QuidMusic
Yes, it is ready to use. However, QuidMusic is currently in live-beta. This means that it still has a few rough edges and requires many more improvements before it is ready for publicity.
We define a 'release' as 'constituting at least one audio file'. A musician can of course release several works in one file, or several files comprising an album, or perhaps just a single work.
As long as they are clear to their fans as to what they are likely to get in their next release via QuidMusic then it's entirely up to them how much is released, whether sample, single, album, live concert recording, magnum opus, etc. There's also nothing stopping the inclusion of video footage, lyrics, or anything else that might encourage fans to pledge.
The important thing is that once fans have downloaded a copy of the release they will consider their £1 pledge to have been money well spent.
Such details are produced by the musician and are likely to include a password, URL or hyperlink to web sites or FTP servers from which the files comprising the release may be downloaded. It is the musician's responsibility to ensure that the details are correct and that it is possible for a typical user with a popular web browser to be able to use those details and download a copy.
You should visit the musician's web site and let them know direct. They can then visit QuidMusic and re-issue corrected download instructions to everyone.
You have to have funds in your account in order to download releases that were made whilst you were pledging to the respective musicians. So, you'd typically make your first deposit the first time there's a release by a musician you're pledging to.
Because of the per transaction costs typical of online payment services such as NoChex, and in order to cover our own costs from only 15% commission.
If we did accept deposits as low as £1 we'd have to charge a commission of about 50%, i.e. the musician would only get 50p rather than 85p.
Conversely, if we had a minimum deposit of £20 we could charge a commission of only 10%, but we feel a £10 minimum is the best compromise.
We need an authenticated NoChex account and/or name and address details if we are to pay the musician the funds due to them from the release of their work.
We also need to have a simple means whereby we can authenticate a musician, i.e. have some degree of assurance that they are who they say they are.
As far as accounts are concerned all QuidMusic users are treated the same in order to prevent the accounting system becoming too complicated, and that means minimum balances and transaction amounts apply equally to them as any other user.
Of course, this deposit only has to be made once - not every release.
Let's say you were a musician and had pledges amounting to £200 and you wanted to make your first release:
You'd first have to open an account with us by making a deposit of £10.
When you subsequently made your release, you'd have £180 in your account (£10 you deposited, plus £200 from the pledges, minus our 15% commission of £30).
You could then withdraw any amount from £10 up to £170.
Of course, if you closed your account at this point we'd post you a cheque for the closing balance, i.e. £180.
Not in the near future, but we do hope to support it eventually.
PayPal payments are a little more complex to handle, and the simpler NoChex is being used initially in order to keep development and administrative costs to a minimum.