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I'm really liking Earbits so far. I signed up after seeing them talked about here on HN, and so far have gotten around 1000 spins there, more than half off whic
by Futurebot 14y ago
I'm really liking Earbits so far. I signed up after seeing them talked about here on HN, and so far have gotten around 1000 spins there, more than half off which have been "more than 30 second listens", which, based on my use of a ton of these services, serves as a decent proxy for "I liked it, but not enough to make a comment/social media like." I would easily recommend them to any artist looking for more exposure.
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 Reports constantly out of date.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.
- earbitscom 14y agoThis is outstanding feedback. Thank you for taking the time. Feel free to email me with any other thoughts. joey@earbits.com