3 ms·

That’s a Big Growth. Better Get That Checked Out.

42 points by earbitscom 15y ago

rdl 15y ago
I'd be pretty happy to be Turntable.fm right now (I know Seth and Billy). I'm amazed that they pivoted so completely from Stickybits to Turntable.fm. There are definitely licensing issues, but with phenomenal growth, and at least some viable business model (embedded rooms, celebrity appearances, etc.), they should be able to negotiate with content owners. Once they hit escape velocity, they could start restricting the catalog of music to lower licensing costs, and maybe partner more deeply with content owners (to promote new artists, etc.) Until then, subsidizing relatively low licensing fees with cheap VC money is a great strategy. BTW, if anyone is an amazing backend engineer (python, streaming, etc.) (www.quora.com/Turntable-fm/What-is-the-technology-stack-behind-Turntable-fm) please contact me (ryan@venona.com); I think they're looking for help scaling.
- earbitscom 15y ago
  I would definitely be happier owning Turntable than Stickybits. That being said, there is no reason for mainstream content owners to negotiate with them. If Pandora has no bargaining power, why would Turntable? Pandora has even more ability to promote at will, since they pick the music. Some content owners may let them use the music for promotional reasons, but it's likely to be dwarfed by the use of mainstream music by most people using the service. Take away mainstream music and it makes it hard for most average people to DJ anything. I do think that they have a better chance at monetization than a standard radio service, both by charging fees to get into popular rooms, or getting people to pay for cooler avatars, plus by having more engagement with the monitor (higher display ad revenues). However, they also pay even more for their music than Pandora, since at least one out of 6 users or so is an on-demand stream. The major point of the article is, growth is great. Growing too fast to figure out how you'll make money before your costs are burying you is not a game you want to play in the music industry. In any other industry VCs will tell you to figure out monetization later. In music, very few will give you that benefit of the doubt anymore.
macavity23 15y ago
Nice article. Also possibly worth mentioning that if you're raising tens of millions and hoping to exit for billions, you'll be giving away almost all your stock. If your valuation is more modest, you'll keep much more control.

42 points by earbitscom 15y ago

rdl 15y ago

I'd be pretty happy to be Turntable.fm right now (I know Seth and Billy). I'm amazed that they pivoted so completely from Stickybits to Turntable.fm. There are definitely licensing issues, but with phenomenal growth, and at least some viable business model (embedded rooms, celebrity appearances, etc.), they should be able to negotiate with content owners. Once they hit escape velocity, they could start restricting the catalog of music to lower licensing costs, and maybe partner more deeply with content owners (to promote new artists, etc.) Until then, subsidizing relatively low licensing fees with cheap VC money is a great strategy. BTW, if anyone is an amazing backend engineer (python, streaming, etc.) (www.quora.com/Turntable-fm/What-is-the-technology-stack-behind-Turntable-fm) please contact me (ryan@venona.com); I think they're looking for help scaling.

earbitscom 15y ago
I would definitely be happier owning Turntable than Stickybits. That being said, there is no reason for mainstream content owners to negotiate with them. If Pandora has no bargaining power, why would Turntable? Pandora has even more ability to promote at will, since they pick the music. Some content owners may let them use the music for promotional reasons, but it's likely to be dwarfed by the use of mainstream music by most people using the service. Take away mainstream music and it makes it hard for most average people to DJ anything. I do think that they have a better chance at monetization than a standard radio service, both by charging fees to get into popular rooms, or getting people to pay for cooler avatars, plus by having more engagement with the monitor (higher display ad revenues). However, they also pay even more for their music than Pandora, since at least one out of 6 users or so is an on-demand stream. The major point of the article is, growth is great. Growing too fast to figure out how you'll make money before your costs are burying you is not a game you want to play in the music industry. In any other industry VCs will tell you to figure out monetization later. In music, very few will give you that benefit of the doubt anymore.

macavity23 15y ago

Nice article. Also possibly worth mentioning that if you're raising tens of millions and hoping to exit for billions, you'll be giving away almost all your stock. If your valuation is more modest, you'll keep much more control.