Elaborate Mystery Site Spoofs Spotify For Artists, Calls For Higher Payouts
A week before Spotify launched its Spotiify For Artist initiative, an unknown prankster registered and created the site SpotifyForArtitsts.com. At first look, the design feels very much like an official Spotify page. But read the copy carefully and you realze that it's both a spoof and a call for Spotify to offer more transparency and higher payments to artists.
The real Spotify launched Spotify For Artists on Tuesday, December 4th. In addition to a campaign to win the hearts and minds of artists, the music streamer offered up free analytics from Next Bing Sound alongside concert listings and tickets via Songkick and merch sales from Topspin.
8 days earlier on November 25th, someone who seems to have had deep knowledge of what Spotify was about to launch, used GoDaddy and Arizona based identity masking service Domains By Proxy to register SpotifyForArtists.com.
Days later the site appeared with the headline:
We've really changed our ways. Now SpotifyforArtists makes sure the creators you love see the love. Directly. We're paying them more. So you can keep supporting your community just by listening. And they can afford to keep making the music you love to listen to.
Page down and the spoof swings into full gear:
For a while now we've been encouraging everyone to listen to music without ever actually owning it. Now you have the option to buy an album and the artist gets 95% of the proceeds. Just like that. And you can keep it, listen to it anytime, anywhere. Even pass it to your children. Think of it as an investment in your future and the future of music.
It goes on to promise "No More Confusing Contracts" and "No More Secret Math" all surrounded by a design you'd swear as done at Spotify HQ. The bottom of the site reads:
Give the gift of music. Pay Musicians
It's all an elaborate and well conceived call-out to Spotify. But as our pal Stuart Dredge at the UK's Music Ally asked, "Okay, who created spoof website Spotify For Artists?
MORE: Spotify Steps Up With Free Analytics For Artists, Concert Ticketing and Merch Sales
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