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NoiseTrade isn't a free service. Artists pay a $250 fee to cover hosting costs for the first 20,000 downloads, and another $75 for every 5,000 downloads after that. Webb says NoiseTrade doesn't expect to make a profit on those fees, which are closely comparable to its Amazon S3 cloud hosting costs. In addition, NoiseTrade garnishes 10% of the total money paid into the virtual tip jar, via PayPal. An average paying downloader contributes about $5, Webb says. The comments section of this post indicates that some observers think that's too costly, although Webb says he's targeting "blue-collar musicians" who make most of their money from touring and selling merchandise, and for whom $250 isn't much to pay for a massive e-mail list of music fans sorted by ZIP code. "That's a long-term asset," he says. "The merch table is a short-term asset." He adds that about half of its 30 pilot artists have recouped their initial fees already. The "blue-collar" reference echoes Topspin's stated desire to help "a middle class of artists [to] make a living." While most online music marketing technology companies such as Topspin and ReverbNation seek to replace functions once performed by a record label, Webb says NoiseTrade has already received inbound interest from majors looking to distribute exclusive content by their artists -- specially released EPs, for example. Although NoiseTrade seems primarily designed to help independent artists, there's nothing to stop a major label from using it as a marketing tool as well. Currently bootstrapped by its four co-founders, NoiseTrade has "a tiny margin of profit" that has been ploughed back into development, Webb says. They've chosen not to take outside investment yet, although Webb says the company will consider working with growth investors if and when it chooses to scale its business. "We like the idealism of working with our own money for now," he says. - Paul Bonanos For more, see Hypebot  Deal Video
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Initially developed by Nashville-based songwriter Derek Webb (pictured) to promote one of his own records, the NoiseTrade widget provides a pair of options for artists to give to fans: either pay a minimum of $1 for an album, or provide the e-mail addresses of three potential new fans and download it for free, without 
