Smashing Pumpkins – Studio Archive subscription model

Ξ April 20th, 2009 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Billy Corgan, Concerts, Music News, Smashing Pumpkins |

Billy Corgan has been hinting at future models for providing music and media from the studio to the fans during interviews and other press. Plans for this service are now underway and will be executed in the form of a 12-week paid subscription service for access to various media updates detailing the creative process within the studio. The media updates will be in the form of exclusive web-video and photographs. Subscribers will be able to watch the next era of Smashing Pumpkins music take shape.

Here are Billy’s hopes and expectations for the upcoming project:

The goal is to create a working model that is not profit motivated but rather information and access motivated. In exchange for a fixed resource base fans will be let inside in an unprecedented way to the creative process of preparing to make the next SP album while also inspiring an inter-active dialogue that will help shape the work. Because of the open window, further efforts will be made to provide content so that anyone participating can more readily follow the arc over the 12 weeks, with unprecedented access to lyrical and musical content.

Everyone involved with the project is very excited to create something memorable and thought-provoking during the course of this project. Some people that would be involved include Kerry Brown, Mark Tulin, Linda Strawberry, Julie Mitchell, + Carina Round. Artistic contributors would include Justin Coloma, Kristin Burns, and Lisa Johnson.

A very important aspect to this entire project is the current interest of the fan-base. As highlighted by Billy above, the project is not profit-motivated. However, to get the project off the ground, substantial interest from YOU is needed. In order to gauge the interest, we are creating a new mailing list (sign up here) to inform everyone on progress. The concept is similar to that of the SP Archive Newsletter, however updates are not scheduled to be weekly at this time. This is the best way for us to estimate the demand for this experimental idea. If we don’t find that there is enough demand for this, the project will be set aside for a future time.

Your participation in this project will influence the progression of the music being documented.

Here are some details regarding the subscription model:

• $40 for 12 weeks. A minimum of 5 updates from the studio per week, so that’s 60 updates for $40.
• Updates would be posted in a less-than-24-hour consistency. For instance, if something happened on Monday, it would be posted no later than Tuesday
• Each update would be a minimum of 5 minutes in length. That would mean subscribers would receive at least 25 minutes of unique audio/video material per week, and at least 5 hours over the course of the 12 weeks.
• There is a possibility of live streaming video content in addition to what has been presented above.
• The updates will ultimately be part of a substantial “art film.”

In closing from Billy:

I am excited to make this offer to anyone who might be interested what goes on behind the wizard’s curtain. It is my goal to far exceed the normal docmentary process and use the moment to create something that invokes synchronicity, electricity, and faith into a moment that is ever unfolding.

To discuss this topic, click here for the Netphoria Mesage board.