(Hypebot) – Pandora founder Tim Westergren has launched Sessions, a live streaming platform for music.
Sessions combines live interactive streaming with the kind of engagement and monetization features found in well-designed games. The platform launched today in beta on the web and mobile in 200+ countries and 15 languages.
Westergren touts Sessions as the first live streaming platform built to help musicians build a fanbase and generate significant and sustained income.
“Let’s face it, digital music has failed the working musician…” said Westergren, the co-founder of Sessions and former founder of Pandora. They need an alternative.”
“Sessions puts control back in the hands of the artist,” he continues. “We generate the audience and enable artists to turn that fanbase into a dependable foundation of support and direct patronage. A financial reward system driven by fandom.”
“Games have blossomed in the digital era, transforming from simple, single player arcade experiences into rich massively multiplayer worlds that are changing culture,” said co- founder and game designer Gordon Su. “At the same time, music has stagnated, fragmenting into an isolated playlist experience. We used our best learnings from over 20 years of building virtual worlds to design an immersive virtual space for Artists and Fans to thrive.”
THE SESSIONS PITCH:
1. Building Global Fandom for Free: “Most platforms provide little or no marketing support. Worse, they charge artists to attract listeners or reach their own fans. Sessions does all of this work at no cost to the artist by using its own marketing growth engine to bring the audience.”
2. Making Real Money: “While most live streaming platforms rely on one-off tips to compensate artists, Sessions provides the enduring value of virtual goods and services engineered to help artists earn sustainable, compounding income.”
From Zero to 10,000 Fans
According to Sessions, there are artists with no prior commercial presence or success who are now making a living doing what they love.
“In just a few months, I’ve built a fanbase of more than 10,000 people, ” says indie artists Archie Norris. “I’ve never had this kind of audience or made this kind of income as a performing musician. Sessions is my future.” Arch
More @ SessionsLive.com or download on iOS or Android devices.
