tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224110542024-02-28T13:33:59.398+00:00SoundGreenWe are starting a record label that is approaching things from a different perspective: we are partnering with artists to help them cultivate their careers while earning more money than is currently available to 99% of artists under traditional record contracts.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-24927960118717480662007-08-01T02:58:00.000+00:002007-08-01T02:58:30.494+00:00Apple sells 3 Billion Songs<blockquote>Perhaps most importantly, Apple offers not just the downloading service but also the hardware for managing music collections. </blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hmmm... Take 3 Billion songs, yes billion with a B! </span> divide that by 100 million iPods sold over the last 5 years... and you get, are you ready for this... Drum roll please, 30 songs per iPod!!! Wow that is 6 songs per year?!?<br /><br />WTF... if it was good news it would be worth commenting on! They have over 5M songs, which is <span style="font-weight: bold;">less than 20% of what Napster had at its height 7 years ago!!!<span style="font-size:78%;"> (Napster had over 25M songs in its database of songs at its height)</span></span><br /><br />You have to wonder what the Big 4 (five at the time) were thinking when they turned down Shawn Fanning (aka Napster himself) and his $1B of money over four years (beginning in 2000)!<br /><ul><il>It would have been a better split than iTunes and they wouldn't have the vulture that is Steve Jobs! Don't hate me, hate the business! He is a vulture with a good mouse trap. In a few short years he took something that many people did not think twice about, portable storage, and turned it into a killer. Perhaps Steve took a page out of Microsoft's, aka we used to work for you, that is until we rendered you useless to 95% of the world, Bill Gates' book? And don't hate Bill. What has Jobs done with his money lately? Was it anything on the level of trying to eradicate illnesses in Africa that would already be solved if the illness effected white people in the USA?</il></ul><br />Back to iTunes... Kudos on 3B songs and the 150MB of space on each 8Gig iPod you have sold. To me this indicates two things:<br /> <ul><li> Perhaps there is more truth than I thought regarding studies that show people only listen to new music until their mid 20s<br /> </li><li> CD sales (or past CD sales) are still driving the sales of new technology (i.e. iPods or my favorite from <span style="font-style: italic;">2 years ago </span>Cowan <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009Q4U7Y?ie=UTF8&tag=cannonsdmbplace&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0009Q4U7Y">iAudio X5 20GB with Voice Recorder</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=cannonsdmbplace&l=as2&o=1&a=B0009Q4U7Y" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></span>)... OR people are still copying songs from the internet and borrowing music and copying it for themselves.</li></ul><br />Makes me wonder about trying to give away over $1M to artists in two years!!! <ul><li>iTunes has given less than $700M in 5 years (and that is using a very conservative $0.25 per song goes to the artist). </li><li>If you use a realistic $0.05 goes to the artist (on average), you calculate that iTunes has paid $150M to artists over 5 years while people other than the creators earned $2.8B!!!</li></ul> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Try to wrap your brain around that one.</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><br />And if you get tired of doing that, consider that it is estimated that Napster allowed the swapping/sharing of over 30B songs (10 times what iTunes has done in five years)CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-72376738669375296212007-07-29T02:15:00.001+00:002007-07-29T02:26:50.712+00:00Radio = Sales?As has been contended by indie folks for years, the answer is not necessarily yes! It has long been our contention that iTunes typically benefits only singles, not album sales. Singles then get cut into so many slices that the amount paid to the artist is (at best) less than fifty cents. <br /><br />In my words: the study shows that radio (i.e. singles you hear over and over until you don't want to listen to it any more) does not help album sales.<br /><br />Read it for yourself <a href="http://som.utdallas.edu/capri/stan-radio.pdf "><span style="font-weight:bold;">here</span></a>.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-4809828147105799602007-07-29T01:09:00.000+00:002007-07-29T01:21:00.342+00:00Play:STL FestivalWe are helping with the Play:STL Festival! <br /><br />September 21-23. Bands from all over are asking to be in it, but it will be a large mix of local "Missouri/Illinois" talent.<br /><br />Should be a blast. We are also hoping to launch a limited access version of the site by then.<br /><br />SoundGreen, finally settled on a compensation structure we are pleased with. Should be a shocker to no one that we think current compensation is out of whack. We will begin to provide more details in the coming weeks.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-12338057635609673502007-07-19T03:22:00.000+00:002007-07-19T03:52:08.548+00:00Art or Sales?No one who strives to make a living in "Art" appreciate it when one states you have to be good at sales. This is because of all the good things associated with Art compared with the bad associated with Sales.