Is Topspin too difficult to use?  Or, is Topspin simply a more advanced platform that opens a broader range of sophisticated possibilities – as executed by marketing experts instead of amateurs?

That became a heated discussion thread last week on Digital Music News, one that also included Topspin competitors like Nimbit.  ”Powerful tools that are difficult to use really aren’t powerful tools,” commented Nimbit director of Marketing Scott Feldman.  ”Whether you need a class, years of marketing/tech experience, or a team around you to use them — it’s still problematic for a large number of musicians caught in the Catch-22 of needing the tools without team/resources available to operate them.”

But Topspin chief Ian Rogers disagreed with the premise of the question.  In comments over the weekend, Rogers defended his platform as being far easier than many think, while reaffirming a targeted audience of sophisticated marketing professionals.  ”Topspin is easy to use,” Rogers flatly stated.

Still, the customer target remains the same – and Topspin is not necessarily something you should try at home.  ”We are choosing a target customer for the software: in our case the professional whose job it is to make people aware of, connect with, and become a paying customer of an artist,” Rogers continued  ”Might this marketer be the artist themselves?  Sure.  But we aren’t thinking about ‘your average artist’ when we’re designing the software, we’re targeting marketing professionals.”