If you’ve been DJing for the past 8 or so years, you probably already have heard of TheFuture.FM. They started as Dubset then fell off the map, but now they’re back with new owners and a big objective: To make sure producers are paid what they’re worth.
As everybody knows, the industry has been skewed and biased towards the DJ. They simply get most of the attention these days. They also get paid top dollar to perform on stage for a couple of hours while the producers that made the music are left with next to nothing.
That’s where TheFuture steps in. DJs will pay a monthly subscription and download as much music as they desire. The subscription fees for the music they’re downloading flows to the producers. DJs get access to the best music right when it’s released and producers are reaping the benefits of a fair profit-sharing platform. This concept makes a lot of sense and has the potential to really shake up the industry.
Platforms like Spotify and Apple music are extremely saturated and pay next to nothing for your music. You would have to have literally millions of streams for this to make sense for producers. Unless that new track you’re working on goes viral, there’s little hope of making much from it.
So how is TheFuture different? Since their system is based on profit sharing, it all boils down to how many DJs are subscribed and which tracks these DJs download. Let’s say “DJ Dave” subscribes, downloads all of the five tracks you have posted. Based on their split, you’ll be paid approximately $1/per track downloaded from DJ Dave for that month. Imagine that your track gets 1,000 downloads for the month in a similar manner. The math is simple. Keep in mind DJs won’t be paying for each download, they’re paying a monthly subscription, so they’re much more likely to download a track that they’re on the fence about. Those tracks that you have on Beatport that aren’t selling? They’ll probably do great on TheFuture. Some DJs will download hundreds of tracks, some will download only one. The law of averages is at play here.
They have another trick in store as well: AI music discovery. They’re building an algorithm that, through artificial intelligence, will make it incredibly easy to group similar sounding tracks from different artists. That new track you just downloaded and love? Their AI matching system will find tracks that have a similar style and melody as the one you just got. This will make it incredibly easy for DJs to find more tracks that they can easily mix together without even having to leave the site. SoundCloud and other streaming sites may be in trouble here, as they’re extremely lacking in the music discovery department.
We’re looking forward to when they’ve got the site done so we can follow up. They’re currently in beta testing, so hopefully, we don’t have to wait too long. In the meantime, we recommend bookmarking their site and checking back occasionally to see how they’re progressing.
Website: https://thefuture.fm
