Bum Rush the Charts, Pay For College
On March 22, 2007, a bunch of podcasters are aiming to game the charts in the iTunes Music Store for at least a day by asking everyone involved in podcasting to buy just one song, a specific song, Mine Again by Black Lab, that day. The effort, called Bum Rush the Charts, is designed to demonstrate to old media that podcasting has reach and more importantly, purchasing power.
As we’ve talked about in the past, iTunes has an affiliate store, where affiliates earn a commission on sales. I’ve demonstrated in Beer Money segments on the podcast how to get started with that, but truthfully, 5% isn’t a lot of money unless you’re talking large transactions, like loans or real estate. 5% of 99 cents is… 5 cents. You’d have to sell a ton of tracks to make even a modest income.
An idea struck me during the drive home tonight. Why not get everyone to use one affiliate link for the promotion, which Mark Nemcoff is calling Bum Rush the Charts? We’d get a pretty decently sized pool of affiliate fees that way, if the power of podcasting is as strong as we think it is.
The followup hit me just as quickly. We’ll turn this into a scholarship opportunity, too. Until yesterday, the Pell Grant had no sizeable increases in years. Federal financial aid isn’t keeping pace with the cost of a college education. Let’s put it all together. We demonstrate the power of podcasting, pool a bunch of affiliate fees together, and help a needy college student pay for college with the profits.
So here’s how it’s going to work. If you are participating in the Bum Rush the Charts campaign, and you want to Bum Rush Tuition as well, use this URL everywhere:
http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com/bumrush
This will link to the iTunes music store and Black Lab’s song Mine Again. 5% of your purchases on March 22, 2007 will be routed into the Student Loan Network iTunes account. On March 27, 2007, 5 days after the Bum Rush campaign ends, Mark Nemcoff and CC Chapman will log into my account and validate the results of the campaign, in terms of profits earned. We will pool all the affiliate fees together and disburse them to one lucky college student.
Here’s the kicker. I believe in the power of podcasting. So does the Student Loan Network, and my executive team here, CEO Joe Cronin and COO Geoffrey Willison. We’re going to put our money where our iPods are, too. Not only will we give 100% of the affiliate fees earned, SLN will match dollar for dollar the first $1,000 in affiliate fees earned through the Financial Aid Podcast bum rush link.
Now, if you’re a college student enrolled at an accredited institution, and you want to be eligible for the Bum Rush Tuition Scholarship, how do you get involved? Simple. We’re going to use our existing scholarship program, Scholarship Points. Set up your free profile there, enter promo code BUMRUSH, and on March 31, 2007, along with our regular quarterly scholarship awards, we’ll host the Bum Rush Tuition Scholarship award as well.
How much will the scholarship be? That all depends on you. My audience, your audience, your friends. Spread the word about Bum Rush the Charts. Tell a friend. Tell your blog readers. Are you a new media company that believes in the power of podcasting? Contact me about pledging a matching dollar contribution of any size. If you’re a college student, haul it over to Scholarship Points today and enter code BUMRUSH into your profile to be eligible. I believe in the power of podcasting, and I believe on March 31, 2007, we could be giving someone a full tuition scholarship - but only with your help.
[...] Get the whole deal here.. bumrush, financialaidpodcast, podcasting, promotionShare and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
February 17th, 2007 | #
I’m in just so I can say I was in a bum rush!
February 17th, 2007 | #
[...] March in iTunes. The affiliate money made will go to a college scholarship, all from the brain of Christopher Penn (the idea that is, not the scholarship). Get the full story here. Bookmark [...]
February 17th, 2007 | #
I like the idea except for the revenue being given to Apple for DRM-laden media files.
They can have my 99 cents to make this stament.
I’m in. On March 22, I’ll be making music mine again.
February 18th, 2007 | #
[...] Read more about the scholarship! [...]
February 19th, 2007 | #
It really nice investing in student lifes as you are doing cuz we are the leaders of tomorrow.KEEP IT UP.
