4 ms·

You're missing the bulk of the already small market if you're assuming people signing up for your app will universally have Spotify tracks up or their own YouTu

by wheels 2y ago

You're missing the bulk of the already small market if you're assuming people signing up for your app will universally have Spotify tracks up or their own YouTube channel. Soundcloud is more likely, but still not a given, as it's geared towards mostly finished tracks. Hint: the most sought after band members are bassists and drummers, and they don't tend to do solo tracks. You want people to be able to have a low quality video of them noodling or playing along to something for 30 seconds.

hyperadvanced 2y ago
I think, fwiw, I would rather work with someone who has the drive and motivation to finish a track of their own than merely recruit a noodler. I think that from a management perspective, I would also abhor opening up any sort of video/audio sharing because then you’re a target for the majors and you get DMCA’d into the ground when kids start uploading their remixes of Taylor Swift songs or whatever.
- wheels 2y ago
  I work in the music industry. An important thing said once to my arrogant twenty something self by a product manager: "Our market is amateurs. The pro market is a unsustainably tiny." There's basically no product in the music industry that can be supported by just pros. There just aren't very many of them. And again, most drummers and bass players don't create complete tracks on their own, and they're the main thing people are looking for. And honestly, a lot of drummers and bass players don't want to come into a band where the guitar player has already decided what the bass and drum parts should be. You can get a lot from listening to sketches / noodling. (By noodling I mean mainly improvising something unaccompanied, not necessarily trying to win the gold medal at guitar gymnastics.) I'm a bass player. A younger version of myself lived from playing bass for a couple years. I still play quite a few gigs. I very, very rarely produce tracks (one every few years), and there's very little of my bass playing online.
  - hyperadvanced 2y ago
    Interesting. My perspective is pretty skewed as a semi-pro musician and someone who is mostly a recording artist and not a live band/jam guy. I think there are a lot of people who CAN do it all but might be open to collabs with the right person(s). You are correct that the pro market is vanishingly small but if OP thinks they’re making any money off of bassists who could just post on Craigslist I think they’re in for a surprise.
    - wheels 2y ago
      I've used sites that are trying something similar to find bands in the past. So I think I'm pretty close to the target market (or have been in my past). I don't want to post bass-player-looking-for-band on Craigslist or such -- did it once, and you get swamped by shitty bands who mostly still don't send any audio. As a bass player, I want to hear if the singer can sing, and if the sketches of songs are good. I can also play all of the standard band instruments at varying levels of competence, but I'm not much of a songwriter. What people expect from bass players and drummers is that they are good at catching things quickly and writing interesting parts.
      - hyperadvanced 2y ago
        For sure. When I’ve played bass in bands or filled up a stage for a live show, that skill is indispensable. And I don’t mean to downplay the importance of gigging or band-formation for this kind of thing: OP should cater to as many people as possible. I was originally just saying that I understand the desire to outsource content hosting to avoid the long fingers of the majors or user-generated content controversies.
  - jimbokun 2y ago
    So you don’t need an app like this in order to find gigs or collaborators.
    - hyperadvanced 2y ago
      I don’t know. Similar to comment OP I don’t “need” it but I think it’s cool and it has the potential to be better than Craigslist.
jimbokun 2y ago
Record a couple minutes of you playing something, upload it to your YouTube channel, and submit the link. You’re acting like young people wanting to join a band don’t know how to post things on the Internet.
- wheels 2y ago
  Are you a musician? Have you ever used a site like this? My comments are literally based on the disappointments in using similar sites in the past. Most people don't add audio. Profiles without audio are useless. Making (and possibly providing minimal vetting?) people post audio would already be a big step in the right direction.
  - teucris 2y ago
    Just my experience but as a musician who used Bandmix for a while, I found that most profiles I was interested had audio. It felt like it was expected and profiles without links to audio weren’t complete.
    - Murderwords 2y ago
      Can't get a track to upload to the streaming pile of shit that is Bandmix. You, check me on Soundcloud and I will check you out in kind. Your Pal, Murderwords (in the paper bag mask)
Murderwords 2y ago
I just use Soundcloud to dump my rough shit, my gear got housejacked, so feedback is all its good for anyway, the other platform are where the money is, once someone get to that point.

