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Writer's pictureTristra Newyear Yeager

Vertigo’s Social Generated Song Stories Turn Sharing Life with Music into a Fun Collaborative Multim


Music has always inspired sharing, has always evoked stories. Now, in a world of social media and smartphones, social app Vertigo has cracked the social music code, finding a unique, legal, artist income-generating way to mix visual and musical experiences into moments that are fun and easy to share with friends and fellow fans called Song Stories.

When a song is played in Vertigo, users will see a visual story to that song, a Song Story, made up of the most popular user-generated pictures and videos connected to that song. Creating content that can trend and potentially become part of a Song Story is a breeze: Vertigo users take photos and videos while listening to music. They link their visual status with the songs they are playing. Followers on the app can see and like those visual updates in their feed, and everyone can see the most popular posts in Trending. The result is an ever-evolving video made up of the most liked content associated with the song, that simultaneously provides maximum financial benefit for music makers and rightsholders.

“Song Stories solves a key social media challenge facing the music industry” says Vertigo CEO Greg Leekley. “While today’s picture and video sharing offers consumers with shorter and shorter attention spans a fun lean-forward social experience, music must settle for being background f

or mere seconds. That doesn’t help the artists’ music chart or get artists paid. It’s ironic that music artists remain the most popular figures in social media, while the songs that connect us to them are not getting any meaningful direct benefit. With Song Stories, artists get that benefit.”

Thanks to its two approved patents, Vertigo connects premium streaming accounts such as Spotify and Apple Music into a collaborative listening experience, while allowing users to engage socially while doing so. That means Vertigo does not require a separate Content ID or licensing system. Tracks come from the listener’s paid streaming service every time the song is played or heard. “Every song has a story, and every story has a song. Now with Vertigo Song Stories, social currency is now music currency. They are two sides of the same coin in the future of music marketing and monetization,” says Leekley.

These spins can add up quickly for artists and labels, demonstrating the app’s amplifying effects. “When a song plays on the radio, it’s potentially heard by one million people but the rightsholders are only paid for that one play. With Vertigo, that’s one million paid streams,” says Phoenix Stone, a longtime music insider and Vertigo’s new Global Head of Creator Services.

The addictive fun of sharing Song Stories promises to keep the rising tide of subscriptions going. The more people get intrigued by Vertigo, the more premium users will sign on. “Social FOMO (fear of missing out) can be a real driver of full mainstream consumer adoption of premium streaming. Vertigo is determined to add value to the industry and we’ve designed our app to do just that,” explains Leekley. “We’re not here to surf pre-existing success. We’re here to help both grow the premium streaming pie as well as get those artists who engage with us a greater share of it."


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