Digital Money For Music: Tip Jar That Takes Plastic, Websites That Take Bitcoin
To paraphrase Amanda Palmer, people want to give you their money so make sure you can take it. DipJar is a tipjar that takes tips via credit cards. It's designed as a self-serve solution for coffee shops and similar settings and suggests one possible solution for street musicians in a cashless society. Accepting payment in digital currency such as Bitcoin is another issue facing musicians. Lots of retailers are coming on board and now there are tools for taking Bitcoin as direct payments on your site.
Tip Jars in a Cashless Society
Tips are one form of payment that aren't going away but, if you're playing on the street or in a club where they tip you at the stage, you're often now faced with the Cashless Society. More and more people aren't carrying cash and that frees them from the social obligation to tip. In a tip-based economy that's kind of scary.
DipJar is working on one solution though it's currently being designed for store settings. Click on the above thumbnail for a picture of the DipJar in action.
The basic idea is that the DipJar sits on the counter set to a predetermined amount. When customers "dip" their cards into the DipJar, they're not only charged but there's a little light show or something to draw attention to the moment.
If you're interested in the product at this stage, check out the FAQ for more details.
This gets closer to a solution for street musicians and the like but isn't there yet partly because it's not designed for that use. One of the big problems is finding a way to take credit cards that's self-serve. There are a lot of solutions for selling something but you have to stop and run the card.
It may be the case that solutions that allow people to simply donate via their cellphone using a shortcode or similar option displayed on a sign will be the ideal solution.
Taking Bitcoin on Your Site
Bitcoin, the digital/alternative/imaginary currency, is gradually becoming institutionalized as more and more ecommerce companies accept it, ATM's start to spread and serious investors get involved.
Stripe is testing Bitcoin acceptance. I'm not sure where they're at with that but that will solve the problem for a lot of people both on their websites and at shows.
A number of options are beginning to appear in the land of WordPress for taking Bitcoin for sales on your site.
One example would be Easy Digital Downloads a free WordPress plugin around which a thriving ecosystem has grown for third party add-ons and integrations into WordPress themes. It also comes from a trusted developer with a long history.
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) keeps up to date with payment gateways and related developments and now has extensions for Bitcoin:
And, if you don't want to keep your money in Bitcoin, you can set things up to exchange Bitcoin for your preferred currency on an ongoing basis. But, whatever you do, take their money!
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
I was a free concert recently and they had a banner with a phone number on it that allowed people to text a donation to the event. Now I realize that there is some service behind this transaction and it’s probably geared toward fund-raising but it makes me wonder if there was a way to do this for tipping as well (a la street performers). Enhance the transaction with a small screen that thanked donators in real-time. It may encourage others in the crowd to do the same.
Glad to see others picking up on #bitcoin as Altavoz started in Feb accepting it for wholesale transactions ( http://prlog.org/12289107.html ) As well the Altavoz announced new service for artists bands and labels that sign up for http://DigitalDistributionDeal.com to get access to a virtual tip jar and tiny campaigns from JETCOResearch.com ( http://prlog.org/12340613.html ) all of these are things that Altavoz feels will help the independents to make a living in our still very tought business.
Selling music for bitcoin is straightforward and effortless with a customized Bitcoin Music Stores via Liberty Music.
Using Liberty Music I am able to share my music direct to my supporters with no middleman or credit card fees! My Bitcoin Music Store is really simple and allows anyone to purchase and download my songs with bitcoin in just two clicks! Plus there are also no sign-ups or extra hurdles to jump through to get the music.
If you want to see it in action go to http://yesconnie.com/btc
If you want to learn more about Liberty Music check out this write-up from Crypto Coins News – http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/liberty-music-store-selling-indie-music-bitcoin-made-easy/
(I’d recommend all artists look into this)
Should have tracked this down for a mobile alternative:
https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/07/tip5-provides-virtual-tip-jar-for-street-musicians.html
I think that’s the way to go for virtual tip jar action.
YESConnie – looks good. Thanks for the info.
Nelson, feel free to send those press releases my way when they come out. That’s why my email’s on every post.
Thanks y’all. If anyone else has music-related bitcoin news please add it now.