2 ms·
First, I would imagine that this is probably the wrong community to ask. We're generally techies, not professional musicians! Your target audience is... not her
by Jemaclus 4y ago
First, I would imagine that this is probably the wrong community to ask. We're generally techies, not professional musicians! Your target audience is... not here. I'm sure there are a few pro musicians in the HN audience, but your sample size will be small.
BUT from a pure entrepreneurial and technical standpoint, maybe you're in the right place. Lots of startup folks here!
So with that in mind, here are some thoughts from me (who is definitely not a pro musician):
Here's the first question that popped into my mind: are there other companies that exist in this space? If the answer is no, there's _probably_ a reason for that. (eg, it's not profitable or it's not in demand). That's not to say you shouldn't do it, but maybe it's worth considering whether there's a different angle that gets you in the ballpark and _can_ be profitable or in demand.
If the answer is yes, then someone has validated your idea already. You're golden! Now it's just attracting that audience and taking a slice of that pie. Depending on the size of the pie, you may not even need to compete with anyone!
That said, most musicians don't make much of a living in music. I have several friends that are in bands that tour all the time, and they basically break even on any given night. Do they have money leftover to spend on an FRM system? _Probably_ not. But I could be wrong.
I did take a peek at your site. It looks fantastic and is very polished. Some of the features seem like no-brainers. The top feature (literally the first one) is an Artist Page, which I'm sure is beautiful, but given that most bands probably have a Facebook page or Instagram or Bandcamp, it might have trouble getting traction. I'm wondering if a Linktree-style clone would be a good fit for that feature.
All in all, love the idea. I hope you're successful. My big piece of advice is to be willing to pivot if you can't find traction with this specific idea, and think of different angles that you can attack the same problem space. You're clearly very passionate about this, and that's a huge huge plus from day one.
Good luck!
- Cali_Arti 4y agoThanks a lot, Jemaclus! That is excellent feedback. I felt that I might not find the perfect audience for my post here, but I thought I try :-). Any advice or input in this state is very valuable. As you indicated, we definitely have to do more market validation, incl. pricing research, and nail down our value prop. We wanted to release an MVP to start getting feedback from a technical standpoint and from artists on the feature front. Our goal is to create a community-led product story. :-)