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By Dublin Drupaller on
hi guys,
I've been having a look at a few of these (download shop solutions) and while it's a little bit buggy (only minor little glitches - not showstopping errors) and the payment rates (after the mobile operators' cut is taken) are quite low, I thought it might be worth flagging up here.
In a nutshell, the Artists First solution allows bands/artists to setup their own digital download shop, accepting SMS mobile payments, PAYPAL and credit/debit cards (via paypal) and selling downloads including: MP3, video, images, files, TRUETONES (aka REALTONES).
It's quite well put together, especially the TRUETONE (aka realtones) sales bit, but, the main drawback is the revenue share between the Artist/band - Artist First and the mobile operator. For a £1.50 sale (whether it's a file, mp3, video, image), here's the splits depending on operator:
operator sale price/artist revenue
-------------------------------------
Vodafone £1.50/£0.70
Orange £1.50/£0.69
O2 £1.50/£0.71
T Mobile £1.50/£0.68
Virgin £1.50/£0.42
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http://www.artists-first.net [open in a new window]
I've nothing to do with Artists First. I was just trying out their solution. They have a free 3-day trial to suck it and see for yourself and the setup price ranges from $19 for a basic account to $30 for a label account.
I'm not sure if I'm going to run with them - their revenue share deals look very very bad for artists. However, I'm toying with the idea of using it *only* as a "pay by mobile" option for a Drupal driven music shop. Setting up a premium SMS payment system (where users can pay for something using a mobile phone) is very expensive. So there is value in that alone.
Also, the workflow, for lack of a better word..or the way orders are handled and presented is quite good. It's intuitive and probably a good "template" to use for a drupal digital shop - which is what I'm working on at the mo.
hope that's of interest to others.
Dub
Comments
outpayments
the outpayments aren't that bad, considering that the mobile operators and the needed middlemen in between take a sizeable chunk out of any mobile transaction.
What would be needed to integrate a solution like Artists First seamlessly into Drupal? Would we need any assistance from AF (I know their CEO pretty well, as we're practically neighbours)?
snap..
I was thinking the precise same thing (i.e. seamlessy integrate it into Drupal).
It requires a fairly simple module and co-operation with Artists First. I as trying out their solution this morning and it's designed to bolt-on to an existing site, rather than other solutions out there.
I emailed Mark (one of the Artists First guys) this morning, but, if you know the guys...maybe you could give their door a knock.
What's significant is that it allows you to sell music, ringtones and video downloads (actually pretty much any file) and accept SMS mobile payment - which is pretty valuable. It's very expensive to setup a basic reverse SMS account.
I agree with you by the way, the telco charges are high, but, they're high no matter where you look. Unless you're dealing with high volume, the outpayments are going to be pretty small.
on that topic, would it be an idea to suggest that, if an artistsfirst.module was developed, we could channel all telco transactions through a special "drupal account"...so Drupallers using Artists First would benefit long term from the rise in volume that would bring?
hope that makes sense..in music parlance, it would be like setting Drupal up as a label...and every Drupaller who uses the module is an "artist" on that label - who get paid direct, but, are all going through the same account and ramp up the volumes.
Edited: incidentally, that concept won't affect Artists firsts revenue...as they take their cut *after* the telco...
Dub
Currently in Switzerland working as an Application Developer with UBS Investment Bank...using Drupal 7 and lots of swiss chocolate