5 ms·

Earbits (YC W11) Snags $605K From Charles River Ventures And Others

68 points by earbitscom 15y ago

dreamux 15y ago
I dig your service, keep up the good work!
- old-gregg 15y ago
  +1. I ended up downloading Opera and turning it into a "native Linux Earbits client": runs full screen in its own virtual desktop in the background all the time. It's a mystery to me why Amazon/Google music services are grabbing all the spotlight. The story of label-free music playing on real radio is way more interesting. Not only there's none of that piracy nonsense, but best of all, the risk of being accidently hit in the ear by a manufactured retro-mutants like Beiber is zero.
ISeemToBeAVerb 15y ago
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (I've only read the TechCrunch summary for this company) but doesn't this just sound like the online equivalent of pay-for-play? What value is there for the end-user if artists can just pay their way onto the airwaves? I feel like I must be missing something, because this company just seems like a perfect candidate to be gamed by the big labels and artists who happen to be fortunate enough to have money to burn. I'm always interested in small companies that give individuals the opportunity to bypass the larger companies that exploit their influence, but in all honesty, I just fail to see how this company is offering the artist anything valuable. As I stated earlier, please correct me if I'm misunderstanding their model.
- mlinsey 15y ago
  As with other ads, the difference between ads that hurt the UX and ads that help it is relevancy. I certainly wouldn't mind hearing sponsored songs that Earbits can algorithmically determine I am likely to like based on my tastes and use of the service. A well-targeted system would also make it more viable for small artists, who could target small niches of customers that had a higher probability of converting to sales of merchandise, concert tickets, etc. This is what happened with AdWords. One might have expected AdWords to be a mechanism for large content sites with money to spend advertising to get a lot more traffic, but as it turned out AdWords was a boon for niche but profitable businesses.
- bbryant 15y ago
  It's ad-words for the music industry. Which is great, because it means both the little guy and the big guy are on a level playing field. I may be a little band with only a $20 to spend a month on promoting myself, but I can still reach an engaged audience to come to shows. And like ad-words there's an inherent feedback loop which keeps all parties in check. Fans will only listen if they hear music they like and band will only pay if they have listeners to promote to. The dynamics work out that its in the company's incentive to do the best job they can matching bands with fans. Bands are like any business, the band is the brand, the song is the advertisement. I've got countless friends who spend all day outside of clubs handing out 10 cent fliers that just end up in the trash. Fan discovery and exposure for a fraction of the cost would be a god send. Sure it's only going to bring value if the product is good, but that's the nature of the music business. I for one think it's genius.
  - ISeemToBeAVerb 15y ago
    I'm glad you mentioned Adwords, because that was my first impression. The thing is… I'm not convinced that it's a translatable metaphor. With Adwords there is a much deeper reach that benefits small businesses. If I'm a small, niche specific business, I know I can benefit from targeting a long-tail keyword because someone out there has a specific problem that they need a solution to and my business is built to address that problem. I think that searches for music are fundamentally different. I'm not looking for a solution to a particular problem, In fact I don't really know WHAT I'm looking for- I just need options to sort through so I can find one that I like. The issue that arrises here is that 9 times out of 10, I'm going to start that search with something I know. This is where Pandora shines (to some degree) because I can say "I want to hear bands in the tradition of Black Sabbath" and BAM, I have a playlist of possibly good options. The problem I see with Earbits is that people are naturally going to start their search the same way, with bands they know. This means that popular bands/artists/genres will be the musical equivalent of keywords like "credit cards" in AdWords- Expensive and only cost effective to large companies with money to burn. All that being said, lets say I DID happen to give Earbits a specific search, do I really want the band that PAID to be here as opposed to the one that earned it by gaining natural momentum and fanfare? Am I getting value for this? More specifically (and importantly), is this a USEFUL method for me to find music I like? Furthermore, what about the implications for small artists who blow their money on Earbits campaigns? Anyone familiar with the hype surrounding affiliate marketing would know that many a newb has blown their savings on unprofitable Adwords campaigns due to ignorance. Would you expect most artists to have the savvy it takes to run a profitable campaign under what is, essentially, the same business model? Anyhow… These are just some thoughts. Who knows, maybe these guys will rock this idea and I'll be back here with my head between my legs. I'm just a concerned musician, that's all.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
lacker 15y ago
Earbits is the only one of these music services where I've actually learned about new bands. Nice work on the fundraising!
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

68 points by earbitscom 15y ago

dreamux 15y ago

I dig your service, keep up the good work!

old-gregg 15y ago
+1. I ended up downloading Opera and turning it into a "native Linux Earbits client": runs full screen in its own virtual desktop in the background all the time. It's a mystery to me why Amazon/Google music services are grabbing all the spotlight. The story of label-free music playing on real radio is way more interesting. Not only there's none of that piracy nonsense, but best of all, the risk of being accidently hit in the ear by a manufactured retro-mutants like Beiber is zero.

