Earbits Online Radio and "Promoted Spins"
musicthinktank.com
musicthinktank.com
Management interface: Simple, quick, straightforward. They encourage high-quality files (192Kbps recommended), which a couple of their competitors still don't do.
Listening interface: newer style, full screen, big-everything interface. I like it, but I know some can't stand this style. They took the "Sixty-one" style and did it better (and unlike 61, they having working genre channels, which 61 has not gotten around to fixing after a couple of years of waiting.)
Price: Currently unbeatable. Bang for the buck is really excellent.
Reporting: Quick, but still scant. No one beats Jango at this at the moment. See below.
Listener targeting: a weak point. Targeting by similar artists and the ability to self-categorize/tag would be a nice addition. For eclectic artists, single subgenres don't work too well. Allowing multiple genre choices would be best (everyone from King Crimson to Radiohead to Candiria to my project all have a tough time with single genres.)
Customer service: Like many new, hungry startups. They jump all over every email. Very good.
Now, their competitors:
last.fm - So-so interface. Terrible analytics. Reports constantly out of date. Unbelievably, shockingly, mind-blowingly, pricey for what they give you. Does have the ability to add "similar artists" when creating a campaign rather than in advance, which is nice. Slow to update the management interface. Poor customer service. They are still considered a big dog, but they've fallen way behind their newer competitors.
MadeLoud - Straightforward, no-frills, and delivers exactly as advertised, but options are limited due to the format (they give you "promoted downloads" - no streaming.) Very cheap. Good customer service.
Grooveshark - So-so management interface, analytics/reporting system, and demographic targeting. No longer truly self-serve, which is a downer. They are quick to respond when you want to create a new campaign, but the self-serve system was much better. Pricing is decent. Ability to target similiar artists is present.
Jango - the best out there at the moment, aside from their prices (which are still good, but Earbits wins hands down on this front.) Thorough analytics. Very customizable promotions - their listener targeting system is unmatched (supports "similar artists", has auto-complete suggestions, the works.) Has never been down, can't ever recall having a system feature not work. Email collection capabilities, artist homepages, real-time listener feed, notifications for many relevant conversion and feedback events, comments central to the experience. Everything is self-serve. Good customer service.
Overall, Jango is still the best, but I've got high hopes for Earbits.
Cost: $29
Promoted plays: 1,800
New Facebook Likes: 31
Mailing List Signups: 24
Sales from Facebook Fans: $24
Sales From Email Signup: $65
Profit: $60
Promotion #2
Cost: $29
Promoted plays: 1,800
New Facebook Likes: 28
Mailing List Signups: 3
Sales from Facebook Fans: $20
Sales From Email Signup: $38
Profit: $29"
That's pretty terrific ROI I'd say. User spent $58 and got 59 FB likes (let's say those would cost $1 each to get via FB), 27 mailing list signups (let's say those would cost $2 each to get through other means), plus an actual $147 in music sales.
So the user spent $58 and got back about $260 in value.
Earbits should be pretty darn happy with that sort of ROI.
If it stayed like that at just 10 times the scale, an artist could make $890 in net monthly profit, which is nothing short of a miracle for most musicians. At 100 times, a very attainable goal, it's a complete game changer.