We at TDMW have previously covered the questionable business model of BurnLounge - a Web service that uses a multi-level marketing scheme to extort large sums of money from new users on the premise that they will be able to open their own online music stores and recoup their investment. Yet for most users the only realistic way of recouping their investment is not through music sales but by subscribing other users to the scheme.
BurnLounge has made much of it's celebrity supporters in the past, such as Justin Timberlake, and now it appears that they now have had the ultimate endorsement from on high. Our previous stories covering BurnLounge have prompted an outpouring of comments from BurnLounge zealots supporters, and some of the most recent have pointed to a new avenue of recruitment for the pyramid scheme digital music service.
A recent comment on TDMW signaled the new recruitment drive for BurnLounge in the the Christian music scene:
My husband and I joined BurnLounge 4 weeks ago and have made $6000, with the help and blessing of God. This is a good Christian company.
A bit more digging reveals that a number of different companies are now marketing to the Christian community - Bruce Adolph of www.christianbxp.com sells BurnLounge in the following way:
Maybe you belong to a Church that has awesome Praise and Worship Groups and Individuals, then BurnLounge is the place to get you and them exposure. Maybe you are a Christian Artists who's been trying to find a way to get your Music out to the world to make a difference for Jesus, then BurnLounge is the place to get the exposure you need.
Of course they don't mention the huge sign-up fees, or monthly subscription charges to join BurnLounge and neither do other sites such as www.christianmusic.com or www.musichristian.com.
I certainly have nothing against Christian music and when a service such as BurnLounge, with its questionable business model, starts to exploit faith to make a quick buck then it feels like they're descending to another level altogether.
21. Hey Gordon--I believe that image is copyright protected, and you should not be using it without permission from BurnLounge. Just lettin' you know.
I've read through all of the comments, and feel I have to say something.
Not one of you has properly represented the BurnLounge business model. And .05/track is not the only numbers to consider.
The facts are this. 92% of the population has never downloaded a digital song. 99% of the population has never downloaded a movie or other form of entertainment. This is a $400 BILLION industry!
The shift to digital is here... Tower Records: Bankrupt, Vigin Mega Stores: closed...
and soon the entire population will have little choice but to download. Who is going to sell those downloads? iTunes has done well for itself--but in reality, Apple controls only 70% of an 8% MARKET! EIGHT PERCENT! The remaining 92% of the pie is going to be shared by the big players. Unfortunately for Apple (and the 300 other digital sources available today), they don't have enough money in ANY budget to capture the loyalty of the customers BurnLounge retailers bring to the table. Do you honestly think that my mother will EVER purchase music from any source but my BurnLounge? How about my best friend, my daughter? Not going to happen. Imagine if we claim those MOST LOYAL customers who will NEVER leave...one retailer at a time? Apple doesn't have enough money to BUY that loyalty.
I am not going to waste my time defending the business model of BurnLounge. Having been "in" since beta--I made my money back, offended no one, and am building a business that provides loyal customers and residual income for decades to come. Feel free to choose to be skeptic--I was too--but at the very least, educate yourself fully before you go publically mouthing off--because it makes you look ignorant. There are so many ways to make money in BurnLounge, it hits you coming and going... you just don't understand the system. And, in a final note--people that you bring into your team are part of a community--just like the very successful MySpace. AND everyone makes exactly the same as the guys who started it--the same as Justin Timberlake--the same as Joe Schmoe down the street. It's a team--it's equal, and the people not making money are not following the system that is in place, or aren't treating it like a business. Not everyone wants to. Some do it for fun. Yes, BL is a community-building network, but so are many of the multi-million and multi-billion dollar/year legitimate companies. Pull yourselves out of the 60s when pyramid schemes were used to rip people off, and take a look at where the future is headed. It's okay if you don't see it--not everyone who was involved with AOL, Google, or Apple saw it in the beginning either. I'm bettin' they're pretty bummed and pretty quiet now.
I hate to come across so stern, but there is nothing worse than people who go off "half-cocked" about something they haven't spent the time to educate themselves on.
If $29/year to a maximum of $429 is too much to invest in your piece of the pie--okay. No one says you have to. Most people spend the lower end of that with their credit card companies to receive point rewards. This is no different.
But supporters of BurnLounge, defend its business model, why? Because we are doing it, receiving the checks, and watching them grow. The people who claim it's all a scam are the ones sitting back and watching us collect those checks.
Silly people--live and let live.
Posted at 3:15PM on Jan 30th 2007 by Karris