This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Mag Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of the direct-to-fan platform EVEN. Throughout his career, Mag has helped artists generate over 1 billion streams—but now, he’s focused on building a parallel music economy where artists sell directly to fans before streaming. “Superfan” platforms like EVEN are redefining how artists monetize their work.
Through EVEN, Mag has partnered with J. Cole, 6LACK, LaRussell, Lauren Jauregui, Fariana, Smino, Ryan Leslie, and thousands of other artists of all levels, empowering them to take ownership of their fan relationships and unlock new revenue streams. They’re essentially putting control and earnings back into the hands of artists.
In this episode, Mag tells Ari about artists who don’t have many followers or monthly listeners, but are making significant revenue from their fans on EVEN. They discuss the previous eras of direct-to-fan platforms (like Bandcamp, Patreon, Kickstarter) and how EVEN’s music-centric model differs from these prior iterations. Superfan platforms are truly taking the industry by storm—Mag tells Ari that EVEN, alone, onboards about 8,000 artists each day. If you’re interested in exploring superfan platforms, this episode is a great place to start.
Check out EVEN at: get.even.biz
Chapters
00:00 The Challenge of Monetizing Music for Emerging Artists
02:57 The Rise of Direct-to-Fan Platforms
05:58 Understanding Even: A Direct-to-Fan Platform
08:55 Windowing and the Shift in Music Distribution
11:54 The Economics of Music Sales vs. Streaming
15:12 Selling Access: The Community Aspect of Even
18:00 Building Community: The Even Triangle
21:04 Real Success Stories: Emerging Artists on Even
24:00 Emotional Commerce: Connecting with Fans
26:57 The Future of Music Monetization
35:10 The $1,000 Album Phenomenon
38:36 Sustainable Revenue Models for Artists
40:16 Data-Driven Insights for Artists
44:27 The Journey to Building Even
51:12 Navigating Major Labels and Independent Artists
54:23 Operational Framework for Artists and Labels
01:00:07 Community Engagement and Fan Interaction
01:04:24 Defining Success in the New Music Business
Edited and mixed by Ari Davids
Music by Brassroots District
Produced by the team at Ari’s Take
Order the THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.com