Some Questions, Some Answers...

Posts: 173
From: Columbia, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 04-15-2000 02:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Sean Fenlon        Edit/Delete Message

Now that I’m getting a chance to read through the boards, I’m starting to see a recurring question…

What’s taking so long?!

and

i.e. Where’s the Publishing Contract

As you all know, the publishing contract will be an integral component to our “revenue sharing” system. Although preparing publishing contract does not take a significant amount of time – even with the added twists we will be adding – there are certain issues that we must address, otherwise the publishing contract would become useless. Aside from a few tweaks, and the usual “word smithing,” the publishing contract language is almost entirely completed. Nonetheless, we absolutely must take care of the critical issues before executing it. The issues include:

Accounting
It is a genuine time-consuming process to create a completely new accounting system that can balance traditional royalty payments, with CDs/Merchandise sale royalties, with advertising revenue distributions, all down to the penny. Obviously, this is not a package we could buy “off the shelf,” and thus we have been developing the system from the ground up.

Security Tracking
A significant amount of time and effort has gone into insuring that our system for revenue sharing based on downloads is not abused. We will be using four methods to secure the system and prevent abuse, including IP tracking, cookies, unique email addresses (which should explain why we require this function), and a secret method devised by a world-class hacker. All these components will generate a security tracking authorization code for each and every download. Although robust, it too has been extremely time consuming to implement.

Staffing
We currently have a staff of 10. Compare that to MP3.com with a staff of 264! We are bringing on new folks as quickly as we can, but the whole screening/hiring process is quite time consuming. Important additions to our staff will be the music publishing/artist support staff. Again, without these folk, the music publishing contract would be meaningless.

SyncSmart.com & SmartAandR.com
An important component for our ability to maximize the promotion and royalty-earning potential of our catalog comes from our two B2B sister sites. Although, much less extensive than ListenSmart.com, these sites take time to develop to level that a music industry professional would feel comfortable using.

CD Production
We are definitely committed to offering the most flexible and highest quality on-demand CD fulfillment system. Although the majority of hardware is in place and the majority of the interface is developed, it is taking time to aggregate all the options necessary for labels, and also red-book to red-book burns.

We could’ve waited until all these issues had been completed before we even “soft launched,” however, it was a strategic move to release our “beta” site so that we could get a feel for the strength/limitations of the site as well as invoke artist feedback as we put the finishing touches upon it.

So, why won’t you given us a specific date/time frame?

Well, the honest answer is that no one could credibly predict the amount of time necessary to sufficiently complete all the tasks that are required, because – quite frankly – it’s never been done before. So it has been my position all along to not make any promise that I cannot confidently keep. I know that this has happened in the online music community before with devastating effects to credibility.

I know it’s frustrating. Please believe me when I tell you that no one is more anxious to put all these components in place than I am. At this time, however, I still prefer to keep everyone posted as to our development cycle, and not promise any date until I am 100% confident that we will meet our promise.

Ultimately, I hope that it is apparent that I see music publishing rights as EXTREMELY valuable, and something that should not be handled in folly. To that end, unless we can confidently demonstrate our capacity to responsibly and effectively maximize the royalty-earning potential of a music publishing catalog, I could never in good conscience ask an artist to sign such a contract.

Why are there no banner ads yet?

I noticed a thread on this topic and read it with a great bit of interest. Although we have advertisers lined up and we were prepared to display various banner ads from day one, it was my decision to NOT run the ads until we implemented the whole ad revenue sharing component. I wanted the artists to know that we were NOT earning money on their back while we finishing up our “beta” development.

I then notice that KennyLee posted that he would be much more comfortable to see the ads, and to have the ad revenue that is generated be shared 50/50 retroactively. In other words, from day one of the “revenue sharing” roll-out, there would be money in the pot.

To be honest, this is a great idea, and one I hadn’t even considered. Thus, unless the community at-large has an objection to this, we can begin delivering advertising right away. Sound off if you feel strongly one way or another.

Until the next update…

Best regards,

Sean

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Posts: 241
From: Corona Del Mar, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-15-2000 03:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for RhythmStar        Edit/Delete Message

My vote is to go ahead and start taking revenue. Every day of delay is another day of lost revenue, 50% of which belongs (according to your Righteous Plan) to the (revenue-sharing) artists. So, don't leave money on the table!

RS

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Bill House

[This message has been edited by RhythmStar (edited 04-15-2000).]

Posts: 544
From: San Francisco, California
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-15-2000 03:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Holy Zoo        Edit/Delete Message

quote:

---

I then notice that KennyLee posted that he would be much more comfortable to see the ads, and to have the ad revenue that is generated be shared 50/50 retroactively. In other words, from day one of the “revenue sharing” roll-out, there would be money in the pot.

To be honest, this is a great idea, and one I hadn’t even considered. Thus, unless the community at-large has an objection to this, we can begin delivering advertising right away. Sound off if you feel strongly one way or another.

---

Sounds good to me. I can't think of a reason not to do it.

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  Holy Zoo
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Posts: 360
From: Union City CA. USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-15-2000 03:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hatchet Man        Edit/Delete Message

Advertising can be a positive thing. Hatchet Man says: Let's R- U- M- B- B-L-E !

This does not mean that Hatch will turn into Mr. Mellow! A little slack is a good thing but too much rope and they hang themselves. Not good!

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Posts: 539
From: coppell,texas u.s.a.
Registered: Mar 2000

Posts: 803
From: Bowling Green, KY, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-15-2000 04:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for KennyLee        Edit/Delete Message

[image not archived]

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Posts: 149
From: Durham, NC US
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-15-2000 06:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Artie J        Edit/Delete Message

This alone speaks volumes to me.

Start the meter running!

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listensmart/artiej

Posts: 337
From:
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-15-2000 07:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Andrew Hickey     Edit/Delete Message

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Posts: 3
From:
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 04-15-2000 10:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pfj     Edit/Delete Message

This is not meant to be a joke, by the way. No, just another exercise in futility.

Posts: 273
From: Tokyo, Japan
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-16-2000 08:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for JahNericMC        Edit/Delete Message

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listensmart.com/exiles
amp3.net/exiles
musicbuilder.com/exiles

Posts: 134
From: Montreal
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-16-2000 09:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for SaintHenry     Edit/Delete Message

The inclusion of ads at LS makes sense to me.

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www.listensmart.com/sainthenry

Posts: 337
From:
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 04-16-2000 11:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Andrew Hickey     Edit/Delete Message

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