We launched! One month update

On May 12, we opened Subvert to the public.

Anyone can now sign up, and every artist page is live and open to the world. Our launch day was our biggest day across the board. Last month, thousands of artists shared their pages, 80,000 visitors came through on launch day, and $80,000 of economic activity moved through the platform in its first month.

Best of all, nothing broke. This is because we built this platform as a community. Thousands of members tested the platform together. We found bugs, reported what needed care, submitted new ideas, and effectively served as a community QA team. Worth highlighting: we did this with only two of our workers being full time.

5,000 new co-op members joined and our growth continues. There are now over 150,000 tracks on Subvert, and roughly 30,000 releases. As of today - there are more than 100 new artist members uploading music on Subvert every single day.

Our goal for the next year: 100,000 co-op members. Become the world’s largest artist cooperative in history. $1M in transaction volume. We can do this together.

Next steps

Our small team has been sprinting for over a year to get here, working at full capacity. But a sprint isn’t a pace we can hold forever. To be honest, we were a little tired after the launch. This next period for Subvert is a deliberate one. It’s a moment for us to regroup, catch up operationally, watch how the platform behaves now that it’s fully public, and make sure everything keeps working as activity grows.

What we’re working on now

The work we’re focused on now are ideas we’ve heard requested again and again, the items we believe will benefit the most members. Among them:

• A clearer payment setup (LIVE)
• Co-managing artist pages (IN TESTING)
• Per-track and per-release artist names (BUILT SHIPPING SOON)
• Label functionality (IN PROGRESS), allowing labels to begin to upload
• Publishing without Stripe at all (IN PROGRESS)
• Creating multiple artist pages (IN PROGRESS)
• Expanded Stripe access (NEXT)

Meeting the demand (building + funding)

Here’s the honest situation. Our launch worked, and it created real demand. That demand is big enough that it is a challenge for our small team to build and maintain on their own. This is a good thing. Still, the list of things members want is long, the team is small, and the gap between the two is the central fact of this moment.

So we’re starting a transparent process to raise the resources we need to grow and serve everyone who’s here: artists, supporters, labels, and workers.

This means fundraising and a search for aligned funders and partners. Although we are not a typical startup, we still need capital to pay workers fairly and continue building. We will begin public and transparent conversations about this process, seeking member input. And if you have connections to folks that may be aligned funders, feel free to respond to this email and let us know.

The long view

Subvert is a project that exists on a decades long timeline. We’re trying to build the Mondragon of music: an alternative economy owned by artists and workers.

This is where patience comes in. We can’t build everything at once, and the most valuable thing a member can offer in this phase is room. Understanding for a feature to ship a few months out, or for an email response to take a little longer. The patience of a cooperator is one of the best resources you can give to Subvert during this moment.

We got here together. Thank you.

Next: we have more detailed communications on label infrastructure, and our Annual General Meeting.

Sincerely Ours,