Plugola Inc.

F*ck Digital Music!

Filed under industry, technology

As a music consuming public, and as musicians, I think we’ve been waiting long enough for digital music to deliver on all the hype surrounding it for the past decade. From a business standpoint, it has been a complete failure so far. Understandably, music fans care little about the business end of the industry, but the fact remains that artists and/or songwriters need to be compensated in order to keep producing the music we all love so much. Unfortunately, that is not happening.

I wish I could say music fans were more excited about digital music. I recently read (sorry, no link) that 74% of all purchased music albums are CDs! We all know CDs are selling so fast that record stores across the world are forced to close their doors for good. It seems the only people who are on-board with digital music are the ones building their online business using music and when we want to fill our iPod. Don’t get me wrong, digital music is a necessity these days, but it killed the thrill of getting our hands on our favorite artist’s latest album. I don’t know if you have ever had to wait for a physical album to be released, but it can be quite exciting to finally acquire it. Especially if you really love the artist and/or it’s a rare, hard-to-find edition. If you have never experienced that, you are definitely missing out. It’s much different than clicking the ‘download’ button.

Most of the talk surrounding the new music industry is all the cool things the latest web site or application can do. While I love the wow factor as much as the next guy, I say it’s time for the industry to stop experimenting with other people’s music and start focusing on what we know works. Streaming music and mp3′s are obviously not the answer, only a small and convenient addition to the overall experience. It’s no longer a full representation of the artist, but a stripped-down and cheapened version that is rarely special.

Hifidelics intends to change that. Perhaps the general population will care little and stick with digital as their preferred music format. However we believe what is needed is music in a high-quality physical format with artistic packaging designed by the musicians themselves, and a little help from their fans. Of course a cool, physical product is still not enough in the information age. Music fans need to feel a personal connection to cut through the chatter. By combining our crowdsourcing method and regular multimedia journal updates from the artist(s), we plan to fill that void and bring artists and fans together to complete and release a record worth talking about. If the project is a successful one, artists are actually paid a majority of profits. Not only do music fans acquire a rare, beautiful release they can hold in their hands, they are also actually helping support the artist at no risk. This is a win-win for everyone involved. We only hope that you are seeing how great this is as much as we are!

This post was originally published on the Hifidelics Blog.

Hifidelics – Crowdsourcing Vinyl Records

Filed under site news, updates

After roughly a year and a half of bootstrapping and slowly building, we are finally able to announce a soft (beta) launch of Hifidelics.What we have here is essentially an online record store built on top of a crowdsourcing platform. Our focus is to release limited edition, creative vinyl records from some of the freshest, up-and-coming talent. When I say ‘creative’ records, I mean something extra special in the packaging or the record itself. Here are a few examples of what we are aiming for:

Images courtesy of Dieline & United MFG.

To get the ball rolling, we are looking for bands/musicians with an upcoming release in mind, as well as, passionate music fans to be the first to test the waters. This will not make your participation any less important. There just may be a stumble or two along the way. Plus, we need to know what works for you and what does not. So if you’re passionate about music and records, and willing to give HIFIDELICS an honest try we would love for you to stop by. Registration is, of course, free. Originally we were planning on using an invite-only system for this stage, but in order for the site’s ecosystem to work properly it needs to be completely open.

Below I’ve included a brief rundown of what we are and how it works. We welcome any questions or concerns, so please feel free to hit us up: hifidelics@gmail.com

What Makes Us Different?

Hifidelics utilizes crowdsourcing/funding as part of the process and experience. So far the million dollar question has been, what makes us different from other similar platforms?

• A Different Goal – Although there will be funding goals for each release, our aim isn’t so much to help artists raise funds, but to create and provide a high-quality product of value from the artist.
• Creating an Experience – Not only is our focus on creative, physical music releases, but to help artists create an experience for their fans. Imagine being able to follow along with your favorite artist as he/she creates their album with video updates, photo shoots, fresh news and having a voice in the decision-making about the release. Plus, studies and trends have shown that bands (or brands) that engage and connect with their audience on a regular basis are far more successful in this digital economy. Hifidelics will supply the tools for artists to create this experience for their fans, and artists will be expected to provide the experience.
• No Dirty Work – We want artists to focus on communication and the creative side of their release. So we will handle the business side of the release, this includes but not limited to: manufacturing, pricing, production, distribution, shipping, professional design, etc.

There are many other differences in flow, function and features; but the important differences I mentioned above.

What is the Process?

So what does it take for an artist to go from idea to funding to production? Well, first you should know we’re only striving for the very best music with the most interesting packaging concepts. To help ensure this, we have put a voting algorithm in place that release projects must go through before the funding (or ‘pre-production’) period.

• Step One – Artist presents their concept/project with an introduction video, copy and photos.
• Step Two – Artist recruits and encourages their fans to vote on new release project. A certain number of votes will determine interest level.
• Step Three – Once artists’ votes nears the amount needed, a representative will begin pricing materials and manufacturing costs to produce (300) units. These costs will ultimately determine the per unit pricing. There is no flat pricing on Hifidelics. It’s strictly on a per release/project basis.
• Step Four – Now artists are in ‘pre-production’ mode. Once the minimum pre-order goal is reached, production will begin. Pre-order pricing remains in place for fans and supporters until album is complete. This is all-or-nothing funding, meaning if a release doesn’t meet the minimum order requirement (or its funding goals), it will not be released.
• Step Five – Once manufacturing and production is complete, available albums (any remaining that weren’t pre-ordered) will raise in price slightly. All pre-orders will begin to go out.

