Want your music played in a club? Then pay for it. Introducing the Spinfire mobile app.
Want to have popular DJs play your music at local clubs? Look no further than Spinfire, an easy way to engage in a pay-for-play scheme across the United States.
The Spinfire app, available for Android and iOS platforms, enables musicians and artists to connect with club DJs. Using the app, artists can upload their tracks and quickly access hundreds of DJs willing to play their music at a cost. Developers promise that club DJs will play tracks “at the hottest clubs and social events in the country.”
In a press release, the company stated,
“With this app, novices in the game have the same opportunity as seasoned veterans to get their music heard and gain the recognition they desire.”
To get access to hundreds of club DJs, aspiring musicians will first have to purchase “spins on demand.” Of course, you can download the app for free. Soon enough, however, Spinfire will have you engaging in a payola scheme. After choosing your DJ, you’ll have to pay between $20 to $500 per play.
So, is Spinfire’s payola scheme only limited to aspiring artists? Of course not. In just a few taps, up-and-coming DJs can get started earning their own cash. After registering through the app, DJs will have to upload videos showing artists their paid spin. The developers state that DJs can sell up to 10 spins per hour.
It’s easy to hate this. But’s also a way to finally get squeezed between Diplo and the Chainsmokers. In a statement, CEO Chris Morgan said,
“Our platform fills a major void in the music industry because we give the independent, aspiring artist a direct and proactive way to market music in clubs.”
Developers launched the app last June. The company hopes to launch globally this October. That means that musicians and DJs from all around the world can soon engage in a global payola scheme.
So Djs dont take requests because of their artistic integrity but they will take a $20? GTFOH. This is an insult to musicians. Why would an indie be trying to play by the rules of the FAILED industry. SO STUPID.
not to mention Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day’s broadcast.
Totally agree, this is illegal. Next, people paying have no clue as to what types of venues these DJs are operating at. Additionally, there us so much cheap out there, any song dropped in the middle of a set that clears the floor gets mixed out of ASAP. This is nothing more than a scam.
Mary, you’re an idiot. You don’t know what you’re discussing.
LOL. The latest reason for clubs closing… Empty dancefloors.
This might be groundbreaking if it were only $2-$5 dollars per play cause then an independent artist might be able to afford to sacrifice enough $ to pay for a months initial promo to get the song out there. At the $20-$500 per play prices even major labels might be resistant to this!
Yea….anyone who thinks this will happen in the “hottest clubs” is an idiot. Unless it’s on a Monday night within the first 15 minutes of opening the doors. I run a club and rep some DJs….playing a bunch of shitty music will lose me more business than $20 a pop, and also make me fire DJs if people aren’t feeling the music.
Not illegal. A nightclub is not a radio station. Also, at $20-$500 per play, not going to happen. Some artists might pay a dollar or two for a play. Not really so much to get the record heard, but more to build an impressive looking resume.
This is just another way to get over on artists that don’t take the time to learn the business
More and more artists are running the business from their website where people feel more comfortable to cut the middle man and all the industry leeches and pay the artists directly how it should be and since DJ’S are getting paid over an artist work they should pay artists or ask permission. The only ones that will pay for their music to be played or heard will be mediocre or shitty amateurs. Pretty soon all over the world the club Dj’s earning money over musicians music could be legally sued unless have the artist permission or registered with a royalty association. I sale my music out of my website and have DJ’S asking permission to play or they pay a $1 for a track they like and if are using my music in clubs they reported to ASCAP or BMI which keeps the relation between artists and DJ’S clean and simple. Artists don’t fall for this shit tell your DJ’S to get a reporting app form one of those organisations and they can play what ever and whoever they like all they long without paying membership to those scamming websites.