Composers & Artists & Music Supervisors Oh My

It was amazing to see how diverse our guys are. All ages, colors, sizes and styles. (both music and clothing) We have been joined at the hip from the beginning. The better the music the better the company. Anyone who uses our system knows that the music you guys make is amazing both in quality and diversity. You are great and that makes us great. I will add to this post soon

We are redoing the entire process of adding music. Our goal is to make it

Easier, Faster and more Effective.

1. No more ftp site!!!!!!

You will hit select file and browse your computer to find & upload music

2. Shorter upload steps

You will be able to stop and save your work and come back to it later

3. Hints & Instructions

Helpful hints and basic instructions will be there during every step

4. Updates that will make it easier for Supervisors to find your music

We have added a language search and many other tweaks that will get you more listens

5. You will see what the Music Supervisor sees

You will be able to see the same view of your profile that they see

6. More branding opportunities

You will be able to display photos, album art or company logo’s

7. Faster info

We will are adding twitter account to each artist profile so we can tweet pitches

If you have any further questions post a comment with the question and we’ll answer it on this post.

Thanks Barry

Raw deal?  The move is certainly understandable from a revenue standpoint, though the question now is whether this approach will generate more upgrades, or simply alienate existing users.  Indeed, the ongoing case study is the latest in a treacherous game called ‘freemium,’ though Shazam is playing on a platform that does have paying customers. Currently, the Encore premium app is among the top-grossing downloads on the iPhone and iPod touch.

The early reaction on the free limitation is overwhelmingly negative, at least among early-adopters, and the iTunes Store features a long string of rants.  “Ever since the paid app came out, the free app has gotten worse and worse,” one of the more benign users posted, while ranting about “the limit [of] five tags a month,” and “the stupid wannabe bait-and-switch”.

Others expressed displeasure over the price of the upgrade.  Instead of $4.99 – an aggressive price-point on the App Store – users seemed more willing to entertain a 99-cent tag.   “I ‘might’ pay .99, but come on 5 bucks???? Ridiculous!!!!” another blurted.

Perhaps some price adjustments are necessary, though Shazam is undoubtedly doing the math.  And for now, Shazam appears to be focusing a lot more energy on its premium app development.  On Thursday morning, the company announced an integrated tie-in with Last.fm, available only on paid versions (as first tipped by Digital Music News).

*In morning testing from the US (AT&T connection), Digital Music News was able to receive more than 5 tags using the latest free version, suggesting an ongoing rollout (a representative for Shazam has not yet returned an inquiry).

Well, that is a philosophy also shared by Thumbplay on its upcoming mobile music service, one that skips the ad-based freebie tier.  The beta concept, first tipped last week, is an on-demand, cloud-based approach, but Thumbplay has licensed millions of major label tracks in the US.  And, just like Spotify, Thumbplay is tapping The Echo Nest to help curate the massive catalog, according to details confirmed Tuesday by Digital Music News.

Both Spotify and Thumbplay Music share the same problem.  Users can get paralyzed by the infinite selection, and earlier competitors like Rhapsody taught the industry that immense libraries are just one puzzle piece.  In that light, The Echo Nest is currently employing a range of music discovery and interactive playlisting enhancements to the Thumbplay launch.  The first implementation is AutoPlaylist, which generates a quick playlist based on a single song.

That means lots of music discovery and interactive playlisting, an enhancement that could prime premium interest.  “Thumbplay is employing a lot of our cultural and acoustical attribute data,” Echo Nest CEO Jim Lucchese told Digital Music News.  “We’re firm believers that user experience will drive willingness to pay on a catalog that large.”

Currently, Thumbplay Music is a private, invite-only, US-based beta, limited to the Blackberry but eventually expanding towards the iPhone, Android, and other devices.  Stay tuned for a closer look.

If that sounds like a giant tease, it is, though Rdio – started by the founders of Kazaa and Skype – promises to deliver a streaming, cloud-based solution.  The top-level description sounds a lot like Spotify, Lala, and other cloud concepts, though given the entrepreneurial pedigree, some innovative twists are probably in store.  “Rdio is like carrying a giant MP3 player in your pocket – you have unlimited and unrestricted access to all the music, and you get to select exactly the song, album or artist you want to hear,” the app description reads.

