What is Any Requests?
The music industry landscape has reached a breaking point. The massive devaluation of recorded music brought about by the streaming revolution has made it impossible for most artists to survive off of their recorded catalogue.
In live concerts, the percentage cuts taken by ticket companies, venues, labels, management, and the numerous costs associated with sound, lighting, travel and accommodation mean that even an expensive ticket price is heavily diluted before any money reaches the artist.
To supplement this, fans are encouraged to buy merchandise at live shows, but rising production and distribution costs, increasing venue cuts, and the significant environmental impact of merch production all make this an increasingly unsustainable revenue stream in the modern world. All of this adds up to a state of play where even household names are struggling to finance their tours.
Enter Any Requests, the platform where fans can request their favourite songs live from touring artists, creating a brand new revenue stream.
How Does It Work?
Any Requests lets fans tell their favourite artists about a song they want to see them play at a live show they are attending. The fan chooses a tour date, selects their song, pledges a financial contribution of their choice, and if the artist plays that song at their live show, the artist gets paid. If they don't, the money is returned. Simple as that.
Benefits for Fans
Have you ever been to a live show and come away wishing the artist had played that one song you really love? Any Requests gives fans the chance to request the song they've always wanted to hear live. Maybe it's a classic from the debut album, that obscure b-side they listen to on repeat, or their favourite song from the new record - whatever the choice, Any Requests allows fans the chance to influence their favourite artist's setlist. In doing so, fans contribute money directly to support the artist, helping battle against the rising costs of touring and the unfair margins paid out through streaming. The fan is only charged if the request is completed, so there's no risk involved either. Win-win!
Benefits for Artists
By enabling their fans to request their favourite songs, artists can deepen the bond between themselves and their fanbase, while benefiting from a brand new revenue stream with much better margins than streaming, ticket sales, or merch. Artists retain complete control, determining which songs they make available for fans to choose from, reviewing all requests anonymously, and only choosing to approve the requests they want to or that make sense for them financially. Any unmet requests are simply refunded by the platform without a fuss.
Who Are We?
Any Requests is founded by Lucy and Nick, two young entrepreneurs with over 20 years experience in the music industry between them. The pair met while working at SoundCloud in Berlin, where they bonded over a shared passion of music and social change. Prior to that, Lucy had worked in radio at 95bFM, interviewing artists on tour in her native New Zealand and for record label Flying Nun. Nick, meanwhile, is a self-funded independent musician, with live experience playing in several bands and going on short tours across Europe and the United Kingdom.
What's the Long Term Vision?
Simply put, we are passionate about being part of an ethical music industry, where artists are fairly remunerated and able to make a living off of doing what they love. We imagine a world where artists can pool money together from fans' requests to make touring sustainable while creating an unforgettable, unique live experience for their supporters.
FAQ
How Do You Determine If A Song Was Played?
Artists are required to complete official documents detailing a setlist of the songs they played for submission to the collecting society in a given country, commonly referred to as a CMO. In order to receive their payout from Any Requests, we simply ask that artists submit a copy of this CMO setlist to us for review.
What's Our Cut?
In an industry overwhelmed by middle managers taking a slice of the pie, at Any Requests we recognise it's really important for us to be transparent about margins. We charge a 10% service fee for each transaction on the platform, plus a small transaction fee passed on by our payment provider.
What If My Song Isn't Played?
We can't guarantee that artists will be able to meet every request and play every song their fans want to see. Requests that are not met will be refunded.
How can I get in touch with you?
You can email us at hello@anyrequests.club