Shirtify T-Shirt Of Month Club: Music You Like, Money For Independent Artists
[Updated below] Shirtify is a t-shirt of the month club that's based on your social listening preferences. This Canadian starup uses music services like Spotify to identify what you're listening to and sends you a t-shirt for a band you enjoy. If you're an artist whose music is getting streamed a lot, this might be a good way to get paid.
Shirtify, is a project from the folks at Wantering who also created Window Shop, a site featuring merchandise found by fashion bloggers with links to the online outlets. With Shirtify they're setting up fulfillment as well.
Shirtify identifies your listening preferences via Spotify, Rdio, Pandora or Last.fm. They then send you relevant band t-shirts on a monthly basis for $35, annually for $399 or in a 3-shirt pack for $99. It is kind of pricey, which may be its downfall, but shipping is included and they have a "no questions asked" returns policy.
However, the biggest reason for the pricing is the fact that they pay the bands full price for their shirts, unlike probably any other retail outlet or related service. So part of their pitch is being a way for bands to get paid who may not be getting rich off streaming services.
They're currently contacting bands for shirts but don't have a posted submissions process. If you're getting streamed regularly on any of the above services, I'd suggest using this form to let them know you're interested.
More @ The Next Web.
Update: Shirtify cofounder Nicholas Molnar clarifies the inclusion process in the comments.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
[Full Disclosure: I’m one of the cofounders of Shirtify]
Thanks for such a thoughtful write-up.
Just thought I’d clarify one thing: artists don’t need to do anything to be eligible for Shirtify if they’re already selling shirts from their own website.
If you want to increase your odds of getting picked each month, the best way is to encourage your biggest fans to sign up. We decide which shirts to send based on what subscribers are listening to, so having people on Shirtify who are already listening to your stuff would make it much more likely that you’ll get picked each month.
Of course, we’re always happy to hear from artists, fans, and music industry folks. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email me at nick [at] shirtify.fm.
Thanks for the clarification. I updated the post to let folks know you commented on the process.
what an awesome concept!
Since this post went out we’ve gotten a really positive response. One of the most common pieces of feedback we’ve received was on the price & the number of shirts involved. We hear ya.
So, we’ve launched a new $12/month Quarterly package. 4 shirts a year, less of a monthly hit on the credit card statement.
You can check it out now at Shirtify.fm
TOO EXPENSIVE PEOPLE!!!