Despite announcing the company would close tomorrow, music subscription service Drip has been saved at the eleventh hour by crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
Drip announced in February that after five years it was due to close its doors on March 18. However, Kickstarter announced today on its blog that Drip cofounder Miguel Senquiz would continue operations as part of Kickstarter. Unusually the deal isn't part of a Kickstarter crowdfunding bid but was seemingly instigated by the company itself.
The Drip service began in 2011 as a kind of "digital record club" -- for around $10 per label, subscribers received several digital releases each month from record companies such as Domino and Sub Pop. The service has since expanded its service to include individual artists as well as record labels.
They Might Be Giants "Dial-A-Song Direct"
They Might Be GiantsRecently the service was notable for hosting They Might Be Giants' revamped "Dial-A-Song" Direct service. Subscribers paid a flat fee of $30 to Drip for a song a week for the entirety of 2015. The band has since released several albums "gleaned" from these 52 songs.
In the blog announcing the change, Kickstarter writes: "Many of us at Kickstarter have admired Drip over the years. At heart, we've been on similar paths. Strengthening the bonds between artists and audiences, and fostering the conditions for a more vibrant creative culture is at the core of our work at Kickstarter, too."
Drip has announced that existing subscriptions will remain "free" until April 1, 2016, and then begin again from that date. Drip initially froze new subscriptions last month when it declared the service was closing in March. Subscriptions have been reopened on the Drip site.
In an email to Drip subscribers last week, Domino Records suggested it was investigating its own subscriber service, but it's unknown how the latest news will affect this. Representatives for Domino Records did not respond immediately for CNET's request for comment.