by wheels 2y ago

hyperadvanced 2y ago

I think, fwiw, I would rather work with someone who has the drive and motivation to finish a track of their own than merely recruit a noodler. I think that from a management perspective, I would also abhor opening up any sort of video/audio sharing because then you’re a target for the majors and you get DMCA’d into the ground when kids start uploading their remixes of Taylor Swift songs or whatever.

wheels 2y ago
I work in the music industry. An important thing said once to my arrogant twenty something self by a product manager: "Our market is amateurs. The pro market is a unsustainably tiny." There's basically no product in the music industry that can be supported by just pros. There just aren't very many of them. And again, most drummers and bass players don't create complete tracks on their own, and they're the main thing people are looking for. And honestly, a lot of drummers and bass players don't want to come into a band where the guitar player has already decided what the bass and drum parts should be. You can get a lot from listening to sketches / noodling. (By noodling I mean mainly improvising something unaccompanied, not necessarily trying to win the gold medal at guitar gymnastics.) I'm a bass player. A younger version of myself lived from playing bass for a couple years. I still play quite a few gigs. I very, very rarely produce tracks (one every few years), and there's very little of my bass playing online.
- hyperadvanced 2y ago
  Interesting. My perspective is pretty skewed as a semi-pro musician and someone who is mostly a recording artist and not a live band/jam guy. I think there are a lot of people who CAN do it all but might be open to collabs with the right person(s). You are correct that the pro market is vanishingly small but if OP thinks they’re making any money off of bassists who could just post on Craigslist I think they’re in for a surprise.
  - wheels 2y ago
    I've used sites that are trying something similar to find bands in the past. So I think I'm pretty close to the target market (or have been in my past). I don't want to post bass-player-looking-for-band on Craigslist or such -- did it once, and you get swamped by shitty bands who mostly still don't send any audio. As a bass player, I want to hear if the singer can sing, and if the sketches of songs are good. I can also play all of the standard band instruments at varying levels of competence, but I'm not much of a songwriter. What people expect from bass players and drummers is that they are good at catching things quickly and writing interesting parts.
    - hyperadvanced 2y ago
      For sure. When I’ve played bass in bands or filled up a stage for a live show, that skill is indispensable. And I don’t mean to downplay the importance of gigging or band-formation for this kind of thing: OP should cater to as many people as possible. I was originally just saying that I understand the desire to outsource content hosting to avoid the long fingers of the majors or user-generated content controversies.
- jimbokun 2y ago
  So you don’t need an app like this in order to find gigs or collaborators.
  - hyperadvanced 2y ago
    I don’t know. Similar to comment OP I don’t “need” it but I think it’s cool and it has the potential to be better than Craigslist.

jimbokun 2y ago

Record a couple minutes of you playing something, upload it to your YouTube channel, and submit the link. You’re acting like young people wanting to join a band don’t know how to post things on the Internet.

wheels 2y ago
Are you a musician? Have you ever used a site like this? My comments are literally based on the disappointments in using similar sites in the past. Most people don't add audio. Profiles without audio are useless. Making (and possibly providing minimal vetting?) people post audio would already be a big step in the right direction.
- teucris 2y ago
  Just my experience but as a musician who used Bandmix for a while, I found that most profiles I was interested had audio. It felt like it was expected and profiles without links to audio weren’t complete.
  - Murderwords 2y ago
    Can't get a track to upload to the streaming pile of shit that is Bandmix. You, check me on Soundcloud and I will check you out in kind. Your Pal, Murderwords (in the paper bag mask)

Murderwords 2y ago

I just use Soundcloud to dump my rough shit, my gear got housejacked, so feedback is all its good for anyway, the other platform are where the money is, once someone get to that point.