About Apollo Audio
What is it?
Apollo Audio is an online promotional company, providing free streaming album previews, digital distribution and vinyl services (digital and printed MP3 download coupons) via a proprietary flash media player. Started in Philadelphia in June 2005, it serves the need to help provide better visibility for artists by familiarizing our listeners with music they might never have heard of previously, and making the album available for purchase directly from the website. In turn, we hope that we can provide more opportunities to prevent downloading, giving our listeners a chance to sample the album and make the choice to purchase, before using a free download website.
Theory
The idea here is discovery. We like to think we represent the experience of browsing for music in a record store -- shopping with your eyes, and making your own decision about the album, without any reviews, critqiues, or anything else that might sway your opinion before you hear it. We like our listeners to think for themselves. All too often we are bombarded with hype -- and more often than not, the hype never proves to be worth it's weight. Or the money that was spent on it.
How we get the word out
In the the history of Apollo Audio, we have not used advertising to provide a revenue stream, we find it annoying and obtrusive. We operate 100% on album purchases, and have cleverly kept operating costs down to a minimum in order to do so. In lieu of advertising to attract listners, Apollo Audio has depended on word of mouth, viral marketing and our partners to spread the word about music in the catalog. Sure -- we understand that it's going to take a bit (ok alot) longer to get our mission out there to the public, but we feel that strongly that this should be about the music, and only about the music, no matter what it takes.
Do you sell CDs?
We like to go to record stores. We like buying vinyl. We are not big fans of CDs. OK we do buy CDs, but we can never keep cds in a case that doesnt break after opening it, or keep the CD from getting scratched when it gets lost under the seat of our car. Maybe we're a bit clumsy and irresponsible when it comes to handling CDs, but it really doesn't matter anymore. They're going away, digital is the future. I'd hold onto them though, your kids might want them (Dad -- where are your baseball cards?).
Music and the future
As you are all aware, digital is making it easier for an artist to distribute their music, however it's still not going to sell if it isn't good. But what is "good"? Huge question, and we don't know the answer. But we here at Apollo Audio listen to albums -- full bodies of work -- not albums with one great song and nine fillers. You won't find us selling single songs, it goes against what we believe in. The albums are only $8, and you get to hear the album first. Not a bad deal.
So what makes us special?
Here's the short list:
- 24/7 worldwide exposure for your music using our Flash Media server technology -- our streams will not cache in a listener's browser, like that of most streaming MP3 players on the market.
- Immediate, high-quality, on-demand streams
- Paper MP3 download coupons and electronic E-Coupons for vinyl
- A great viral marketing solution using our copy and paste bloggable player code
- Competitive return on your sales - 70/30% (digital), 60/40% (vinyl)
- Tracking on your streams and sales monitoring via your Apollo Audio Account, instant email notification and/or text message**
- No 3rd party advertising on the Apollo Audio website
- No reviews or other "opinions" -- we want our listeners to decide for themselves
- No software for your users to install using our 100% cross platform proprietary Flash media player
- No subscription or annoying logins necessary for your users to listen
- We provide links directly in the player to your stream's other formats such as CDs, and LPs (not being sold in our vinyl section) and do not take a commission
We're not going to give you Us vs. Them comparisons here, because the other services are really good too, and there's hundreds of them. However, we do feel that our service is one of a kind -- a "Unique Boutique," and we have a dedicated listener base that keeps coming back, most are return customers.
We do hope that you waste alot of time on Apollo Audio -- Click your TV on mute (preferably watching a a Sixers or Philles game) or put your headphones on and ignore your boss and co-workers - try something you've never heard before. Guess what -- you might dig it. Then help the artist by telling a friend, and maybe buy the album from the website as a download.*
If you have any questions, or suggestions, please contact us.
* unfortunately, some artist's contractorial agreements won't let us sell certain titles. Boo!! However we will direct you to a website that is selling a CD or LP of the album, with no commissions taken from the artist!.
** text message notifications where available |
