Tune2This A City Lights label

Membership

Streaming gives you the song. We can give you the room.

A membership only works if it offers something Spotify structurally cannot. We own a recording studio on Route 33 that has been running since 1989. That is the thing we have and nobody else does, so that is what the tiers are built on.

Backstage Pass

$5/ month

The floor. Priced so that saying yes is not a decision.

  • Hear it first — every roster release lands in your feed seven days early
  • Ad-free radio, full back catalogue streaming
  • 15% off all downloads, bundles and merch
  • The Route 33 letter — what got cut this month, written from the console
  • Member badge on every artist page you follow
Join
Recommended

VIP Fan

$15/ month

For the people who want to watch a record get made, not just hear the finished one.

  • Everything in Backstage Pass, plus
  • The process — rough mixes, alternate takes, session video, the mix decisions
  • One free download every month, your pick from the whole catalogue
  • Your name in the digital credits of any release you back
  • Free entry to listening nights at the studio
  • Monthly live Q&A from the control room
  • 10% off City Lights studio time
Join

Executive Fan

$50/ month

A seat at the table. Deliberately capped so it keeps meaning something.

  • Everything in VIP Fan, plus
  • Release parties — you are on the list, plus one
  • A vote on which mix ships as the single
  • Annual limited pressing, numbered, members only, never repressed
  • 20% off City Lights studio time and first call on cancellations
  • One open studio day a year on Route 33
  • Direct line to the label for anything you are working on
Join
Which numbers are real $5 is the only price Guy has set. $15 and $50 are proposals, placed so the middle tier reads as the obvious buy and the top stays scarce. The two studio-time discounts are the only benefits that cross into the studio’s own books, and they are the first thing that needs a decision — see the open question below.

The reasoning

Why these benefits and not others

Each one is here because the direct-to-fan research points at it, not because it filled out a bullet list.

Early access
The single strongest driver. Industry estimates put unmet superfan demand — exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access — at around $2.6bn a year in additional spend. Early access is the cheapest version of it to deliver and the easiest to keep promising.
The process, not the product
What subscribers actually ask for. Across membership platforms the content that retains is the work behind the music: songwriting sessions, production breakdowns, why a mix decision went the way it did. We already run cameras in the control room. This is close to free for us.
A thing you own
Downloads and numbered pressings. Purchase and membership convert on different instincts. A buyer has already decided they want the object, so the hesitation is low. Keeping a store alongside the membership catches the people who will never subscribe.
Belonging, made visible
Credits, badges, boards, votes. A membership fan wants to belong. Anything that puts their name somewhere permanent — digital credits, a numbered pressing, a rank on an artist’s board — does more retention work than another content drop.
Studio time
The one nobody can copy. Patreon cannot offer an hour on a Neve VR60. This is the moat, and it is the reason the label and the studio should share one account system rather than trading coupon codes.

Tipping

The board is the product

A tip button is a donation. A tip board is a competition, and competition is what makes tipping work. Tencent Music takes roughly seventy per cent of its revenue from tips, gifts and donations rather than subscriptions — because fans can see exactly where they stand.

The ranks

Rank is per artist and resets monthly, with an all-time column that never resets. A supporter can hide their name and keep the rank — anonymity should never cost you your position.

  • Listener Free account. Follow artists, build playlists, get release alerts. $0
  • Roadie Name on the artist’s wall. Early ticket window for anything they play. $5+
  • Session Player Named in the digital credits of the next release. Access to the rough-mix vault. $25+
  • Headliner On the release party list, plus one. First refusal on the numbered pressing. Unreleased demo drop. $100+
  • Big Spender The portal. Everything below it, plus the list on the right. $500+
Top of the board

The Big Spender portal

Reaching it once, in any single month, unlocks the portal for a full year. You cannot buy your way in with a subscription — only by backing artists.

  • An hour at City Lights. The top tipper each quarter gets studio time on Route 33. No other platform on earth can put this on a benefits list.
  • Every event free. Release parties, listening nights, showcases — plus a guest.
  • Hear it before the label decides. Unmastered, unreleased, sometimes unfinished.
  • Be part of the release party, not just at it — pick a track for the playback, introduce the artist.
  • Exclusive prizes. Gear that came out of the studio, signed and provenanced.
  • Permanent credit on the record you backed. It ships with the file forever.
  • First look at everything for sale before it goes public.
Start at $0 — tip when you want
On tips and tax — get this right in the copy The 2026 IRS final rule on qualified tips does list musicians, singers and digital content creators among the eligible occupations, with a deduction of up to $25,000 a year. That is a deduction against federal income tax for the artist receiving the tip — it is not a blanket exemption, it does not remove self-employment tax, it phases out at higher incomes, and it does nothing for the person sending the tip. So: it can be said to artists on the artist side as “tips may qualify,” with a line telling them to check with their accountant. It must never appear as “tax-free” anywhere a fan can read it. Have the accountant sign off on the exact wording before launch.

Accounts

Two kinds of profile

One login, two shapes. An account can be both.

Member profile

For fans. Free to open.

  • Buy tracks, bundles and merch
  • Follow any artist and join their social feed
  • Tip, rank and collect badges across the roster
  • Member-only product drops and event invitations
  • Special rates on City Lights studio time
  • Playlists, library, purchase history, download re-access
Open a member profile

Artist profile

For people who make the records. Application reviewed by the label.

  • Upload masters, artwork and credits
  • Sell downloads, bundles and merch from your own page
  • Take tips directly, one hundred per cent to you
  • Post to your own fan feed; run early listens for your backers
  • See your splits, sales and payouts in one ledger
  • Book City Lights at roster rates
How the artist side works

Open decision

What “discount on studio time” actually means

This is the benefit that ties the label to the studio, and it is the one thing on this page that cannot be designed around. Four questions, all Guy’s to answer.

Percentage or hours?
10% off the hourly rate, or a fixed free hour a quarter? A percentage scales badly if membership grows; fixed hours are easier to forecast against a booking calendar.
What is it off?
Rates are quote-only today. A discount off an unpublished number is not a benefit anyone can evaluate before they pay.
Who validates it?
Someone at the studio has to check that a caller is a current member. That is either a shared login between the two properties or a coupon code, and the choice changes the build.
Whose margin?
The label sells the membership; the studio absorbs the discount. Two entities, one benefit. Decide how the money settles before anyone is sold it.

Join

Open a free account

Start as a Listener. Upgrade, tip or buy whenever you feel like it.