Subvert is a co-op music platform owned and controlled by its community

Whilst I adore Bandcamp. Whilst I hope that the various recent sales, firstly to Epic Games in 2022, and then from Epic Games to Songtradr in 2023, do not impact its more consumer-friendly approach, it is rare that acquisitions do not end up changing, or enshittifying a product for all involved. Many musicians, labels, and listeners were concerned. They clearly still are, as formative new music platforms are gearing up to launch alternatives.

Subvert is the music platform I’m most interested in, as it is attempting to tackle multiple issues with the music industry. The platform is a co-operative, meaning that its members own and control it. In their 135-page zine that members receive when they sign up, Subvert goes into great detail about the problems of huge supply chains that each skim a cut from the artist’s revenue, and how everyone seems to be owned by giant corporations that have tentacles everywhere. By taking a co-operative model, Subvert aims to be transparent, share its commercial upside with its everyday investors, and become a marketplace rather than a streaming platform. That means physical media and merch. There are also references to sorting out the tax burdens and collaborative features, which implies there may be a way to split revenue between artists. This is currently a manual nightmare for many.

The members of Subvert will be structured into four categories: Workers, Artists, Labels, and Supporters. That means different sides all have a say in what happens to Subvert over time. Subvert is currently accepting artists as part of its preparation for an early Alpha, and I have been accepted as a musician as part of that process. The onboarding has been very straightforward. The platform itself is quite workmanlike, as you’d expect from an Alpha, but I can see amazing potential in just getting things up and running already. I appreciate that each song uploaded can have unique genre tags and additional information added beyond global EP or LP tags. I’m hoping this will enforce some strict standards of metadata tagging, which is one of the biggest reasons royalties are left unclaimed by the traditional record labels. I also low-key respect its circa 1998 electronica rigidity in its page designs. It feels like a Wipeout game UI translated into a website! Crucially, there’s no exclusivity on Subvert, so you can try it out without needing long-term commitment.

The excellent 2 Mello alerted me to this, and these are his initial pages built around a single LP release:

See what I mean about the retro design?

I realise this sounds a bit like an advert, but I’m genuinely surprised and intrigued by how Subvert is going about its business. I’ll report back on how things go when the Alpha kicks off! If you are an artist and want to look into a new music platform to call your home from home (never forget your personal website should be home, first), then visit Subvert and request access.

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