February 20th, 2007 | #
Not only will I be bum rushing the charts with you on the 22nd… but I also pledge to use Black Lab’s song “mine again” (via ioda promonet) in my vodcast that week (I publish on saturdays so it will go up on the 17th)… will talk about your scholarship… and will link to your affiliate account on my site thru March 31st. Thanks so much for what you are doing!!!!!!!!
February 22nd, 2007 | #
Help, Please just found your site and I need all the help I can get with school. I am a 38yr male that has been forced back to school do to my Disabilities, (ie) messed up body and I am on SSI trying to PAY for school on my own. I am computer information and Homeland Security major. I think I may be about 1 or 2 years away from being done with them, I hope. Any and all help is needed.
February 24th, 2007 | #
Help, I’m Ashley and I would like to show my appreciation to you for what you do for students like me that parents can’t afford to sent us to college, but make away through prayer and faith. I’m a freshman at ODU just trying so hard to get a BA Degree in Information Technology and again thank you very much.
March 1st, 2007 | #
[...] Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 3rd, 2007 | #
[...] Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 6th, 2007 | #
It would be great if you could encourage more students to sign up at ScholarshipPoints.com to be eligible for the scholarship.
March 9th, 2007 | #
Bum Rush The Charts – Can The Wisdom Of Crowds Beat Out The Music Industry… Again?…
Overall concept: bitch slap the music industry (again). Here’s what the Bum Rush The Charts Blog says: “On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a……
March 10th, 2007 | #
scholarshippoints.com is a great site. It will help with the financial cost of college.
March 14th, 2007 | #
[...] signed up as an iTunes affiliate. They will be donating the proceeds of any commissions made to college scholarships. A way to pay back students who are a major part of the music industry’s paying customer [...]
March 15th, 2007 | #
Remember March 22 is the Day to Bum Rush the Charts…
Interwoven in this scenario is the fact that podcasters and podcast, at present, are not taken seriously. (I am of the opinion that the new royalty structures are nothing more than an attempt to try and keep it that way but that shall be saved for a …
March 15th, 2007 | #
[...] Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 16th, 2007 | #
One of the best, inovative ideas I’ve seen. I’ll be entering college this fall at San Francisco State to pursue a career in radio broadcasting and this scholarship plan tied in with the bumrushthecharts campaign is great. I’m alos a HUGE Black Lab fan, awesome that they were picked. Deserving band, Great cause, BUY, GIFT, PROMOTE!
March 18th, 2007 | #
[...] that. …every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, …Black Lab has taken it up another notch - 50% of their earnings are going to be donated to [...]
March 19th, 2007 | #
[...] reality BM won’t even notice this little experiment. BlackLab will make a few bucks, a charity will make a few bucks but that’s about it. But think about this, there is a good chance that there will be a loser [...]
March 19th, 2007 | #
[...] makes this campaign even more compelling is the fact that BRTC have signed up as an affiliate of the iTunes Music Store and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] “…every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] is pimping the Bum Rush the charts project thusly … The Financial Aid Podcast will bum rush the charts and raise scholarship funding all at once. OnMarch 22, New Media Makers [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] Lab” im itunes-Musikladen gekauft werden. Der finanzielle Erloes soll der Aktion “College Scholarships” zugute kommen, “zum Teil weil es das wert ist und zum anderen Teil, weil [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] affiliate fees, and all the commissions earned via purchases from that link will be donated to fund college scholarships! Black Lab has also agreed to donate 50% of its earnings from all iTunes sales of Mine Again [...]
March 21st, 2007 | #
[...] Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of “Mine Again” will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it’s a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the [...]
March 22nd, 2007 | #
[...] La canción elegida se llama “Mine Again”, del grupo Black Lab (ya te dijimos, es indie). Y su eleccion no es casualidad, dicho sea de paso. Se trata de una banda que fue rechazada tanto de Geffen como de Sony/Epic, y para colmo estos sellos los forzaron a una suerte de litigio para devolver sus canciones. Las ganancias por comisiones que obtengan de esta operación serán donadas a una organización de becas educativas. [...]
March 22nd, 2007 | #