Your input needed....

[astrysk]

If anyone is interested and wants to be kept up to date just send me a PM saying whether you are a band/artist or a music downloader, thanks!

Okay, I am working for a computer company and we are in the progress of making a music downloading website. This site will not be live until July 4th 2007. Now what I'd like to do is tell yall alittle about it and get your opinions and ideas.
So to tell you about the website:

This website is for independant artists only so you won't find Justin Timberlake or Metallica. Now I don't know about you but I wasn't a person who ever really looked at independent bands/artists much. So something that makes this site different is we are going to make a few things to make it easier to find what you are looking for.
First is going to be the "sounds like" search option. When artists/bands submit their music we are going to ask them who THEY think they sound like(cold play, christina aguilera) and them we are going to submit it to a piece of software that looks at the music and tells based on that what it is similar too.

Another search option we are trying to create is what kind of song it is( break up, cheating, kill myself) so you will be able to search under "rock" for example and then "break up songs".

Now for the pricing, artists/bands pay $15 a year to have their music on the site. The artists/bands get to set their OWN price for downloading their music. Also the artists/bands will get 90% and us 10%, so if you charge 50 cents for downloading your song then you get 45 cents and we get 5 cents. The artists/bands will get checks monthly, but only if the amount is over ten dollars.
We don't take any of your rights to your music, we just want to distribute for you! We're not in this to get rich like a lot of the other sites, we are all musicians who know how hard it is to get your name out there

We also have a blog already set up, and we are thinking of having profiles, definitely for the artists/bands and then later maybe for our users if they are interested.

So in conclusion I'd like your input. Does this sound like something you would be interested in, do you have any ideas to make it better?

edit:If you are interested or know someone who is contact me by PM please. All we have up right now is a temp website until the real one is finished, and we are also keeping track of where we were able to reach out to people. They didnt seem interested in gaia much, so anyone I find from here will be used as a way for me to kinda stick my tongue out at them xd  

[`Roguey]

The search sounds like a merge of last.fm and gnoosic. I don't know whether they focus on independent artists though. I think it would be a great way to help independent artists get on their feet.
Hehe and i always love listening to something new. It definatly sounds like a resource i would use.
I hope you dont just focus on a certain genre though..
I wish you luck heart  

[astrysk]

`Roguey

The search sounds like a merge of last.fm and gnoosic. I don't know whether they focus on independent artists though. I think it would be a great way to help independent artists get on their feet.
Hehe and i always love listening to something new. It definatly sounds like a resource i would use.
I hope you dont just focus on a certain genre though..
I wish you luck heart

its funny you say that cuz let me tell you, I have had to get onto some of the other people on the team for doing that, paying more attention to the music they like. We are going to have all genres and unlike some other sites we aren't very strict on our selection process, we just want it to be your own music and be a decent recording of it. If you know any bands who might be interested let me know, pretty soon here we will start signing some and getting music onto the servers.  

[`Roguey]

Awesome. Well i have a few people in mind who would might be interested in registering their band. I'll ask around and let you know.
Anyways i bookmarked and entered my email on your page. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. heart  

[astrysk]

`Roguey

Awesome. Well i have a few people in mind who would might be interested in registering their band. I'll ask around and let you know.
Anyways i bookmarked and entered my email on your page. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. heart

Thanks! I'm real excited to get this going. What is there right now at xiie.net is our temp website but we are hoping to have the real one by the end of this month *crosses fingers*  

[astrysk]

an example letter we send to a BAND:
How's it going? We've all heard the horror stories about how a band gets signed to a major label, and some independent labels as well, and the label takes all rights to the music, refuses to release it, or doesn't push it, and eventually drops the band. We don't like that scenario, so we're trying something new.

What we're doing is starting a new kind of DRM free MP3 download site. It will be exclusively for unsigned, independent bands and artists, so you won't compete with any major label bands for exposure. Also, we'll offer promotional tools for you to help book tours, by seeing geographically where your music is selling the best. We will have access lists for you to contact local venues in these areas. And we will be sponsoring Xiie band only concerts across the country, and eventually the world. So you can eventually tour the entire world, just like a major label band, but retain all control of your music. We also will be promoting every band on Xiie, and helping you get your music heard and sold!

And the best part? We offer you a 90/10 split for profit, with you getting 90% of every sale you make. You can set your own price per track, and per album. All we ask is you pay a $12 fee per year for us to offer all the extras. I don't know if you've checked out any of the other download sites, but if you have, you'll see we have the best percentages, and yearly fee. And, the deal is non-exclusive, so you could sell your music here, and on any other place you like. We don't take any of your rights to your music, we just want to distribute for you! We're not in this to get rich like a lot of the other sites, we are all musicians who know how hard it is to get your name out there. So Xiie is our way of helping.

