Bacardi, the beverage manufacturer, is launching a record label of sorts that commissions songs from artists and will make them available as free MP3 downloads. The Bacardi Bat Project gets its name from the bat symbol that adorns their bottles — originally a nod to the fact that the original Bacardi distillery in Cuba apparently had a bat colony living nearby.
None of the music made available on the Bacardi Bat Project will have been released before, making it the only place to find these tracks (well, until they show up on P2P). It’s sort of like the RCRD LBL model, except Bacardi is the only sponsor, and it’ll presumably have less music on it than RCRD LBL. In addition to studio tracks, Bacardi is commissioning remixes and live tracks.
The first release by the label is Metronomy’s "A Thing for Me," originally commissioned for a film the company showed in Miami in April. Four remixes of the song will be available, and we’ve got the first one, by Breakbot, below.
The idea makes sense, allowing listeners to grab music for free, artists to get paid and the Bacardi brand to spread as music fans seek out the tracks. There doesn’t appear to be any website for this, so their strategy appears to be to disseminate the tracks through blogs. The company has also partnered with Groove Armada for a series of live events.
Metronomy – "A Thing for Me (Breakbot remix)":
