•  9:00 PM EDT:   Pelagia
• 10:00 PM EDT:  Cruel Black Dove
• 11:00 PM EDT:  Shock Cinema
• 12:00 AM EDT:  Ruby Isle

BETHLEHEM, PA — rVibe, a community based online music download service, today announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with CD Baby to deliver their digital music catalog in 320kpbs, DRM-free MP3 format.

“With rVibe’s secure, reward based peer-to-peer model and their great focus on indie music and innovation, we’re excited to offer the CD Baby catalog in high-quality MP3 format.” said Gray Gannaway, SVP for Digital Distribution at CD Baby. “We believe there is a fantastic opportunity with rVibe as they continue to add value to consumers, artist and labels. Their unique rewards system for customers, coupled their social networking presence over p2p is a great combination for fans of independent music.”

CD Baby, in business since 1998, represents over 240,000 independent artists and is one of the leading distributors in digital music.

According to Braydon Johnson-McCormick, founder and Managing Director of rVibe, “Our strong partnership with CD Baby is a hallmark of what rVibe works to do: innovate and provide value to everyone involved - from our members and artists, to our partners and investors. We’re thrilled CD Baby has taken this exciting step with us to drive further value to the music industry.”

rVibe members can purchase and download near CD quality tracks, make money back for recommendations, stream music to their websites and give their rewards to charity. rVibe’s unique model offers world class experience for everyone.

About rVibe:
rVibe is a community based music download and streaming service where members make recommendations and get rewards when other members download music from them. It offers users the best in music discovery, community and downloads for consumers as well provides the means for artists to register music and get paid, and for advertisers to effectively deliver highly targeted ad placements. For more information, please visit http://www.rvibe.com.

About CD Baby:
CD Baby provides online sales and distribution for independent artists and labels. Established in 1998, CD Baby is the largest seller of independent music on the Web and provides physical, digital, and mobile distribution. CD Baby has sold over four million CDs to customers worldwide and has paid over $85 million directly to the musicians. For more information visit www.cdbaby.com and www.cdbaby.net.

When you logon to rVibe, you can browse through all the CDBaby music by clicking ALL and checking out the tag cloud!

Thanks for hanging in there!

When we think about music, we have to remember first that it’s a social experience, even when recorded - it’s person to person communication - and a communication vehicle that often creates a strong emotional response.  However, when music is recorded, it takes on another attribute - one of object.  The recording becomes the experiential object, and while it’s still a social object by its nature, it’s actually now an owned object that can be controlled. And this notion of control is important, because it ties into the idea that a recording is a static item that can be repeated in a predictable way. Meaning, a person can “own” the recorded music object and since it’s static they can control it’s usage in a predictable way.

Controlling music in a predicable way is  really interesting, particularly since one of the aspects of music is to elicit an emotional response.  So, when a person desires to effect an emotional response in themselves or someone else, they can use a recording of a musical performance to make it happen. And since the recording is static, it’s predictable and since it’s predictable, a user can create that emotion when, where and how they want.

Live music, even a live performance of a known song eliminates that element of ownership, predictability and control. In the case of a concert, the performance is ephemeral, and controlled by the performer, not the listener.  The listener is to some extent at the mercy of the performer. Of course, a listener may elect to only experience a performer they know - meaning they are aware of the music the performer will deliver.  However, even then there is an element of the unpredictable.

For the concert goer, there has to be an element of risk tolerance.  When you experience a live event, you’re aware that it’s not predictable, that something could be different (and is likely to be different) than what you expect.  If you go to a concert without knowing anything about the event, you’re absorbing more risk around the experience than if you go to a concert of your favorite artist.  Granted, the risk is minimal - it’s music after all - not sky diving. But experiencing that risk -  in a relatively safe environment is part of the delight in concert music.

There is one more difference in live versus recorded music:  the awareness that the person delivering the performance and the person experiencing the performance are both engaged in real time communication.  That they are connecting in the moment, and not after the fact.

So - it seems to me that the fundamental difference is one of control and predictability. That with recorded music, people seek the controlled enjoyment of music while in live music, people seek the lack of control and unpredictability.

That has pretty huge implications for our brand and our functionality. With the rVibe SocialJukebox it’s all about sorting through vast amounts of recoded music with your friends in a safe, controlled environment and being able to enjoy that music (and find out what others are enjoying) at will.

In the rVibe|S80 space it’s about letting go of the control a bit and experiencing a live event (over the wire).

I am not sure how we’re going to reconcile that - although my gut is telling me there is a way.

 Five bands from Rehab in NYC and 3 acts from The Cutting Room in NYC kicked things off and it went great.  We also got great HD coverage of the events and we’ll offer those up later, once they are edited down. On Saturday we streamed Kelly Greene’s live album release concert and it was awesome. KG is a great NY rocker and The Cutting Room showcased her band and tunes - all perfectly captured by rVibe. People can also buy her album on rVibe, and will be able to buy this concert as well soon (we’re working out how that works).

We have  more events coming and are starting to get tons of interest from different venues around the country.  A great start to a revolutionary service! There will be lots of changes coming as we develop the service and learn a lot about what our users need. So please be sure to let us know what you want and we’ll work on it!

I personally love rVibe|S80. As a parent with 3 young kids and also a major live music lover, I can’t get out to concerts too often, but want to enjoy the spontaneity of a live event. rVibe|S80 lets me do that. I love it.

Also remember that every time a person downloads a song that you recommend, you are rewarded with $.05, and for every person that signs up for rVibe via your invitation, you receive another $.15.  Save that money towards your next purchase or donate it to our charity partners…the choice is yours!

And remember to always email us if you have any questions/comments/concerns.

Happy downloading,

The rVibe team

When a user signs up for the software and deposits $10 into his/her account, that person will receive 10 FREE downloads.  After $10, the more money you put into your account, the more free downloads you receive.  And dont worry, this deal will also be open to ALL existing rVibe members.

We hope that you use the free downloads to discover music/bands that you’ve never heard before and share the new music with the rVibe community.  Remember, every time someone purchases a song that you recommend, we reward you with $.05 (even if they’re using one of their free downloads!).

So get ready to have fun, make money, discover and teach people about new music, help charities, and learn all about the rest of the phenomenal features that rVibe has to offer.

Happy downloading!