Jack White Starts Subscription Service

07/06/09 2:32pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Jack White is daring to do what the new Napster and dozens of other failing music industry entrepreneurs are attempting — start a subscription music service.

White has launched said subscription service through Third Man Records, his label.

The Vault, as it's called, will give fans access to exclusive vinyl releases, live recordings and online content in the effort to please his fans.

"We wanted to devise a system that would incorporate the best of what the internet has to offer fans, along with a way to get exclusive recordings directly into the hands of people who can't make it to shows or the third man store to get all of the limited items we produce," White wrote in a blog entry on Thursday.

"This place is for that fan. The community we are building here will be like no other you've been a part of in regards to music. We hope to have a place where positivity and beauty in music and art can be shared together as a community. A place that has content that you can only see if you truly want to explore the deepest depths of the third man records vault."

This place of positivity and beauty is going to cost you, though.

The Vault will be a two-tiered system which offers fans a variety of service options. Fans can pay $7 U.S. (about $8 Canadian) a month for a minimum of three months to buy into the "premium service," which gives them dibs on pre-sale concert tickets, exclusive access to streaming video content and video blogs from Third Man artists, chat room access, exclusive photos and pay-per-view access to Dead Weather, Raconteurs and White Stripes concert footage.

A "platinum service" package is available for $20 a month (about $23 a month) for a minimum of three months. It will give fans access to the above content and a 12-inch single, vinyl LP, seven-inch single and T-shirt every three months.

You can sign up for either package until July 21. Orders will be processed after that and fans will have the option to become platinum members every three months.

More information is available on the Third Man Records website.

White is on tour with The Dead Weather in support of that band's upcoming Horehound debut album.

You can see The Dead Weather here:

July 13-14 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/Screaming Females
July 16-17 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 w/Screaming Females
July 18 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues w/Screaming Females
July 19 Ottawa, ON @ LeBreton Flats (Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest)
July 21 Montreal, QC @ Olympia De Montreal w/Screaming Females
July 22 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus w/Screaming Females
July 24 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore w/Screaming Females
July 25 Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion w/Screaming Females
July 27 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue w/Screaming Females
July 28-29 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre w/Screaming Females
July 30 Nashville, TN @ War Memorial Auditorium w/Screaming Females
Aug. 17 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Aug. 18 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
Aug. 20 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Aug. 21-22 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Aug. 23 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
Aug. 25 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
Aug. 27 Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
Aug. 29 San Diego, CA @ Street Scene
Aug. 30 San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival)
Oct. 2-4 Austin, TX @ Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Music Festival)