Ok, we’ve mentioned that Sam Phillips is the coolest, right? So, in addition to coming to us to design and develop her new site, she also came to us with the beginnings of a great Subscription Site idea. It was awesome and we worked with her to develop out the idea into a full-fledged music subscription site and social network. We’ve kept it under wraps, until now. We officially launched The Long Play on October 1st and Sam received over 150 subscriptions in the first 3 hours.
For you technical geeks out there, you want to know this info – it’s a hybrid of WordPress MU, BuddyPress, WishList Membership Manager, PayPal, Anarchy Player, Drain Hole, and a few other key plugins and mods.
It’s going to be a great year for Sam Phillips fans. Check out what this subscription is all about, taken from Sam’s site:
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Long Play is a year of music. While digging for inspiration and journaling the process of writing and recording, I will release 5 EP’s and a full-length album through samphillips.com. There is no record company involved — this is just between us.
As a subscriber, every two months you will automatically receive a high-quality digital EP made up of new songs, new versions of my old songs, seasonal songs, or previously unreleased songs. (The first EP is entitled “Hypnotists in Paris”; a collaboration between myself and The Section Quartet.)
At the end of the Long Play, next fall, you will receive a full-length digital album. This is the most music I’ve ever released in a one-year period. Essays, video, photos and audio logs will make the Long Play part music, book, magazine, laboratory, radio program and curiosity collection.
Will opening up some of the creative process affect the way I write and record the music? Will it affect how you hear it? I have no idea, and there’s only one way to find out…please join me for the Long Play.
Sam
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A $52 subscription includes:
- 5 digital EP’s (high-quality MP3 format); released every two months starting October 1, 2009
- 1 full-length digital album (high-quality MP3 format); scheduled for release in the fall of 2010
- 1 Subscribers-only bonus track with each EP and album, plus additional bonus tracks throughout the year
- Bonus audio and video content throughout the year-long project; may include live concert footage, rehearsal tapes, demos, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, etc.
- Exclusive audio and visual oddities
- Membership in the Long Play community with exclusive access to Sam’s journaling of her creative process as well as an exclusive social network of Sam’s fans.
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If you’re interested in what we’ve done here for Sam and how we might be able to do something for your band (or if you’re a label, one of your bands), hit us up. It’s niche at it’s best – forming an immediate bond with the fans, making music the way YOU want to, getting the music out there to the people who really want to hear it, and delivering something special to the fans in a very special and intimate way. For Sam, it made sense to do this for $52 for a year’s subscription. For you, it may make sense to do it monthly, quarterly, at a lower price, a higher price, whatever.. point is to get the music out there to the people who want to hear it and give them a chance to directly support you in the process.
We’re really excited about this one. We love you Sam! Thanks for trusting us!
