FAC Insights: Interview with Pascal de Mul - Exit Live
FAC Insights is a forum for us to showcase and share long form pieces looking at various parts of the music industry and the society that shapes it. Pieces take the form of videos, interviews, discussions, articles and more. This week, with the return of live music and fans now able to see their favourite artists once again, we caught up with Pascal de Mul, CEO of FAC partner, Exit Live. Exit Live is a tool for artists to monetise live show recordings. A global platform, Exit Live can be utilised by artists to sell current and historic live performances. Its fair and transparent revenue share model allows talent to fully maximise the commercial value of their music. Pascal explains to us how Exit Live works, what it’s all about and what lies ahead.
1. What is Exit Live, tell me more about how it works?
Exit Live helps any artist to deliver live music to their fans worldwide. It’s a global platform for artists and bands to sell current and historic live show recordings - in a high-quality format. It’s a tool to monetise the recordings of live performances and it is designed to be a supportive platform, which the community - including fans, venues, and promoters - can benefit from.
The platform is very simple to use. Artists can upload their content onto Exit Live and can then retain full control over how their recordings are sold to fans. From altering prices through to editing the content, the artists can truly manage how they sell through to fans. There are no hidden costs using Exit Live so fans can buy live show recordings with confidence that the artist they are purchasing from will be rewarded fairly. Developed by music and tech experts, Exit Live has been designed with an artist-first approach that allows for full transparency and a fairer revenue model. The platform can be accessed from any device.
2. Who is Exit Live targeted at?
Exit Live is a tool which exists for any type of artist worldwide. The platform has been designed with the artist in mind which offers full control to maximise live shows commercially. Therefore, emerging talent through to established acts from any kind of genre of music can utilise Exit Live as a way to offer fans a memento of their shows - or even for those that missed the performance. If an artist has a live music recording, then Exit Live can support it. This is at the heart of what Exit Live does, to help talent share live show recordings to fans globally, no matter what the genre or type of artist.
Secondly, fans can access Exit Live to browse a growing catalogue of live show recordings - which can be accessed anywhere. For fans wanting to relive a magical live show or even experience a show they were not able to attend, they can now own a unique recording of the show via our platform. With more shows being continuously added, Exit Live will soon become the global home of live shows - perfect for any fan passionate about live music.
3. What’s your background and how did you come to work at Exit Live?
My background derives from music and technology - it’s two passion points which I’ve been able to combine and develop a career within. I joined Spotify in 2010 as their first Head of Hardware Partnerships to deliver the platform to speakers of audio equipment, TVs, mobile phones, cars and game consoles; negotiating partnerships with the largest device manufacturers in the world and inventing Spotify Connect along the way. After five years at Spotify, I yearned for small startup life again and joined Trafi, a public transport app. But I missed music and returned to the scene with a stint as Chief Partnership Officer at streaming service Deezer and Managing Director at PlayNetwork and TouchTunes, which provides music to retail (Starbucks, Nike) and jukeboxes.
In 2020 I joined Exit Live where I’ve been able to tackle two personal issues I’m passionate about making a difference in. One is to open up the world of live music recordings which has disappeared in the time of streaming, and the second being focused on creating a more equitable model with fair, direct and transparent remuneration for artists. Live audio recordings are special: they have an energy and directness that you cannot find elsewhere, but crazily enough there is no platform today where you can find a good selection in good quality.
4. How does Exit Live benefit artists and what is its USP?
Given our artist-first approach in everything we do, at Exit Live we have built a model which fully benefits artists. For selling live show recordings, we have created a fairer revenue share whereby performers and songwriters receive 70 percent of all proceeds after taxes and payment charges. We do our best to promote these recordings, but nobody can reach their fans like artists and venues can, and therefore we share an additional 10 percent when a sale happens through their outreach.
Not only that, we allow for full ownership of the recordings whereby the artists can set the price and maintain comprehensive autonomy over everything. The process is fully transparent and artists can gain insight into each transaction, license payments and any splits on the platform. A detailed dashboard on the platform showcases all of this to the artist. We believe the artist deserves full control and that is our ethos.
A unique feature to the platform is the ‘pay me now’ button. Once a transaction is made for the sale of a live show recording the artist has the ability to release the funds deposited immediately with the simple pressing of this function. Artists do not have to wait to be remunerated, now they can be rewarded immediately.
5. How does the fair payout model work on the Exit Live platform?
The fair payout model is very transparent in how it works. Basically, once the artist uploads a live show recording and is then sold to a fan, the splits are favoured for the artist. They will receive a direct cut of the sale which is the whole point of Exit Live.
Performers and songwriters receive 70 per cent of all proceeds after taxes and payment charges. Approximately 12 per cent for songwriters/authors and their publishers (mechanical rights), and the remainder is directly for the artists. Artists, promoters and venues can make a further 10 per cent if the sale happened as a result of promotion by the artist. There are no hidden fees or costs.
6. How can fans benefit from Exit Live?
Fans wanting to relive those incredible live music experiences will truly benefit from Exit Live. By accessing our platform, fans will be able to browse an archive of live recorded performances and choose which one to buy. Whether purchasing from their favourite artists or discovering new music, fans will be able to enjoy a past show which can be accessed anywhere and played back on any device. Not only that, but fans purchasing music from their favourite artists on Exit Live do so in the assurance that their artists will receive a fair deal.
7. What are your ambitions for Exit Live?
We want to be more than just a music tech company, we want to empower artists and ensure they are rewarded fairly. We have carefully considered our fully transparent revenue share model, however, this is something that will continue to develop. The music industry can utilise this to commercialise current and historic shows.
We are talking to promoters and venues who are interested in the 10% they receive from bundling and promotion to their audiences, we’re talking to artists and their managers who are interested in this new revenue stream, and we even have active discussions with labels who want to make us a standard part of their agreements: for their artists to record their shows and monetise them on Exit Live. Our model benefits the entire industry fairly and we’re hoping for a fast ramp-up as live music is coming back.
For fans, we are building the global home of live music. Being a tool that can generate a recording as soon as the artist leaves the stage, Exit Live will become synonymous with live music and establish itself as the dedicated destination for all live show recordings for fans to enjoy.
For more information, please go to exit.live.