Groovalo offers a new financial model for recording artists and listeners

The rise of Spotify and other streaming services has pushed the issue of musicians’ remuneration to the fore, especially at a time when artists’ ability to make money from performing live has all but been eliminated.

It’s also always been a fact that physical media (CDs, but especially vinyl) provide creative artists with better income than streaming (unless, of course, you’re garnering tens or hundreds of millions of streams).

Bandcamp has done a great deal for hard-pressed musicians, particularly with its ‘Bandcamp Friday’ initiative, which sees the platform donating its sales commission back to the artists once a month.

Now there’s another kid on the block – Groovalo, a UK-based ‘ethical record club’. In return for a subscription, jazz lovers get a vinyl LP plus an exclusive magazine and other benefits. There are currently three subscription models – genre (jazz, punk or soul, £22 a month plus shipping but including a ‘zine); Deluxe (three LPs and magazines a month, £60 plus post); and Liner Notes (magazine only, £4.50 including shipping). Subscribers to any of these models can choose to pay monthly (with the option of cancelling at any time), or 12 months in advance, with a 10% discount.

According to Groovalo’s Daniela Gerstmann, “We’re trying to build a community, connecting music lovers and music creators, delivering carefully selected vinyl to your doorstep. We also aim to reinvest in the creative community – at least 20% of all profits go directly back to the artists we feature.

“We also connect musicians and fans through our monthly Liner Notes magazine, and by letting artists select the next artists to be included in each genre”.

Lionel Loueke

Groovalo has already distributed its first two jazz LPs, Lionel Loueke’s HH; and Rick Simpson – Everything All of the Time: Kid A Revisited. You can of course buy these LPs in any number of retail outlets, but Groovalo subscribers get exclusive content, including the Liner Notes magazine which features interviews and photos unavailable elsewhere.

“Lionel’s album was the ‘standard’ one but we also included some of his sheet music in the box as an extra, sometimes we have extra goodies along the way. Generally, I would say that we aim to provide special editions where we can, but we don’t guarantee it (just yet!).

“We’re not bound to any labels and we will also work with unsigned artists – it just so happens that our first two jazz albums were on Edition and Whirlwind. Obviously, it’s great to have these labels on board.” 

For more info, visit www.groovalo.club