That appears to include content personal uploaded into the cloud, and Rdio-provided libraries.  “And you can skip, pause, fast forward as much as you want,” Rdio continues.  “Build your collection and compose your playlists on Rdio.com and listen to them all on the go.  Or search for just the right song when you’re out and it will start playing instantly.”

Report by Alexandra Osorio.

Encore is a stand-alone app, though the company is altering its free version to encourage upgrades.  Existing users will not see any changes, though fresh downloaders of the free version will be limited to five tags per month.  Shazam counts a total of ten million app downloads to-date, a free-for-all that must be transitioned into a stronger revenue stream.

The ‘I Am T-Pain’ app is available for $2.99, a bit expensive in app-world but definitely a good time.  And this is a genuine auto-tune experience, thanks to the presence of Antares.  Smule brings its successful multimedia app development experience, a pedigree that includes Ocarina and Leaf Trombone.

The result is a karaoke-style application with a twist – instead of a straight sing-along, amateur vocals are recorded and played back in the classic auto-tune style.  Then, the results can be posted to Facebook, MySpace, or shared via email.

Gimmicky?  Of course, but that’s the whole point – just like so many other iPhone apps.  But T-Pain is adopting the Smule philosophy by charging users right at the gate.  And, even after the initial download charge, users are invited to download extra sing-a-long tracks for 99-cents each.

Barry Coffing Music Supervisor.com

The service provides an excellent opportunity for artists to sell physical CDs through Amazon directly to the public, without any upfront pressing costs. Only when the customer buys the product is the CD produced and shipped directly to the customer, removing the need for artists to invest in CD stock themselves.

Customers who are using the Watunes free digital distribution service will be able to access the CD on Demand for a one time $10 sign up fee per album, but Watunes VIP members will be able to access the service for free. Seeing how it only costs thirty dollars a year to sign up to the VIP service, if you are expecting to deliver three releases or more to online stores it would probably make sense to join the VIP program.

By using the CD on Demand service, you’ll also have your releases placed into the Amazon MP3 store, so you’ll have a complete prescence to millions of Amazon customers instantly. Finally the Watunes / Amazon link up will offer free proof copies of your CD on Demand forever, which also helps artists lower the cost of entry into CD manafacture.

So why even bother with physical CD when download sales are booming?

Well quite a lot of people still actually like to own the product they are buying. You can create your own cover art with Watunes CD on Demand, so there is an opportunity to add value if you can offer superb cover art on your product. Also as you have little or no cost of entry into this service,
it makes sense to maximise the income streams from every source, let the customers decide how they want to buy your music, CD or download – now your customers can have a choice.

Many artists are currently using CD companies like CDBaby to deliver physical stock to customers, and whilst there is no doubt that over the last 5 to 6 years CDBaby has been a market leader in independent CD distribution, their service is looking a little out of date. At $35 per album, thats a big chunk of money for the average independent artist, and it can take sometime to recoup that investment for small bands.

Whilst you can use their discmakers service to produce stock for the CDBaby store, you still have to pay upfront to press the stock. As a micro business it just doesn’t make sense for most independent artists to invest upfront. Businesses big or small all work on the basis of keeping costs low and profits high, and as an independent artist, that should be your priority too to make sure you actually make some money from your music at the end of the day.

I know artists who have invested hundreds of dollars in pressing up a few hundred CDs and still have stock sitting in their basement. It’s money that could be in their pocket right now, especially in the current economic climate.

The Watunes CD On Demand service pays you 40% of each CD sold, and that may seem a huge chunk that is paid for using the service, but looking at the reality, if you had to press the CD upfront you may save some money in the long term, but it’s your cash at risk if the CD doesnt sell. It’s economies of scale, individual CDs cost more to print up per unit than 1000, however if you think of it this way, if you sell no CDs theres no loss to be incurred, if you do sell a CD, you get 40% of a sale you would have otherwise never made. Really it’s a no brainer, and in the long run will
bring a better return than investing in stock.

If you want to put out physical CDs of your music with no investment or
upfront fees, I can’t think of a better risk free method than using this new
service from Watunes.

Visit their website at http://www.watunes.com

MP3s do not appear to be sparking broader sales jumps, and so far, 7digital has been cagey on the matter.  But a broader ecosystem of partners are all beneficiaries of the expanded content availability.  “Using our API, services like Spotify will be able to make one-click downloads a reality, meaning users will only be one step away from owning an MP3 of their favorite track,” explained 7digital chief Ben Drury.  Other partners include Last.fm, Winamp, and Songbird.