jason edwards
newkrackle audiblefx

have fun making crazy ass old-school circuit noise,

jason edwards
newkrackle audiblefx

I welcome any effort by individuals or companies to improve the lot of the independent musician. My first thought after reading your email and your pdf is that perhaps you are going public with this idea too soon. Where is the business plan? Who will be the angel investors who’ll have to put up huge amounts of dollars (I’d say millions) for such a huge project? And ultimately who will this project really benefit?

The first mistake that I noticed is that you are calling out to “any musician who has been burned, kicked, gone bust, or had their hope and inspiration surgically removed by the so-called music business.” That statement has nothing to do with the current, more positive, outlook for artists who can now use the most useful tool they’ve ever been given on a plate - the internet and most notably the free services MySpace and Facebook. What I think you mean is that the major label recording business has caused difficulties in the past and in some cases harmed artists’ careers. That is not about to change but you are overlooking the success that indie labels are still having and their business is growing. I can point you to my recent post about this uptick for the indies here.

Your second mistake is in not offering any concrete solutions. Your pdf doesn’t outline any critical thinking nor does it offer concrete solutions - you are simply asking musicians to sign up in the hopes that you can make this fly. I’m sure your intentions are admirable but where’s the juice here? The very people you wish to enroll obviously crave success so you have to offer up much more than platitudes and open-ended solutions.

Many individuals and companies have tried to find a solution such as the one you are purporting to provide but they have all missed the mark because they have all felt, as you do I believe, that they have the answer. The problem has always been ‘what is the question’. Where are these “burned, kicked, busted musicians” and who has asked them what they need? I would argue that musicians who can’t find “success” as determined on their own terms are the first to complain of injustice. Those who are doing well (and Portland is full of them) just use the tools at hand to improve their circumstances.

During this year’s SXSW conference the most important meeting I had out of dozens was with Jason Kadlec of TopSpin Media. This is from the ‘about’ page on their site -

“Topspin is a media technology company with offices in San Francisco and Santa Monica, California. Our mission is to help independent artists make a living. We are venture funded, backed by a strong legacy of pioneering innovation in the music industry, and have formidable business partnerships in place.”

Now, normally I would be dismissive of such claims but during the meeting I was shown the business model and technology (I’ve signed an NDA so I can’t discuss it) that proved to me that TopSpin has some of the answers and is still open to the questions. Soon after returning from SXSW I received an email from someone I’ve know for longer than I actually realized when we re-connected (if that makes sense,) Ian C Rogers, Vice President of Music at Yahoo! Here’s his blog post where he announces that he is leaving Yahoo! - to join TopSpin Media. Not only is this a huge opportunity for Ian I’d say it’s a huge win for TopSpin. Millions of dollars will no doubt be spent but I believe these guys are building a team that can win.

I don’t wish to denigrate your efforts and clearly I have only limited insight into your future plans and I wish you well, I am just worried that you are promising local musicians the earth and they will look to you to come through for them. Many others have been here before in the 14 years I’ve been involved in music and the internet and almost all of them have now gone leaving investors holding the debt and musicians no better off than they were before.

We have a friend in common, Lisa Lepine. I thought you’d be interested in this….

In case you haven’t yet heard about this, a group of pro musicians has been working on the MyGigNet project now for about 8 months, and it is quickly becoming a reality.

I’m interested in your feedback as to what you think of it, any ideas you may have about it, and if you know of any resources to contribute to it.

In a nutshell, MyGigNet is the musician’s universe online. Everything that can be done via the Internet for the musician is done at MyGigNet. It is the new online Operating System of the Music Biz. Every aspect of learning, creating, performing and marketing music will be happening in one place.

Additionally, beyond offering services for musicians from “cradle to grave,” MyGigNet will offer direct revenue sharing to its members depending on level of contribution.

This massive project has not been attempted before, although many people have talked and are talking about it. We feel we’ve got a this tiger by the tail, and will be the first to market with this application.

Please visit http://www.mygignet.com and click on the bottom link to register and view our first brochure draft. We will then keep you up to date on MyGigNet progress as it gets funded, goes into Beta and into full operation.

For any musician who has been burned, kicked, gone bust, or had their hope and inspiration surgically removed by the so-called music business, well, we believe your ship is coming in. A fully transparent, community-driven musician universe is being constructed that we believe will revolutionize not only the music business, but the arts culture generally.

Please join us!

Boyd Martin
CTO - MyGigNet
503-961-2998