One platform. Every constituency in the music ecosystem.
Vinylaunch is built for artists, fans, service providers, and industry partners to work together directly. Below is what each side does on the platform, end-to-end, with the specific commitments behind every step.
From idea to stage in four steps.
Artists keep 100% of every crowdfunding pledge — backers pay Vinylaunch's small fee on top — and Vinylaunch never takes a stake in their catalog.
Create your profile
Sign up as a solo artist or band ($5/mo). You get a public profile at vinylaunch.com/artists/your-name, 5 GB of media hosting included, and access to the full service-provider marketplace.
Begin Pre-Launch on your campaign
Build out your album, single, tour, music video, or other project in Pre-Launch mode. Producers, studios, engineers, venues, and other service providers bid on your needs. You choose your collaborators before the public ever sees the campaign.
Go public when you’re ready
Launch the campaign to fans. They pledge to reward packages you curate — vinyl, digital, merch, bootleg recordings, experiences, whatever fits the project (show tickets are sold only as tickets, never as a reward). Backers pay Vinylaunch’s platform fee on top — 7%, or 5% for founding subscribers’ campaigns — so you keep 100% of every pledge. Nothing is charged unless the campaign funds.
Create, sell, and tour
Use the tour builder to plan stops. Venues, record stores, and radio stations bid to host appearances. Stream your music alongside the campaign so fans can listen while they pledge (at streaming launch).
Backing a campaign: who pays the fee, and why
When you back a campaign, you pay the reward price plus two small, itemised fees: Vinylaunch’s platform fee (5% when the artist is a founding member, otherwise 7% — on the reward, never on shipping) and Stripe’s card processing.
We put the fee on the backer rather than taking it out of the artist’s raise on purpose. A few dollars is a small thing for one backer; taken from the artist, it’s a slice of the very money their project depends on. This way the artist keeps 100% of every pledge.
Nothing is charged — fee included — unless the campaign reaches its goal. If it doesn’t fund, you pay nothing at all.
When the artist is a founding subscriber, the platform fee is 5% instead. Shipping, when a reward has it, is its own line and carries no platform fee.
Direct support. No middleman.
Every fan tier is month-to-month. No annual lock-in, ever. Cancel anytime.
Free Fan
Unlimited ad-supported streaming (at streaming launch). Browse and back campaigns. Follow artists.
Platform Fan
Unlimited ad-free music streaming. Offline favorites. 24-hour early access to show tickets. Creator content keeps its light, creator-curated ads — that revenue pays creators and artists.
Artist Fan
Everything in Platform Fan, plus $0.10/mo to each artist you fan — fill fewer favorites than your cap and each gets more. $4 covers 10 favorites; every $1 unlocks 10 more, up to 70 at $10. 48-hour early access to campaigns and show tickets.
Sonic Support
Name your price. Everything in Artist Fan (up to 70 favorites), plus every dollar above $10 follows the artists you actually listen to. 72-hour early access to campaigns and show tickets. Multi-date ticket cart: up to 3 shows in one checkout. Digital display badge.
Direct support beyond the tier.
Every artist profile lets you support directly — a one-time or recurring contribution on top of your tier, right from the Launch button. Vinylaunch takes 0% platform fee on direct fan support. The fan covers the Stripe processing fee, so 100% reaches the artist.
Buying show tickets.
Checkout shows every line before you pay: the ticket price, a 5% Vinylaunch service fee, and card processing. No account is needed — tickets are emailed to you. Every ticket carries its attendee’s name and is a QR pass scanned once at the door. Each person can hold up to 4 tickets for a date (a show may set fewer); Artist Fans, Sonic Supporters and recent supporters of an artist on the bill can hold more.
If the show is cancelled or rebooked, you get everything back — fees included. Can't make it? Return your ticket to sale before online sales close — if it resells, you get the ticket price back. If it doesn't and you don't go, you're refunded 90% of the ticket price automatically after the show. The service fee and processing aren't refunded in either case.
Bid where the work is.
More than 40 service categories — producers, studios, engineers, videographers, designers, tour managers, agents, lawyers, and more — work directly with artists through the platform. Small providers compete on equal footing with the big players.
Register and build your profile
Choose your service type, set your price range, attest your annual revenue tier (which sets your subscription cost — small providers pay $5/mo).
Browse open Pre-Launch campaigns
Filter by service type, genre, geography. Submit a bid with a custom offer — bid amount, deliverables, timeline, whatever the campaign needs.
Win work, deliver it, get reviewed
Artists choose their collaborators based on bids and reviews. Reviews are written by the artists who actually worked with you. Trust is built by what real artists say, not a platform-issued badge.
- • Under $50k: $5/mo, 20 free campaign bids a month, then $1 each
- • $50k–$100k: $10/mo, 10 free campaign bids a month, then $1 each
- • $100k–$250k: $15/mo, 5 free campaign bids a month, then $5 each
- • $250k+: $20/mo, 5 free campaign bids a month, then $10 each
Counted per calendar month (UTC) on crowdfunding campaigns only — bidding on shows and tours is always free. A bid that is declined, or whose campaign does not fund, comes back as a free bid next month. Extra bids are added to your next monthly invoice.
Built alongside the music industry, not above it.
Record Stores
See Pre-Launch quantity interest from artists in your region. Place wholesale orders against published tier pricing. Host in-store performances on tour stops near you.
Radio Stations
Commercially owned stations and private institutions $10/mo; publicly funded NPR affiliates and public schools (public high schools and universities) free. Coordinate live sessions and interviews directly with artists on tour through your market.
Creator Channels
Pre-cleared use rights for any Vinylaunch artist who opts in track-by-track. Video is added in blocks: $5 per 10 hours of video. Build content that pays you and the artists in it (self-serve ads: 7% platform / 15%–46.5% artists, by how much of the piece is their music / 46.5%–78% creator).
5% platform fee. $5/mo subscription. Forever.
The first 5,000 artists and 2,000 service providers who complete paid signup lock in a 5% platform fee and a $5/mo subscription, permanently. When the platform eventually raises the non-founding-subscriber subscription rate (planned to mirror the standard 7% fee, no sooner than the founding-subscriber caps are full), founding subscribers are unaffected. The promise is unconditional.
The 3-month free trial does not reserve founding-subscriber status — only paid signup does.
Ready to launch?
Start free, upgrade when you’re ready.
Still want more details? The Platform, Defined →