – a producer of music products – purchased $180 million worth of merchandise and eOne Entertainment and Empire Distribution have made acquisitions of trading companies over the past 18 months. This proves that the music industry and merchandize trade is still an acknowledged billion dollar market.
Art is War Records can make a big impact
AIW Records was founded by artist, entrepreneur and icon Lucas Joyner. With a selection of at least 20 upcoming and established acts, Lucas Joyner owns a label with great potential. Sanwire was convinced of his vision and offered the opportunity to work together by combining his hard work with their platform, automatizing the processes and delivering it on a scale much larger than AIW is currently accustomed to.
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