Photos: Taylor Swift's Limited Edition Pre-Sale Launched Exclusively Via the Bandbox '100% Back for Free' Distribution Platform

Photos: Taylor Swift's Limited Edition Pre-Sale Launched Exclusively Via the Bandbox '100% Back for Free' Distribution Platform

A New Physical & Digital Music Model With a Twist: It's Free, It's Portable and Artists and Record Labels Could Make 50% More Than They Do Via iTunes.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented move for an artist of this magnitude, Big Machine Records recently launched the limited edition pre-sale of Taylor Swift's sophomore album FEARLESS (releasing November 11, 2008) exclusively through Bandbox's direct-to-consumer distribution platform.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/bandbox/34816/

Bandbox's free direct-to-consumer platform affords Taylor fans the opportunity to pre-order her new album directly from any of Taylor Swift's network of websites including TaylorSwift.com, Taylor's MySpace profile and her Facebook profile, TheTaylorNation.com and BigMachineRecords.com. Bandbox's policy to give content & pricing control to the artist and labels has also enabled Big Machine Records to offer 3 creative product configurations for Taylor's new release. These includes a limited edition FEARLESS Collector's Box, which contains the FEARLESS CD, a FEARLESS leather bracelet, a FEARLESS t-shirt, a FEARLESS picture book, a "The Taylor Nation" decal, and a locker poster of Taylor along with a chance to win the PINK ticket -- The Ultimate Taylor Swift Fan Experience. As part of this exclusive pre-order, Taylor's fans will also have the unique opportunity to have their own picture included in Taylor's album packaging, within a special mosaic photo poster which will appear both on the album packaging and online at TheTaylorNation.com starting November 11th.

Fans will also be able to aid in the promotion of Taylor's new album by easily placing the Bandbox widget store on their own web sites, blogs and social network pages, essentially creating a fan-based, globally dispersed sales team. This strategy was a key factor in Big Machine Record's decision to use Bandbox:

"Bandbox provides a unique ecommerce platform to us for our digital and physical sales," says Kelly Rich, VP Sales & Marketing for Big Machine. "Taylor is an established leader in the online space and her fans are highly engaged. Her active fan network will help spread the widget to all corners of the Internet, essentially providing a Taylor-branded 'end cap' on countless web sites."

Bandbox, whose primary focus has been to equip independent artists with its "100% Back For Free" distribution tool, has also seen significant interest from major labels and blockbuster acts (Bandbox similarly partnered with Jewel earlier this year).

"We continue to receive positive feedback from the independent artist community, but more unexpected is the growing interest in Bandbox from record labels, large and small," said Brian Peterson. "It seems our platform provides a powerful solution for an imminent need among labels. And it is absolutely free."

As labels manage the transition from a retail-only sales environment and adopt a highly beneficial direct-to-consumer sales channel, Bandbox offers a compelling alternative to the proprietary, in-house options labels are considering. Aside from its strong technological advantages, Bandbox's core appeal is that it passes nearly 100% of the revenue to labels. "We've intentionally created a business model whereby our revenue is generated through other avenues, preserving total earnings for the artists and record labels," Peterson says. "We have a product that is as good as or better than any in-house tool being considered by labels. With 100% back, and a cost savings in the hundreds of thousands, there is a fairly decent incentive to sell using the Bandbox platform."

For more information about Bandbox, visit Bandbox.com online or contact Brian Peterson direct at 615/579.6592.

About Bandbox

Bandbox is a Nashville based company who developed the first digital + physical direct-to-consumer platform of its kind that is both free and passes nearly 100% of the revenue through to the artist and/or record label. This widget-based platform allows artist to sell directly to fans from any of their websites and social network profiles (e.g. MySpace, Facebook).

Founded in early 2007 by Brian Peterson, Brendan Wovchko, Mike Taylor and Jim Cook, Bandbox was inspired by what they saw while working with major record labels, and their experiences as artists in the independent music scene. Bandbox was born out of a desire to offer a key "missing link" to artists and record labels.

Bandbox has focused on maturing their technology platform, and is currently in private beta. Any artist or label interested in using Bandbox can sign up at www.bandbox.com and will receive an invitation via email as they become available.

About Big Machine Records

Big Machine Records was founded in late 2005 by music industry veteran Scott Borchetta, who serves as President & CEO. The company is headquartered in Nashville, and its artist roster includes Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Jack Ingram, Danielle Peck, Sunny Sweeney, Adam Gregory & Kate and Kacey Coppola. Universal Music Group Distribution, which ranks Number One in home entertainment, is the company's exclusive distributor.

Video: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/bandbox/34816
Source: Bandbox

CONTACT: Brian Peterson of Bandbox, +1-615-579-6592,
brian.peterson@bandbox.com

Web site: http://www.bandbox.com/
http://thetaylornation.com/
http://bigmachinerecords.com/
http://taylorswift.com/

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