ISeemToBeAVerb 15y ago

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (I've only read the TechCrunch summary for this company) but doesn't this just sound like the online equivalent of pay-for-play? What value is there for the end-user if artists can just pay their way onto the airwaves? I feel like I must be missing something, because this company just seems like a perfect candidate to be gamed by the big labels and artists who happen to be fortunate enough to have money to burn. I'm always interested in small companies that give individuals the opportunity to bypass the larger companies that exploit their influence, but in all honesty, I just fail to see how this company is offering the artist anything valuable. As I stated earlier, please correct me if I'm misunderstanding their model.

mlinsey 15y ago
As with other ads, the difference between ads that hurt the UX and ads that help it is relevancy. I certainly wouldn't mind hearing sponsored songs that Earbits can algorithmically determine I am likely to like based on my tastes and use of the service. A well-targeted system would also make it more viable for small artists, who could target small niches of customers that had a higher probability of converting to sales of merchandise, concert tickets, etc. This is what happened with AdWords. One might have expected AdWords to be a mechanism for large content sites with money to spend advertising to get a lot more traffic, but as it turned out AdWords was a boon for niche but profitable businesses.
bbryant 15y ago
It's ad-words for the music industry. Which is great, because it means both the little guy and the big guy are on a level playing field. I may be a little band with only a $20 to spend a month on promoting myself, but I can still reach an engaged audience to come to shows. And like ad-words there's an inherent feedback loop which keeps all parties in check. Fans will only listen if they hear music they like and band will only pay if they have listeners to promote to. The dynamics work out that its in the company's incentive to do the best job they can matching bands with fans. Bands are like any business, the band is the brand, the song is the advertisement. I've got countless friends who spend all day outside of clubs handing out 10 cent fliers that just end up in the trash. Fan discovery and exposure for a fraction of the cost would be a god send. Sure it's only going to bring value if the product is good, but that's the nature of the music business. I for one think it's genius.
- ISeemToBeAVerb 15y ago
  I'm glad you mentioned Adwords, because that was my first impression. The thing is… I'm not convinced that it's a translatable metaphor. With Adwords there is a much deeper reach that benefits small businesses. If I'm a small, niche specific business, I know I can benefit from targeting a long-tail keyword because someone out there has a specific problem that they need a solution to and my business is built to address that problem. I think that searches for music are fundamentally different. I'm not looking for a solution to a particular problem, In fact I don't really know WHAT I'm looking for- I just need options to sort through so I can find one that I like. The issue that arrises here is that 9 times out of 10, I'm going to start that search with something I know. This is where Pandora shines (to some degree) because I can say "I want to hear bands in the tradition of Black Sabbath" and BAM, I have a playlist of possibly good options. The problem I see with Earbits is that people are naturally going to start their search the same way, with bands they know. This means that popular bands/artists/genres will be the musical equivalent of keywords like "credit cards" in AdWords- Expensive and only cost effective to large companies with money to burn. All that being said, lets say I DID happen to give Earbits a specific search, do I really want the band that PAID to be here as opposed to the one that earned it by gaining natural momentum and fanfare? Am I getting value for this? More specifically (and importantly), is this a USEFUL method for me to find music I like? Furthermore, what about the implications for small artists who blow their money on Earbits campaigns? Anyone familiar with the hype surrounding affiliate marketing would know that many a newb has blown their savings on unprofitable Adwords campaigns due to ignorance. Would you expect most artists to have the savvy it takes to run a profitable campaign under what is, essentially, the same business model? Anyhow… These are just some thoughts. Who knows, maybe these guys will rock this idea and I'll be back here with my head between my legs. I'm just a concerned musician, that's all.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

lacker 15y ago

Earbits is the only one of these music services where I've actually learned about new bands. Nice work on the fundraising!

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]