* Note: All releases will be limited to only (250) copies.  From those, (200) copies will be made available through the site.  (25) free copies will be given to the artist and the remaining (25) will be used by Hifidelics for promotions and reviews.

What We’re Looking for in an Artist

Yes, there is a certain ‘something’ we are looking for from artists and the music they release. That ‘something’ is pretty tough to describe, but I believe it real boils-down to whether or not an artist’s fans would interested in this sort of a release. With that in mind, this is what we’re looking for in artists:

• Of course, artists must be willing to participate, as mentioned listed above (journal updates, etc.)
• All music must loosely fall into one of these three genres: Rock, Hiphop and Electronic.
• We’re not looking for just good music, we’re looking for something unique, daring and great.
• Artists must be in, at the very least, the planning stages of a new release, and have a concept in mind. (We will have a professional designer assist you)
• Must have songs prepared.  Artists are responsible for their own recordings (it’s not part of the funding).
• An online presence & self-promotion is a must.

Terms in a Nutshell

I’m not going to bore you with all the legal speak until the site and the artist/label is ready, but here are a few important terms artists and labels should know:

• Payment – There is a 60/40 split for album sales. Artists receive 60% of profits and (25) free copies of their album after production costs, but before operation and labor costs. In other words, once an album’s production and manufacturing costs are covered the artist is paid 60% of everything after that. The remaining 40% of sales goes to Hifidelics to cover a number of additional operation fees (ie: professional album design, promotion, processing fees, etc.)
• Label Partnerships – We are also very open to record label partnerships on releases. Although not much would change, as far as, the process and payment goes; Hifidelics can be very useful in that limited, collectors edition of an album (CD/Digital) already planned for release. It can also be useful in gaining traction on a label’s main release by using our service first. Of course any partnership will also include label’s branding, etc.
• Music Ownership – The artist/label will retain all their legal ownership rights for the music. However, in order to keep the release special, the format & packaging used through Hifidelics shall not be reproduced (by the artist, label or even ‘Hifidelics’).

Of course with all things new, there is some wiggle room and we’re always open to suggestions and constructive criticism. So if you notice something that you feel disqualifies you from using the service, please let us know and we can try to work with you.

If you’re a musician considering giving Hifidelics a go, here are a few links/articles to help you prepare your campaign:

How to Prepare for Hifidelics
Vinyl Options on Hifidelics
Inspiration for Vinyl Packaging & Design
Crowdfunding for Musicians Blog Series

This Week in Music Start Ups – Episode 1

Filed under industry, technology, trends

I’m actually getting this up a bit late, but this past Saturday Mark Carras, of RockMyMonkey and FanUprising, and I did our first podcast on emerging music start ups. In this episode we talk about Nimbit’s series A funding; DropTunes’ free service vs. Amazon’s; what exactly is Plugola and what FanUprising can do to attract future investors.

Listen to the podcast HERE:
TWIMS – This Week in Music Start-Ups – April23rd by epeterson

Blog Series – Crowdfunding

Filed under industry, marketing, musicians, technology

As we’re preparing for the launch of Hifidelics, I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to prepare for ‘crowdfunding’ and what you can expect from your own campaign. I’ve talked to several artists who have taken project the crowdfunding route and all have basically told me that it’s not exactly what most people expect going into it. It requires planning, focus and determination; pretty much like anything else. There are a lot of musicians who would love to give crowdfunding a go, but are not quite sure where to begin. So instead of giving you how-to’s from someone who theoretically knows how it operates, I thought it would be an even better idea to present you some tips and stories directly from the front lines.

In cooperation with our friends at MicControl, we are presenting a Blog Series devoted entirely to crowdfunding for musicians. However, this means we would need some volunteers who would be willing to do a blog post about their experiences. Whether you had success or didn’t quite reach your goal, we want to hear about what worked for you and what did not work. Such topics can include(but not limited to); how you put your presentation video together, how you promoted yourself, campaign planning or if you want to tell us about the full experience, that’s fine too. Really, we’re looking for anything you believe is important for other musicians to know before they get involved. Of course, your participation will include full credit to you and a link back to your site.

The concept of this series is to provide independent musicians with the knowledge on a (hopefully) weekly basis to launch their own crowdfunding campaign. So this series is in front of as much eyes as possible, we couldn’t think of a better place than MicControl’s quick growing community of ambitious, knowledge-hungry artists and music business professionals to present this to. Please submit all inquiries/submissions to: hifidelics@gmail.com

Hifidelics Beta Launch Delay

Filed under site news

As some of you already know, the beta launch for Hifidelics has been temporarily delayed. It’s nothing too serious, we just ran into some issues on the programming side of things. I’ve known about this for a while now, but I didn’t want to make anything public until I was feeling confident that we were on the right path again. If I’ve learned anything from developing web sites over the past several years is that, anything can go wrong at any time. It’s hard to figure “Murphy’s Law” into planning, because you never know when or how hard it will hit – only that you know it’s coming. As I mention in our Facebook announcement:

I apologize to those of you I got all hyped up, then dropped this on you. It truly was out of hands & I did everything I could to keep the launch date.

Nevertheless, we are back on track and nearing a new launch date.  I don’t have an exact date quite yet, but we’re looking at the beginning of April now. At that time we will begin helping artists set-up their account and projects before officially opening the doors. In the meantime, if you would like to be kept up-to-date with announcements and specials from Hifidelics, please register for our mailing list.

If you’re unfamiliar with Hifidelics, here are a few past posts that should explain everything:

What is Hifidelics & the Musicians We’re Looking For
How Hifidelics Works for Musicians & Record Labels
How to Prepare Your Project/Campaign for Hifidelics