<br /><br />Would you rather associate with an Artist or a Salesman? I guess it depends on what you need at the time... entertainment or a deal. <br /><br />But why do you hear about Fallout Boy and not <a href="http://www.myspace.com/wideawake" target="_blank">Wide Awake</a>? Some would say it is talent, showmanship, song writing. But the real answer is perhaps an "unspoken"... Management and Resources. ???What you ask...<br /><br />I would challenge anyone to listen to a Wide Awake album and say that Fallout Boy is better! It is not fair... no offense to FOB or whatever acronym their management pushes...<br /><br />Anyway... we are hoping to help bands such as Wide Awake and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/meanwhiles" target="_blank">The Meanwhiles</a> create art that fans and consumers like. More on the differences between fans and consumers later... <br /><br />fans are leaders, consumers tend to be followersCFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-50425292818099268902007-07-17T12:15:00.000+00:002007-07-17T12:18:48.870+00:00About Net NeutralityGood short film about Net Neutrality... and "NO" I don't think Al Gore invented the Internet.<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" scale="noScale" salign="TL" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="width=480&height=392&mediaId=107952&affiliateId=0&javascriptContext=true&skinURL=http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/skins/Default_Raster.swf&skinImgURL=http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/skins/night_skin.png&actionBarSkinURL=http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/skins/DefaultNavBarSkin.swf&resizeVideo=True" wmode="transparent" height="392" width="480"></embed>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-33079173137164683492007-07-17T03:07:00.000+00:002007-07-17T03:14:14.286+00:00Welcome Back<p class="MsoNormal">So… long time no talk?!?<span style=""> </span></p><o:p></o:p>I have:<br /><ol style="margin-top: 0in;" start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Moved to St Louis<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Continued to work with great programmers<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Talked on and off with Laura, owner of <a href="http://www.playbackstl.com/" target="_blank"><span class="SpellE">PlaybackSTL</span></a><br /></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Begun a new job, second job to this… but it pays the bills<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Got married to a fabulous woman</li><br /></ol><o:p></o:p>Back to a little thing called copyrights… What the hell is Google talking about??? <span style=""> </span>They are breaking the Supreme Court decision in <a href="http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/docket/2004/march.html" target="_blank">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. <span class="SpellE">Grokster</span></a>. <span style=""> </span>Like it or not, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of MGM saying <span class="SpellE">Grokster</span> was not protected under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc." target="_blank">Sony v Universal Studios</a> (which allowed Sony to continue to produce <span class="SpellE">Betamax</span>). <span style=""> </span>Side note, <span class="SpellE">Betamax</span><br />was not the ultimate winner (JVC was with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCR" target="_blank">VCR</a>).<span style=""> </span><span class="SpellE">Grokster</span> was<br />making a profit from advertising while allowing free access to pirated<br />intellectual property (songs, movies, et cetera).<br /><p class="MsoNormal">So… what is different now?<span style=""> </span>I’ll tell you… Google <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/09/google-has-acquired-youtube/" target="_blank">paid $1.65 Billion</a> for <span class="SpellE">YouTube </span>and needs to make their money back on <span class="SpellE">adwords</span> and other annoying ads that pop-up all over <span class="SpellE">YouTube</span>. <span style=""> </span>(<span class="GramE">really</span> they didn’t pay, they diluted their company to acquire <span class="SpellE">YouTube</span>,<br />but that is a separate topic all together)</p><o:p></o:p><span class="GramE">Sour grapes?</span><span style=""> </span>No! Google has more money and better attorneys (or at least they can hire better attorneys) than any property rights holder who sues them. <span style=""> </span>This is why so many have “reached deals” with Google.<span style=""> </span><br /><br />Bottom line: <span class="SpellE">YouTube</span> is a powerful new media for dissemination of videos, which if harnessed properly can lead to future or increased profits for artists. <span style=""> </span>As long as there are <span class="SpellE">AdWords</span> or other revenues being generated through <span class="SpellE">YouTube</span>, Google is in direct violation of US law.<span style=""> </span>They purchased <span class="SpellE">YouTube</span> with the intent to break the law.<span style=""> </span><o:p> </o:p><br /><br />Just a few thoughts to charge the <span class="SpellE">blog</span> back up.<span style=""> </span>The author does realize <span class="SpellE">Blogger</span> is owned by Google, and doesn't care.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1152033663733286102006-07-04T17:21:00.000+00:002006-07-04T17:21:03.756+00:001.3% ??? Why not 60% ??? Sounds better to us...