Kim Dotcom, the notorious Internet entrepreneur best known as the founder of Megaupload, has launched a new music streaming service called Baboom.
Designed as an alternative to popular streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, and Apple Music, Baboom lets independent artists keep 90% of the proceeds through its “Fair Trade Streaming” agreement. Dotcom originally envisioned the service as an alternative to the music industry through which they could directly distribute their music to fans, but he left the company last fall. The platform will be split between ad-supported users and subscribers. Subscription costs $10 (£10) per month, making it the same price as Apple Music and Spotify.
At launch, Baboom offers free, advertising-supported music streaming as well as a download store and a music locker, allowing users to upload their own songs and stream them to the company’s Android and iOS apps as well as its web player. Users of Baboom’s free tier can save up to 100 songs in the company’s music locker; an AUD $10 (about $7.40) monthly fee gets users unlimited locker space.
Dotcom first announced his plans for the music service in 2011. At that time, it was expected to launch within a year, then in 2013 and again in 2014. He then walked away from the project last October declaring that he was what had held it back. “Goodbye Baboom. I was holding you back,” said Dotcom in a tweet. “The music industry hates me. You’ll do better without me.”
It’s not clear yet how large Baboom’s music catalog is, or how well it will do, though it’s sure to resonate with artists who are finding the models used by Spotify and others as unfairly stripping them of much of their earnings. In its new iteration, Baboom has completely abandoned Dotcom’s ad injection plans, as well as any other trace of him. Even Dotcom’s music is nowhere to be found on the service.
Good bye @Baboom. I was holding u back. The music industry hates me. You’ll do better without me. Good luck my love. http://t.co/eByCsUizmR
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 2, 2014
Baboom CTO Marco Oliveira said:“We wanted the fans’ subscription to go directly to the artists they stream. The artists are the reason why fans subscribe in the first place. And because some people still enjoy buying music, Baboom combines Fair Trade Streaming with a music store, enabling fans to build a lossless unlimited music collection. They can even upload their personal music and have it available everywhere”
“We have created a solution that will attract quality independent artists and labels,” said Mikee Tucker, head of Content for Baboom. “Greater returns,direct payments, fair trade streaming and an innovative royalty engine are some of the key factors that will drive uptake from artists. We are here for the long game and the quality niche content that will be attracted to Baboom will in turn attract the fans.”
Baboom has also signed a trial agreement with Australasian performing and mechanical rights society APRA AMCOS, which has endorsed Baboom’s approach of calculating and paying directly to rights-holders at source.