Would you like a Slice?! (slicethepie.com)

Member Name: Nic25

Product:	slicethepie.com
Date:	15/01/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for music fans and artists alike

Disadvantages: Some site problems

SlicethePie is one of the most unusual website I've come across on the internet.
I basically gives you and me a chance to listen to and rate the world's unsigned bands. In return for doing this it pays you directly to your Paypal account. Alternatively, the money can also be used to invest in some of the bands you've listened to who you think will make it big.

On the flip side of the coin, it also gives new artists and bands a platform to show off their tracks to a huge audience, and also gives them the chance, if they're good enough, to make enough money in investments to become signed.

The idea is a good one in theory, although you're always going to get those people who are only in it for the money - you are only paid pennies per review, so harly the mst lucratic money-making scheme, I've never heard of anyone getting rich from it! These people don't tend to listen to the music properly, and just bang out any old review (similar to some on this site, haha!) in order to get the cash payout.

For those in it for the money though, they do have a couple of rules that I'd imagine are set up to put people off - you must invest the first £5.00 you make in one of the artists on the site. I like this idea, as it MAKES people give something back. Also, you must make at least £5.00 at a time before you are able to withdraw. This sounds a small amount, but hard to make up at £0.05 a shot!
They also have software in place to ensure that you listen to at least the first minute of each song before you can rate and start your review. This also helps a bit, but is causing a lot of problems, as tracks that are under 1 minute in length seem to be finding their way onto the site and making it impossible for people to review.

For the artists, it's difficult for me to comment on this as I've never been on the site from an artists point of view. I'd imagine that most artists are more in it for the chance of investment, and to get their music heard, as I'd imagine many of the reviews are from people not really interested in the genre of music etc, and they'd have to wade through many reviews to find any helpful ones!

There are also a number of great forums on the site, for people to post their favourite tracks or bands, report problems, get help, or just have some general music discussion! These forums are brilliant, and one of my favourite parts of the site.

The site is having a few problems at the moment, resulting in some of the features not working as they should. Most noticably the Scout feature (ie the actual reveiwing part) has been down for a few days recently, and people are finding it hard also to withdraw their payments. However, STP ensure us that they are working on this, and I hope to see it fixed shortly.

Overall, when all is in good working order, this is a really good site. Good in the fact that it is promoting new music, and encouraging people to listen and review these new tracks. I've never heard of a similar site, and I hope that SlicethePie will carry on going from stregth to strength.

Summary: A great music site, something a bit different!