<span style="font-family:Georgia;">Okay, so perhaps an artist couldn’t sell 200,000 albums with us… point taken… but we do think that getting the artist on tour for 90 shows a year (minimum) could help them sell at least 5,000 subscriptions. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Subscriptions? I thought you were talking about albums! We are, to us it is the same… a subscription is better for the fan – they can download, burn, whatever they want to whatever content we have (just please limit the passing on to 3 friends & let them know where you got it and what a good deal it was for the artist).</span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Okay… so 5,000 subscriptions + our non-recoupable costs we give to the artist through direct tour support, equipment, marketing + partial transportation reimbursement (gas is expensive) + other perks…</span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;">An artist would get approximately (using ‘aprox’ because can’t really tell to the penny without taking hours to calculate every last detail)… ready for this… $85,000. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;">I know you want to know what we make on that… well… not too complicated… our gross revenue is approximately $140,000… </span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Georgia;">So there you have it… you can get 1.3% and a guaranteed short career OR you can earn 60% and grow your career until you are ready for the big leagues.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1151968507330520292006-07-03T23:08:00.000+00:002006-07-04T17:22:52.546+00:00Give Me My 1.3% ?????We have been looking for an interesting diagram that shows how much an artist makes with a traditional record label contract. The premise is the artist sells 200,000 albums at $17 each. The artist/group receives roughly $45,500 from the sale of the albums.<br /><br />Who else gets a chunk of the $3.4 million gross sales?<br /><ul> <li>Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Amazon (retailer) – $1.275 million (37.5%)</li> <li>Distributor (owned by record label, if major) – $340,000 (10.0%)</li> <li>Record Label’s portion</li> <ul> <li>Manufacturing – $150,000 (4.4%)</li> <li>Marketing – $600,000 (17.6%)</li> <li>Additional – $528,000 (15.5%)</li> </ul> <li>Mechanicals (split between songwriter & publisher) – $160,000 (4.7%)</li> <li>Artist – $344,000 (10.1%)</li> </ul><br />So why does the artist only get $45,000 when you show $344,000 in the calculation. Oh, we forgot to tell you that there are ‘recoupable costs’ of approximately $250,000; Managers need their money too (15% of what the Artist’s net); business manager commission of 5% of the Artist’s net.<br /><br />Wow… someone created something in this hypothetical situation that the consumer was willing to pay $3,400,000 for… and they only got to keep 1.3% of it… one word – AWESOME!!! Awesome if you are a label, or marketer, or retailer, or maybe even a business manager. But is sucks if you are an artist.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><img alt="moneygoes" src="http://www.soundgreen.com/moneygoes.JPG" /><br /></div><br />The full article from which this chart and figures is based can be found at <a href="http://performingsongwriter.com/vault/business_71.pdf" target="_blank">Performing Songwriter</a>.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1151848084957433662006-07-02T13:46:00.000+00:002006-07-02T13:48:04.970+00:00Hello, are you there<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >Why pay the artist?<span style=""> </span>Hmmm… we feel that the bearer of the majority of the benefits should be the one who created the art (‘Intellectual Property’)… simple… right or wrong???<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >Well, we are working on developing our website currently and hopefully should have a Beta version when we go to Colorado for the <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >Well, we are working on developing our website currently and hopefully should have a Beta version when we go to Colorado for the <a href="http:/www.southparkmusic.com" target="_blank">South Park Music Festival</a>. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >Sorry for the lack of updates, not that many are looking.<span style=""> </span>We will be getting some diagrams up in the coming weeks and hopefully a few surveys. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";" >Hugs, kisses and whatnot…<o:p></o:p></span></p>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1145028288332130502006-04-14T15:24:00.000+00:002006-06-20T19:48:45.043+00:00CRM, Plans, Oh My<span style=";font-family:Verdana Ref;font-size:100%;" >We have acquired a Customer Relationship Management software package - </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.sugarcrm.com/">SugarCRM</a></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana Ref;font-size:100%;" >. It appears to be fully customizable and should suit our needs in terms of tracking contact with artists and their management. This development has caused us to pause for the next week or two and reassess how we want to present ourselves and our company to all three groups we deal with fans (i.e. potential customers), artists, and investors (yes this isn't a free venture and requires a stack of cash to run).