Comments on: Sonific http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/ Music culture, strategy and thinking in the digital age Sun, 20 May 2012 02:12:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Gerd Leonhard http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-795 Gerd Leonhard Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:11:03 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-795 Thanks for this discussion of Sonific. David (above): this is TOTALLY apples and oranges. Sounds like comparing intellectual property with physical property... which is also a very ill-fitting comparison. Music has a money value precisely BECAUSE it is becoming ubiquitous not despite of it - it's just that the value is no longer in the COPY but in ACCESS. Read www.muserati.com for my comments on this. I also disagree on Bruce's comment above: a music widget is very much a value proposition, on its own, as it affords free, viral 'attention getting' to artists and labels -- and that always comes BEFORE asking for money, or before offering something to SELL. Sonific also provides a more value than just technology - after all, we have aggregated almost 200.000 tracks ;) In a connected ecosystem, pre-viewing and 'tasting' via streaming media will be a crucial way of gaining fast traction for just about any kind of content. Yes, you can argue that nobody will buy a download if they can listen to a track on-demand over and over again, but that is like seeing people won't go to a movie theatre if they can watch something on TV or use their VCRs to record it. Or people won't buy books if they can xerox them. It's simply about convenience, added value, and ease of use, period! Finally, I wanted to share this update with you: Sonific just launched the much reqiested playlist tools yesterday - now our users can use any of our 200.000 tracks to create fully interactive, full-length track playlists of up to 25 songs. http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/07082007/250/sonific-com-launches-playlists-its-songspots-tm-music-widgets-users.html has more details. Sonify the web!!! Thanks for this discussion of Sonific.

David (above): this is TOTALLY apples and oranges. Sounds like comparing intellectual property with physical property… which is also a very ill-fitting comparison. Music has a money value precisely BECAUSE it is becoming ubiquitous not despite of it – it’s just that the value is no longer in the COPY but in ACCESS. Read http://www.muserati.com for my comments on this.

I also disagree on Bruce’s comment above: a music widget is very much a value proposition, on its own, as it affords free, viral ‘attention getting’ to artists and labels — and that always comes BEFORE asking for money, or before offering something to SELL. Sonific also provides a more value than just technology – after all, we have aggregated almost 200.000 tracks ;)

In a connected ecosystem, pre-viewing and ‘tasting’ via streaming media will be a crucial way of gaining fast traction for just about any kind of content. Yes, you can argue that nobody will buy a download if they can listen to a track on-demand over and over again, but that is like seeing people won’t go to a movie theatre if they can watch something on TV or use their VCRs to record it. Or people won’t buy books if they can xerox them. It’s simply about convenience, added value, and ease of use, period!

Finally, I wanted to share this update with you:

Sonific just launched the much reqiested playlist tools yesterday – now our users can use any of our 200.000 tracks to create fully interactive, full-length track playlists of up to 25 songs.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/07082007/250/sonific-com-launches-playlists-its-songspots-tm-music-widgets-users.html has more details.

Sonify the web!!!

]]> By: Matt @ Kurb NZ http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-788 Matt @ Kurb NZ Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:33:31 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-788 Admittedly I find most of my new music off other peoples myspace players now. but It's a real turn off when players are all going off and clashing on bands pages though. I liked the idea of the bebo player - on myspace it's just one song (tough choice) - bebo you can keep collecting and adding to your paylist. Admittedly I find most of my new music off other peoples myspace players now. but It’s a real turn off when players are all going off and clashing on bands pages though. I liked the idea of the bebo player – on myspace it’s just one song (tough choice) – bebo you can keep collecting and adding to your paylist.

]]> By: Darren Landrum http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-789 Darren Landrum Tue, 10 Jul 2007 03:28:05 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-789 I went and checked out SONGboost, found the blog, and read this very interesting post: http://songboost.blogspot.com/2007/03/steak-tips-versus-candy-bars.html Well, I thought it was very interesting, anyway. I just thought I'd see what others thought. I went and checked out SONGboost, found the blog, and read this very interesting post:

http://songboost.blogspot.com/2007/03/steak-tips-versus-candy-bars.html

Well, I thought it was very interesting, anyway. I just thought I’d see what others thought.

