Turntable.fm Tries To Monetize With Turntable Gold, “Under New Management” [Updated]
This week Turntable.fm launched their first real effort at monetization with Turntable Gold subscriptions. Monthly subscriptions provide Turntable.fm users with custom avatars, stickers and the ability to post animated GIFs. Other things are happening worth noting including the cryptic note that Turntable.fm is "under new management."
[Update: Jordan Davidoff clarified that "under new management" refers to the hiring of Jim Crosby as General Manager. He'll be giving CEO Billy Chasen a bit of room to keep improving Turntable.fm as well as other properties of parent company Turntable.]
Turntable.fm, the much heralded site featuring DJ rooms with a community orientation, may be a target of jaded blog commenters but they've continued to develop and are now sharing the fruits of their labor.
Turntable.fm Updates Include Miniplayer and Turntable Gold Subscriptions
This week's updates include a new Miniplayer:
"Since we launched in 2011, you’ve been asking for a simpler, cleaner experience without losing any of Turntable’s functionality. So, we created the new Miniplayer. It has all the features you know and love with less clutter. Activate the Miniplayer today by resizing your browser’s window or hitting the pop-out button, found in any room."
They've also redesigned the DJ rooms and, in a move that finally answers the ongoing questions regarding monetization, have introduced Turntable Gold subscriptions.
Turntable Gold is a monthly subscription service for those devoted to Turntable.fm. It's currently name-your-price but the sliding scale ranges from $1 to $25 a month. At launch you receive:
Premium Avatars – more to come each month, plus they have animated features which go into action when you DJ.
Chat and Laptop Stickers – to spice up your comments and decorate your laptop that appears when you DJ.
Chat GIFs – subscribers can paste a GIF's URL in the comments and it will spring to life.
Turntable Gold appears to be the first real attempt at monetization for Turntable.fm. Way back in 2011 co-founder Seth Goldstein revealed that they had made some money off affiliate fees for music sales but that they didn't consider that a major source of ongoing revenue.
Turntable Under New Management?
In an email to a Hypebot associate, Turntable's head of Artist Relations, Jordan Davidoff, stated:
"Turntable is under new management and this is the beginning of many changes on the horizon."
I'm not sure what "under new management" means, though I'm trying to find out, but it sounds like Turntable.fm is on the move. ["under new management" is now clarified at the start of the post.]
Davidoff said we can also look forward to "Turntable Summer Festival, a 3-day digital event taking place Aug. 13-15." They have some interesting guests lined up but that's off-the-record for now though I'm sure we'll be hearing more soon.
More:
- Turntable.fm's Billy Chasen Discusses Piki: Human-Powered Music Discovery App Now On iTunes
- Turntable.fm's Seth Goldstein On Monetizing Music Discovery & User Engagement
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
