When can I use Subvert?

The Subvert platform is almost ready. Our team uses it daily, and we're excited for members to start using it. We recently crossed 7,000 co-op members. We're now beginning to open our doors, gradually and thoughtfully.

How Subvert Will Go Live

On our private staging platform, every core V1 experience is built: uploading music, setting up artist pages, listening to music and purchasing tracks.

Instead of opening the doors all at once, we're taking a phased approach to gather feedback from members. We want to stress test everything, especially before moving real money. We also want to establish proper support systems and keep standards high.

Phase I: Member Testing (August - September)

This is where we are now. Right now, we're inviting a small group of around 10 select artists and supporters who have been active participants in our member forum to begin testing with us. This initial testing will be moderated - meaning we'll work closely with each tester through interviews and direct feedback.

After a couple of weeks, we'll expand to more members. And in about a month, we'll move to unmoderated testing at a greater scale where you can help us test without team interviews.

Phase II: Soft Launch and Expanding Access (October - End of Year)

After testing wraps up, we'll soft launch Subvert publicly with our first cohort of artist pages. At this time, anyone will be able to create an account, discover music, and make purchases. However, we'll control how many new artist pages can be created each week.

We'll work closely with this first group of artists to ensure their pages look great and their launch goes smoothly. Then we'll gradually expand access by member number (members 1-1000, then 1000-2000, etc.), maintaining the same hands-on support for each new wave of artists.

Phase III: Open Platform (2026)

We're targeting the end of the year for a fully open, self-service platform. This will allow any approved artist-member to create their page and begin selling through Subvert without waiting for an invitation.

Following this, we will build functionality for label pages.

Staying Connected

Our goal is to stay in close communication with members in this process. A next step will be publishing a public roadmap and regular updates, setting expectations for when you can create your artist page. We're close. We just want to get this right.

Join the forum: Reminder to join our forum at forum.subvert.fm. Need an invite link? Use this one: https://forum.subvert.fm/invites/X5MpVutgo6 
If you're new, create an account, don't attempt to log in with existing credentials.

What's Happening Now

In other news, our first board meeting with newly elected members is being scheduled. A key agenda item: discussing Subvert's fee structure and a proposal for optional purchaser contributions rather than artist/label platform fees. Join the conversation in the "DISCUSSION: Platform Fee % and Business Model " forum thread.

Also - we need voiceover help for a video about Subvert. If you're willing to help, respond to this email.

And if you're in Montreal, the team will be there for MUTEK. Come to our first IRL meetup at CAFÉ SAT (Société des arts technologiques) Aug 20th at 5-7pm. We'll also be on a panel with Liz Pelly on Aug 22nd at Monument-National on "Rethinking Ownership: Building New Models for Music"

Sincerely Ours,
Subvert