M W.

My overall opinion of RN remains about the same - they host my website - the Site Builder templates are simple but not elegant. But there is not much detail furnished from them (or anywhere) about their marketing model - which I actually didn't understand as I implied in my first review. So. From personal experience I've noted a few observations - both general and related to marketing. I've used most of their distribution offerings - including:
1) Fan Reach - the best utility offered. If (the key word) you have acquired lists - from RN subscriptions, and/or the various social media outlets (RN/SoundCloud/FaceBook/Twitter. Ect) - these my info/song distribution points. There are many others but if these don't deliver some result - then alternatives have to very competitive. Fan Reach is basically a distribution client that allows an artist to contact any subscriber on the lists mentioned. If you have 5 RN email subscribers - you can compose an email "Hi - I''m Me!", "Dig My New Song!", "I'm Back - and Cookin'" - that sort of message and RN has a template that composes the message in an acceptable format then mails your 5 emails out. There are options to also send the same to FaceBook and any other media with a list of your subscribers. OK. This is an essential service that works fine.
2) Promotion Campaigns - where a song is promoted to music sties for a weekly fee. It is not well-defined what a 'music site' is - but I would expect music blog, personal music list sharing and such. I would not expect any pay services or radio streaming sites - but it is not clear. The fee varies depending on the number of distro sites used by RN - which suggests the size of the targeted streaming audience you want to reach. Once a campaign is started - statistics are provided - as an example of a 1-week campaign: total number of Ad Views - 9745, number of websites with Ads - 2115, number of Fan Interactions - 344. For only $21.00. But, the total number of Interactions can mean someone liked your cover photo, your artist or song name. But not that the song has been sampled or played. As a result the campaign may not contribute much to your RN fanbase or song plays at all. This is the chance you take - I usually gain a few of each - but I always choose to spend about 20.00/week for a week of two max when I finish writing a new song that I would like to measure the response to. Campaign stat
3) Single Song Promotions - RN has offers to promote a single song based on some internal criteria - and for 15.00-20.00/offer you will be promoted on either a 'local' list - like Phoenix, AZ or more general list (unknown distro extent) - for 35.00/wk - which I have just tried and will review the results when time permits.
4) Crowd Reviews - do not affect your statistics at all. They are a list of individuals answers to a review after listening to your submitted song. There may a reward consisting of a one-time spot on the RN Homepage. The criteria is having an average review of 7.5 out of 10. It is an interesting exercise to personal opinions - though it would be very helpful to know how the reviewer panel is selected - randomly, of course - but from RN members - a volunteer/paid reviewer list? The song I submitted fell far short of the 7.5 milestone required for the 'reward' - which consists of a snapshot link in a list of 6 on page 4 on RN Homepage. The statistics provided are interesting and well-formatted. But without achieving/exceeding the required review value, of little use for promotional strategy use.

As most RN members know - your receive a lot of 'Opportunities' that you can 'Reach 3 million fans' or win an 'Exclusive Interview'. I have had no luck when entering these 'contests'. Most are judged by RN then the contest promoter - presumably by RN first. But I would be curious if there is any bias introduced from RN first judging a song that perhaps they have already rejected once - a question that I will ask the folks at RN soon. If I were them, I would sell the contest win for a fair fee - it's just business.

Another aspect of the RN fanbase. Since it is a forum used by artists - it is also almost exclusively composed of artists. I often notice that when reviewing someones songs to compose a comment (always 4-5 songs - or a whole list if it is not too long - and some prolific artists may have over 100 songs to choose from), there are other commentors with whom I've recently communicated - that tends to imply that RN is a small, genre-connected world. It should be noted that artists do not often purchase each others songs. However to have your talent recognized and commented on by other artists, who themselves are often talented, is personally very gratifying. And those who actually take the time to listen to your material - the essential reason most of us create music - is the main reason that number of song plays is more important than size of fanbase to me.