Will mim.fm be a co-op?

 Yes
 

What exactly does it mean that mim.fm will be a co-op?

it means that the participating artists will have an ownership stake via the "sweat equity" of their music. As such, they will also share in the profits and have a say in aspects of how mim.fm is run.

You say that you guarantee access to all mim.fm music, what does that mean?

It means there will not be an economic barrier to listening to the music on mim.fm, the listening community will contribute according to their means.

You say you guarantee fair trade to musicians, how do you accomplish that?

The economic model we use has been proven to generate the most revenue, and as we will direct as much of that revenue as sustainably possible to the artists.

Will you own the music on mim.fm?

Nope, all artists on the platform retain full ownership of their music.

Will it cost anything for musicians to distribute their music on mim.fm?

Nope, they can join the platform for free and leave anytime. If they wish to join the co-op there will be a membership fee, but this isn't obligatory.

How does mim.fm support social change?

mim.fm will partner with organizations dedicated to fighting the most pressing issues, inequities, and injustices of our time. mim.fm consumers will have an opportunity to donate a portion of their payment to our partner organizations and, in doing so, facilitate social change within the community.
 

If a portion of the mim.fm revenue goes to social change organizations, doesn't this mean the musicians will make less money?

No, because it has been proven in studies and real-world applications that this model encourages far more consumers to pay for their content, which ultimately drives considerably more revenue to the musician.

I'm not sure I understand how this economic model works, can you explain it a bit more?

Sure, it’s a bit complicated but here's a general explanation:

Let's say on traditional platforms musicians make on average $.10 per song (they actually make far less than this, but let's keep this simple for the sake of argument) and 10 people pay, while the rest get the song for free (freemium Spotify account, Youtube, etc). This would mean their total revenue for that song would be $1.00.

In the mim.fm model, (flexible pricing + social cause donation) it has been shown that musicians do make less PER SONG, usually about 1/3 the "market" rate, so in this case they would make $.03 per song instead of $.10. However FAR MORE consumers contribute (meaning pay for the music vs consuming it for free), generally about 9 times those getting their music from traditional platforms. This translates into about 3 times the revenue (1/3 the price x 9) being generated as compared to traditional models. In the case of this example, the musician winds up getting $3.00 for their song instead of $1.00.

You mention you are developing new and innovative tech, can you share some details?

Honestly, it's like describing a hamburger vs tasting one…we could try to explain what we're working on, but as with any novel tech it really needs to be experienced. If you sign up for our e-newsletter we'll share with you some of the features as we develop them, and give you an opportunity as well to give us feedback to help us refine our approach.  

There is a quote by St. Augustine on your website "charity is no substitute for justice withheld," what do you mean by this?

There is always suffering in the world, and charity can help relieve that suffering. But if we don't work to dismantle the structural inequities and injustices in society that exacerbate and in many ways cause suffering we are merely putting band aids on wounds. For this reason mim.fm will partner with organizations who will relieve suffering, but also with those fighting fiercely and effectively for systemic change.