]]> By: Bruce Warila http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-793 Bruce Warila Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:20:31 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-793 My company, SONGboost, developed a single-song player about a year ago. We call our song player a SONGshot. I won’t get into the technical merits of our product, or dwell on the fact that platform acceptance is a foregone conclusion for almost any widget developed in Flash. No, the only thing that really matters is your value proposition. Sonific’s value proposition when you get right down to it is – we give you technology (period). There are lots of small companies that offer free technology for playing music. If you are an artist, look for products and services that will invest money and time to get you noticed. We put our free products into the marketplace to serve as our virtual A&R department. When we see measurable activity and hear something we like, we make a non-exclusive offer to invest money into your song. Over the next six months, we are planning to dramatically expand both the technical and the promotional opportunities we offer artists. There is lots of room in the industry for healthy competition between companies offering services to artists. However, a widget is not a value proposition, but an offer to invest in your song certainly is. My company, SONGboost, developed a single-song player about a year ago. We call our song player a SONGshot. I won’t get into the technical merits of our product, or dwell on the fact that platform acceptance is a foregone conclusion for almost any widget developed in Flash. No, the only thing that really matters is your value proposition. Sonific’s value proposition when you get right down to it is – we give you technology (period). There are lots of small companies that offer free technology for playing music. If you are an artist, look for products and services that will invest money and time to get you noticed. We put our free products into the marketplace to serve as our virtual A&R department. When we see measurable activity and hear something we like, we make a non-exclusive offer to invest money into your song. Over the next six months, we are planning to dramatically expand both the technical and the promotional opportunities we offer artists. There is lots of room in the industry for healthy competition between companies offering services to artists. However, a widget is not a value proposition, but an offer to invest in your song certainly is.

]]> By: David http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-794 David Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:41:55 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-794 This is a great idea, but.... By streaming a whole track I am not surprised there is only a 10% click through. If you like the song you can continue to listen to it at anytime via the widget. I agree to a certain extent with regards to full track vs 30 second clip. I am sure users prefer this. If you asked people in the waiting in line at Starbucks if they would like to try a small chunk of a new muffin or take a whole one for free, what do you think they would say? I realize that people aren't buying a lot of music online. Thats not a reason to give up. We should make it easier for them. The click through page seems to be more weighted towards promoting Sonific rather than the artist in question. In order for the user to buy any music there is yet another click required to take you to Amazon (in the case of the songspot in the article). I have great respect for Gerd Leonhard he has written a great deal of truth on the music industry. I think an integrated way to pay for the music (as in the indiestore.com widget) is something that should be added. The "music like water" may\should come but it isn't here yet. I am not trying to put the genie back in the bottle here but its important that we send out the message that music HAS a monetary value. I will read with interest your interview with another widget maker in this space. Just to preempt any flaming. I am not a major record label employee or an employee of a competitor in this space. I am an indie music manager looking out for musicians and ensuring they are equitably paid for their work. This is a great idea, but….

By streaming a whole track I am not surprised there is only a 10% click through. If you like the song you can continue to listen to it at anytime via the widget.

I agree to a certain extent with regards to full track vs 30 second clip. I am sure users prefer this. If you asked people in the waiting in line at Starbucks if they would like to try a small chunk of a new muffin or take a whole one for free, what do you think they would say?

I realize that people aren’t buying a lot of music online. Thats not a reason to give up. We should make it easier for them.

The click through page seems to be more weighted towards promoting Sonific rather than the artist in question.

In order for the user to buy any music there is yet another click required to take you to Amazon (in the case of the songspot in the article).

I have great respect for Gerd Leonhard he has written a great deal of truth on the music industry.

I think an integrated way to pay for the music (as in the indiestore.com widget) is something that should be added.

The “music like water” may\should come but it isn’t here yet. I am not trying to put the genie back in the bottle here but its important that we send out the message that music HAS a monetary value.

I will read with interest your interview with another widget maker in this space.

Just to preempt any flaming. I am not a major record label employee or an employee of a competitor in this space. I am an indie music manager looking out for musicians and ensuring they are equitably paid for their work.

]]> By: Tomp http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-790 Tomp Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:41:32 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-790 I'm interested to know of the streaming royalty implications as this is full-track on demand listening. Do Sonific have to pay a royalty everytime someone listens to a track in full? How does that impact on the business, if only 10% are clicking through to 'find out more', let alone actually completing to checkout. Not criticising, just want to know more! thanks I’m interested to know of the streaming royalty implications as this is full-track on demand listening. Do Sonific have to pay a royalty everytime someone listens to a track in full? How does that impact on the business, if only 10% are clicking through to ‘find out more’, let alone actually completing to checkout. Not criticising, just want to know more! thanks

]]> By: Vincent http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-792 Vincent Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:40:51 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-792 Thanks for making us aware of this. This is exactly the type of service, I've been looking for since the beginning of time. Thanks for making us aware of this. This is exactly the type of service, I’ve been looking for since the beginning of time.

]]> By: Robert http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/comment-page-1/#comment-791 Robert Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:22:48 +0000 http://newmusicstrategies.com/2007/07/04/sonific/#comment-791 The "songspot" player would be even more interesting if it was based on playlists, not single songs. We searched for a versatile, good looking player for our band website planetakis.com and liked the embeddable imeem playlist player most. Imeem.com also offers nice single song and video players with a neat and clean design and detailed statistics for each item. Also Last.fm did a very good job on their player widget. The “songspot” player would be even more interesting if it was based on playlists, not single songs. We searched for a versatile, good looking player for our band website planetakis.com and liked the embeddable imeem playlist player most. Imeem.com also offers nice single song and video players with a neat and clean design and detailed statistics for each item. Also Last.fm did a very good job on their player widget.

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