</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span> <span style=";font-family:Verdana Ref;font-size:100%;" >Both Nathaniel and myself are working towards getting our lives organized to make a run in the last third of the year... we are hoping to get the artist contracts together by mid-summer and then go out and sign some artists who want to make money and determine their earning potential. </span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana Ref;font-size:100%;" >We continue to work on really focusing on what we offer --- that sounds funny or sad that we donÂt know. I think it is a big step in success. We are offering artists the opportunity to dictate their own income. We wonÂt tell them when to release songs in a traditional sense. Instead, we will require an artist to post a certain number of songs and to tour a minimum number of times each year.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana Ref;font-size:100%;" >We have also received our first investment, which is about one tenth of what we project we will need in the first and second years of operations. </span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1145010959003132432006-04-14T10:35:00.000+00:002006-04-14T12:33:48.533+00:00What... An Update ?!?<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Well… Long time, no posts --- We have been trying to configure WordPress, but have decided to stick with blogger for the time being! When the site is developed we won’t have a need for either so why go through all the issues of changing up what you have. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">There are a few advances to mention – we are in serious contract talks with an advertising and Internet development company to help us design our content delivery system and site layout. They are based in Miami and have office locations in Germany and Brazil as well… </span><a href="http://www.inburn.com/" target="_blank">Inburn</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"> is the name of the firm. They have been taking quite good care of us so far. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">More to follow later today…</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1143819313037829422006-03-31T15:35:00.000+00:002006-03-31T15:35:13.066+00:00Update<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">This past week has been crazy. We found out last Friday that we needed to present at the Reynolds Cup today at 9:15 in Little Rock. I am not able to get there, as I am in the UK so another person is going to present it. It appears as if we have a decent chance of winning some money from the whole thing. But who knows.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I am just excited that it was selected. Update to follow in the coming weeks.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Narrowing down the web design firm has been going along well, but has been put on the second burner due to the presentation. There are only a few providers we are still considering and hopefully will get that ball rolling later next week. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I will be shifting gears back to finishing my CPE to keep/get my license current. There is just an amazing amount of information to process during the studying process. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I have also signed-up at </span><a href="http://www.guru.com/">www.guru.com</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"> to see if I can pick-up some side jobs while developing this business/concept further.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1143329113376097802006-03-25T23:25:00.000+00:002006-03-25T23:25:13.453+00:00Amazing<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I find it amazing that people in the Music Industry make such a large sum of money from something they did not create. A manager gets approximately 20% of an artist’s advance from a record label. That seems quite steep… then the artist has to pay for the recording costs… then the artist has to pay for their tour… then they have to pay back 100% of the money out of record sales that are approximately $1 per album sold. This is asinine!!! An artist will never really make any money unless they sell over 100,000 albums. This doesn’t seem very reasonable given the drop in album sales due to the increase in on-line sales (primarily through iTunes) which only pay the artist a few pennies per song. But hey, what would the Music Industry be without a bunch of leeches trying to get a lot of compensation without doing a lot of work.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The seminar was good today and I hope to catch the finals of the band competition on Wednesday. We are beginning to realize the hardest thing will be signing the first few bands. It would seem that after a few are up and going the rest of the bands will come to us.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The economics of the Industry are changing and the leeches have been quite slow in their acceptance of this fact. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I will discuss this further tomorrow.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1143215673415493892006-03-24T15:54:00.000+00:002006-03-24T15:54:33.453+00:00What a Day<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Wow… what a difference a day makes!!! We are setting up a bank account – amazing what you can get for free by opening up an account: sky miles/points, cash back, et cetera. Check that out before you open your next account.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I will be going to a seminar this weekend in Cambridge at </span><a href="http://www.junction.co.uk/HTMLTemplates/whats_on/classes/Music_Business_Seminars.htm?date_typed=sat%2025%20mar%20%7C%2010am-4pm">The Junction</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">. It should be interesting at the least, and hopefully provide more music industry insight and leads. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The template has been updated. It is best viewed in 1024 by 768, as it is part static part dynamic. Check out the link to the designer, Aman, who was fabulous. I learned he accepts tips ($$$) and he is quite fast and good. I would recommend him to anyone and have place a permanent link on the right hand column.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Bought a php and mySQL book the other day at Amazon - </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590595521/soundgreen-20?creative=327641&camp=14573&adid=1605TSDW40XMYS0BSBY2&link_code=as1">Beginning PHP and MySQL 5: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">. It appears to be a good book. I have been developing/utilizing a php based photo gallery. I will post a link if I get around to it. Will probably just post public photos to Flickr.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">And the Zags lost!!! Damn, they could have gone far. The UCLA v. Memphis winner will probably win the tournament.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1143160817900715712006-03-24T00:40:00.000+00:002006-03-24T00:40:17.963+00:00Technology Prize and Contractors<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Well… now our business plan has been put in the finals of the Technology competition at the Reynolds Cup. It seems to be fairly disorganized as we found out a week ago that we didn’t make the cut for the business plan, however they want 10 new copies of the business plan on Monday??? This is a little vague too. The biggest thing we work on is contracts and the technology is just a way for us to disseminate our product. And it is technology that everyone else is using, well – they should be using. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Regardless, I am not going to the competition. I do not have the time or the money to travel 5,000 miles (one-way) for a 45 minute presentation. Perhaps a friend will present, but I am not worried one way or the other. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">We have narrowed down 30 contractor bids to four, which will be reviewed this weekend. We will hopefully be in phone contact with the contractors this weekend. It has been quite a learning process and the bids have varied from not qualified at all to firms who could definitely do it. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">We are looking for the contractor to be a long-term contractor and partner in what we are doing. It should take about 60 days or so to develop, design and code the site. Part of that length is my intentional stretching out of the project for our timing purposes.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Zags are in the NCAA tourney tonight (this morning in the UK). Go Zags!!!</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142855138300295322006-03-20T11:45:00.000+00:002006-03-20T11:45:39.113+00:00Template Change<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">We will be changing the template of this blog in the coming week. Things may shift from one side to the other, but nothing major. True to our beliefs, we are attempting to improve the form without compromising the functionality (readability in this case) of the site.</span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">We hope you like the new changes.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142806352581924142006-03-19T22:12:00.000+00:002006-03-19T22:12:32.636+00:00Two more things to focus on<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Working on two things currently:</span><br/><ol><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Hunting down exceptional artists on the internet (slowly and surely)</span></li><br/><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Creating a thorough document that contains what all we need/require of our web developer</span></li></ol><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Hunting down exceptional artists is always going to be time consuming and challenging… I am working on a way to better track all the notes, et cetera. I know – I should already have a method, but what can you say. I am trying to do all of this at once and ‘it has been a lot of this and a little of that.’ I will be attending a good festival in Colorado – the </span><a href="http://www.southparkmusic.com/index2.htm">South Park Music Festival</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Coordinating our expectations and needs with the desires of our web developer will be a challenge as we are going the international route. We are trying to bring together a diverse group of individuals under our family of workers/contractors. It may be easier in the short-term to go with the guy down the street or someone located in the state next door, but we believe the firm will be better off utilizing the skills of our international acquaintances. IT may blow up, but we think in the long term having a developer/designer located overseas, India for example, is ideal as we can identify any issues or needs during our day. Our developer can then find and implement a solution while we sleep. Any issue should be resolved over night. That does not take into account that our potential collaborators have staff available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142680050212850792006-03-18T11:07:00.000+00:002006-03-18T11:07:30.226+00:00The MIDEM Wave<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">I think I may post up some of my writings from a trip to </span><a href="http://www.midem.com/">MIDEM</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"> in Cannes, France. MIDEM is one week in late January when a lot of people get together to schmooze and praise each other and pay for it while spending the profit from an artist’s Intellectual Property – their creations… their songs. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">There are meetings and discussion forums. The meetings are set-up in advance and the participants try like hell to make a good impression and make as many deals as possible. They also have discussion forums, which are led by a great collection of panelists. The problem is that when the panel is done the audience tends to flood the stage as if the U2 just finished playing a sold out stadium at </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=soundgreen-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB0000TB050%2Fref%3Dimdbpov_dvd_0%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26v%3Dglance%26n%3D130">Slane Castle</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">. Give me a break; all these people do is exploit the artists by not setting up a fair compensation structure. </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Here’s my take of it all… </span><br/><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br/><em><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">As all the dreamers rush forward, a sea of red shifts as chair seats flip shut like an oyster protecting its pearl. Comparable to light bulbs going off on the red carpet – smiles, colorful cards, and cellophane encrusted discs are flashed about in hopes of catching 'a break' wave on the North Shore.</span></em><br/><em><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span></em><br/><em><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The seas begin to calm as cards and pleasantries are exchanged. Like the crashing waves at the North Shore, blank stares appear to replace the smiles as the dream is questioned and pondering if correct words were spoken and chosen.</span></em><br/><em><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span></em><br/><em><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The sea is calm with only a few self-confident dreamers buoying in shades of brown, blue, and green sharply contrasting with the rose, red sea as they wait for the card storm to finish. The question is when will it end?! The perceived gatekeepers of the dreamer’s delusions continue to silence the swarm and casually slip out in succession attempting to not be the last one left, as that would bring up painful memories of their days on the sandlot being picked, or not, for the team.</span></em>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142679633439016652006-03-18T11:00:00.000+00:002006-03-18T11:02:30.250+00:00MIDEM Thoughts<span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">So the last few days have been hectic, to say the least. I think I may post up some of my writings from a trip to </span><a href="http://www.midem.com/">MIDEM</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"> in Cannes, France. MIDEM is one week in late January when a lot of people get together to schmooze and praise each other and pay for it while spending the profit from an artist’s Intellectual Property – their creations… their songs. Basically… if you know someone who went to MIDEM, I would almost be certain they did not pay for the trip out of their own pocket and they pissed away a portion of an artist’s hard work.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">See they have meetings and discussion forums. The meetings are set-up in advance and the participants try like hell to make a good impression and make as many deals as possible. They also have discussion forums, which are led by a great collection of panelists. The problem is that when the panel is done the audience tends to flood the stage as if the U2 just finished playing a sold out stadium at </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=soundgreen-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB0000TB050%2Fref%3Dimdbpov_dvd_0%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26v%3Dglance%26n%3D130">Slane Castle</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">. Give me a break; all these people do is exploit the artists by not setting up a fair compensation structure. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">You hear me complain a lot about the artist-label compensation structure, but I think it is justified. The labels have exclusive deals with </span><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.forbes.com/business/manufacturing/feeds/ap/2006/03/08/ap2579962.html">major radio stations</a><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">, </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">download services, and </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">music stores.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">These under the table deals virtually lock out any non-major label artist from </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">air time, </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">visual space on the web-portal, and </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">shelf space at the local record store. </span></li></ul><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">The artist is typically left with two options – 1) cave in and hope you can make it with a major or 2) have a go on your own and see if you can catch enough breaks to become mildly successful. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana Ref;">Well this is long enough without any of my writings… I’ll add them in a separate post.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142457682783339932006-03-15T21:08:00.000+00:002006-03-15T21:21:22.793+00:00Competition UpdateWell... we got left out in the cold!!! <br /><br />This really doesn't come as too much of a surprise as most people who listen to music do not realize the artists are not fairly compensated. This plan has been created to rectify this issue. If all you know is that Apple makes iPods (an inferior product), then why would you need a new compensation method for artists? Well the answer is that artists desire to make a living off of their craft and typically aren't afforded the opportunity to do so.<br /><br />Progress is being made on the site. Hopefully we can have some roughed out features in the coming weeks.CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142198943903731462006-03-12T20:18:00.000+00:002006-03-12T21:29:03.916+00:00Et Cetera<span style="font-family: arial;">There have been so many good things happening... and then there are the other things -</span><br /> <br /> <ul style="font-family: arial;"> <li>having to actually develop this contract that does not yet exist anywhere in the music community</li> <li>figuring out the best way to contact and disucss the points of the deal with the artists</li> </ul> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">We will be working through some of these issues over the next days/weeks/months.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">We will also be developing our site with our contractor. It won't be the flashiest thing you have ever seen, but it will be convenient and definately follow function over form. The main point of the site is to get our vision out there so people can kick the tires and let us know what they think.</span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1142094771976935662006-03-11T15:59:00.000+00:002006-03-11T16:32:51.990+00:00Incorporated!!!Well... I have incorporated the dream... We used <a href="http://www.bizfilings.com/jpals.asp?TGID=&d=423423&PCD=A974">Bizfilings.com</a>. They were great to work with and the web-site had more than enough information and resources to file properly. Please click on the link in this text to see what all they offer, it is pretty amazing what all you can do from your desk!<br /><br />Next step will be setting up office locations in Europe and North America and getting the website developed.<br /><br />more later...CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1141952297209281542006-03-10T00:46:00.000+00:002006-03-10T00:58:17.220+00:00incorporationthis is such a chore... should i do some of it myself or pay for a service to do some of the monkey work for me? <br /><br />that is quite a delima...<br /><br />i'll let you know what i decide and who i do it withCFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1141936106968152032006-03-09T20:23:00.000+00:002006-03-09T20:28:26.983+00:00More about us<span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I have a friend and partner working on this... any feedback would be appreciated...</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />SoundGreen is an entirely new music experience through the synthesis of low-cost digital downloaded music, a closer artist/fan relationship, and a mutually beneficial artist promotion strategy. SoundGreen is a subscription based Internet multi-media company with the goal of fulfilling an artistÂs desire to make a living creating music and the listenerÂs desire to enjoy good music.</span> <p style="font-family: georgia;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">SoundGreen contracts with the artist are noticeably different than traditional contracts. SoundGreen recognizes art as a profession and will offer terms that allow the artist to realize the true earning potential of their chosen profession. SoundGreen offers short term contracts with the option to renew and highly competitive rates for tour support that increase as more fans subscribe. The artist also benefits financially from tour profits, merchandise sales, and endorsements.</span></p> <span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">SoundGreen wants the artist to succeed, so resources are provided to assist with producing high quality results. SoundGreen artists will receive technology resources that include...<br /><br />we cannot give away all of the goods yet...<br /><br />but let's put it this way..better than what you'll get now...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">i guarantee</span><br /></span> </span>CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22411054.post-1141653770398185122006-03-06T14:02:00.000+00:002006-03-06T14:02:50.426+00:00Toll-Free Calls for SoundGreen - How can we afford that?<a href="http://tollfree.kall8.com/9952.htm">Kall8</a> is the provider we will be using for toll-free phone and fax for our clients and customers. It is a really good set-up as they provide call forwarding, voice mail, fax and email forwards (with caller ID) for all vmail and faxes. So now I will probably be getting your information through my email. Yet another way we're keeping our office costs down - it's only $2 per month!!!CFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17841758013718608946noreply@blogger.com0