Our official launch date is Independence Day July 4th! We are getting bands signed up now to be heavily promoted on opening day, and if you want to be a part of that, just let me know.  

[astrysk]

FAQ

Q:I want to hear my local bands!
A:get them to sign up! or since we are not live yet, PM me their emails or a way to contact them, or if you'd rather not hand out their email then send me a PM first and I will send you my email.

Q: what are the costs?
A: for bands/artists, $15 a year. for users/downloaders, free/just the cost of your downloads

*Alli says:
its for independent/ unsigned bands right?
Jay says:
right
Alli says:
so what if while on xiie they get a deal?
Alli says:
do u kick them off?
Jay says:
no major label artists allowed
Jay says:
no
Jay says:
as long as their independent wehn they sign on
Jay says:
they will stay on

*Alli says:
how long will the demo/preview be for songs?
Jay says:
30 sec
Alli says:
yay!
Jay says:
there will also be featured artists where you get to hear 1 complete song

*Song quality and format= 15 mbs @ 192 bits with unlimited uploads, and they will be mp3's.

*Alli says:
for the band and artist, will they just have a band page or will it be customizable like an actual profile page?
Jay says:
it will be semi-customizable
Jay says:
you can choose some different colors, but no html like myspace
Alli says:
so no graphics? or maybe certain spots where they can upload some?
Jay says:
they'll be able to upload some pics, but not really random graphics
Alli says:
ok cool
Jay says:
if they have their logo in .jpg form, they can do that
Jay says:
but not like a happy bunny pic, or something like that
Alli says:
so something relating to the band basically, right?
Jay says:
right

*Alli says:
also will they be able to have ALL their music on their page
Jay says:
people searching their page will see everything they have available
Jay says:
it will be categorized by album, but all visible

*Alli says:
will downloaders get profiles?
Jay says:
if they pay for the download protection plan, they will have a profile similar to the artists
Jay says:
otherwise, no, not a real profile
Jay says:
it will remember them, but it wont be customizable
Alli says:
whats the download protection plan?
Jay says:
ok
Jay says:
the people who download and buy songs, will only get them that one time
Jay says:
unless, they get a download plan
Jay says:
what that does, is have us save their purchases, so they can re-download for free if they ever need to
Alli says:
how much is it?
Jay says:
otherwise, without the plan, they would have to re-buy the mp3
Jay says:
$12 a year
Jay says:
cheap
Alli says:
so if for some reason they deleted the mp3 off their computer or something, without the plan they would have to re-buy it, but with the plan they could re-download it at no charge..... right?
Jay says:
right





I will add more as they come up!

hope ya don't mind the IM conversation format sweatdrop its easier for all of us to pass around xd  

[astrysk]

I also think we will have a newsletter soon that will later become a magazine! We are also working on getting something together for our users that will have been here from the start!  

[Voxtom]

Tji scould be an opening that ineed smile  

[Kaio-Leucitius]

I dont like the 30 second preview thing. What about the profiles? How many songs can you post? Can we separate songs into albums? What is the minimum price we can sell our songs for? Are we allowed to customize profiles, like with html?  

[astrysk]

Kaio-Leucitius

I dont like the 30 second preview thing. What about the profiles? How many songs can you post? Can we separate songs into albums? What is the minimum price we can sell our songs for? Are we allowed to customize profiles, like with html?

Okay when you say post on the profiles, do you mean as a downloader or an artist/band? You can sell your song or your album, and the artist/band set your own prices.

Quote:

The artists/bands get to set their OWN price for downloading their music.

The profiles will be customizable with html.  

[Kaio-Leucitius]

as a band/artist.  

[astrysk]

We should be able to have all of your songs on the profile. What we would do is have the album names and then when you clicked on the album name the songs would then be listed. You will of course be able to have songs by themselves but we don't want too many like that.
We would rather have them listed under an album to save some space. So what bothers you about the 30 sec preview? Did you want longer? Shorter?  

[astrysk]

Xiie.net

Kaio-Leucitius

I dont like the 30 second preview thing. What about the profiles? How many songs can you post? Can we separate songs into albums? What is the minimum price we can sell our songs for? Are we allowed to customize profiles, like with html?

Okay when you say post on the profiles, do you mean as a downloader or an artist/band? You can sell your song or your album, and the artist/band set your own prices.

Quote:

The artists/bands get to set their OWN price for downloading their music.

The profiles will be customizable with html.

actually I was wrong, we will not be using html, check out the FAQ I just updated for more info, but basically because we would need alot more protection with that. With html and people getting codes and etc from anywhere and everywhere we then have to worry alot more about virusis and etc.  

[AGVegetarian]

I like the idea. But I don't want to charge people for downloads...how would something liek that work?