Gopherscout is a music streaming radio app that aims to help unsigned artists gain exposure by allowing users to discover, vote on, and share new music. It addresses the disparity between signed and unsigned artists caused by lack of exposure. Key features include high quality unsigned music, user voting/ratings, social sharing, and no fees for artists or users. The business model is initially free to gain traction, with possible future revenue from ads or optional artist fees. It differentiates from competitors by empowering users and focusing on passive music discovery through personalized radio-style streaming.
2. Problem
The disparity between undiscovered musicians and signed
artists on major record labels is huge. The one, single factor
causing this disparity is Exposure. Exposure = units sold.
There are two ways to gain exposure:
1. Signed with Record Label
• One in a Million shot
• A high level of exposure needed
2. Gorilla Online Marketing
• Book own shows
• Manage online presence (Youtube, Twitter, FB, etc)
• Record own albums (ex. Kickstarter artists)
3. Solution
The solution is Gopherscout. Gopherscout is a music radio app
that showcases unsigned musicians and empowers its
listeners to vote, critique, and share their discoveries with their
social networks. It is “Pandora meets American Idol”.
Gopherscout Features:
• High quality unsigned music
• User Voting (thumbs up and down)
• Gopherscore - (crowd-curated score; similar to a Klout score)
• Song attribute tagging
• User leveling up
• Social Integrated
• Sharing
• User Following
4. Business Model
Freemium Model
• Instagram route
• User traction and community is priority
• No charge to artists or users
Possible Revenue Streams (if needed/future)
• Video/Audio ads between songs
• Artist fees per upload
5. Business Model cont.
Copyright Hack
• Unlike signed artists, unsigned artists own their music
copyrights
• Upon registration, artists must agree to waive any royalty
payments for plays on Gopherscout
• Therefore, Gopherscout will not pay DMCA license fees
• Result: a Lean Operation and higher Operating Margin
• Artists join Gopherscout for Exposure, not sales
6. Market
Music Streaming Market
- Pandora and Spotify dominate the market
- Difficult to enter and differentiate
Competition
1. Direct
- Myspace, Reverbnation, and Youtube
- These sites host unsigned music, yet are organized as
libraries. They require users to actively search the
catalogues for unsigned music.
2. Indirect
- Pandora and Spotify
- These sites offer signed music, however still compete
with Gopherscout over “User Listening Time”.
7. Differentiation
Delivery Model
- Music consumption is a passive behavior. Users listen to
music while driving, working, exercising, cooking, etc.
- Therefore, Gopherscout will deliver music actively to user
(streaming radio) making music discovery second nature.
User Empowerment
- Voting makes a difference. It creates the Gopherscore, which
validates the song/artist’s quality.
- User opinion. Users can express the “why” behind their votes
by choosing musical attributes associated to the song.
- Music appreciation is re-imagined with Gopherscout.
Social Integration
- Sharing - Users can expose their music discoveries to their
social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc).
- Following - Users can follow each other and listen to music
other’s have “liked” (ex. Simon Cowell Gopherstation).
8. Team
Francis Galvez - Founder / CEO
Gopherscout is Francis’ brainchild. He is a natural artist
driven by passion, spirit, and the undiscovered. A
pragmatist who embraces the process of creative
destruction; iterate and rebuild. Francis is fueled, humbled,
and inspired by music.
Quentin Garcia - Co-founder
Quentin drives the artist experience and vision for
Gopherscout. An analytical rocker that lived the unsigned
life and understands the modern musician. Quentin eats,
breathes, and dreams music.
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