Bearded signs eMusic deal

Bearded is set to relaunch at the end of the month, and it’s got a whole load of things going on to mark the occasion. Most notable is the relaunch party on the 29th of January at The Macbeth on Hoxton Street. They’ve got some of their favourite independent bands playing, including Allez Allez, Ratface and Beestung Lips, and it’s only £5 to get in, tickets available from the Bearded shop.

Cheaper still is the deal they’ve set up with eMusic to give you 35 free music downloads (though you do have to sign up to a monthly subscription in the process). eMusic gives out these free music packages in various guises, but sign up via the Bearded page and eMusic will send Bearded a £5 referral fee. Everyone knows how tight advertising is at the moment and this is exactly the sort of extra money maker that magazines should be looking to take advantage of. At the moment there’s not much to set the Bearded offer aside from the rest of the eMusic promotions out there, but editor Gareth Main is mulling the idea of putting together a special Bearded selection – 35 free tracks hand-picked by one of Britain’s best independent music magazines. PlanB’s free CDs are hugely popular, so it stands to reason that a package of downloads curated by Bearded would go down just as well. Looking forward to hearing what he comes up with.