Open innovation in independent music production like Innocentive.com or Kickstarter.com - Is it possible?

“Be your own artist, always be confident in what you are doing. If you are not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it” – Aretha Franklin.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. We all have an artistic itch inside us. If that wasn’t the case then there couldn’t have been platforms like Pinterest, Instagram or you wouldn’t have been bothered by Facebook page requests from your friends, colleagues or family members regarding the Facebook page or Youtube channel they recently started, showcasing their paintings, music videos or photographs. If there were no Youtube, stand-up comedians like Viswa Kalyan Rath or Kanan Gill couldn’t have become the rising stars, they are now. But for painting, photography or comedy, it’s more or less dependent on one thing. How strong is your itch? Your art form doesn’t require the help of others. But music is a totally different ball-game. The end product “song” is dependent on multiple “Actors” & “Factors”. If you are a promising singer, you need lyricist and a composer to publish your demo album which will cost you a lot (It takes 10K to arrange a recording studio only that too for one session – a demo album consists 15-20 songs recorded generally through 7+ sessions). You have to arrange recording studio, a platoon of musicians, a recording label and a platform to let others listen to your wonderful voice. And if that doesn’t happen, your voice will be limited to occasional house parties and the world will miss a talented vocalist! That’s why this industry is so competitive and if your creative “itch” is too strong, you may decide to leave everything and devote yourself to your passion riding on the minuscule probability of success. You will be labelled as “Struggler” like thousands alike you.

v  Solution:

Now the problem has been defined let’s go through a probable solution to this challenge. Essentially you will need people with the same creative mindset like you who are in agreement with your content, be it your guitar playing skill, your lyrics or your tune. What if there was a social networking site only for people like you. You might be asking well, there is Facebook right? Yes, there is Facebook and countless networking sites but among the billion users finding someone you want to have in your project is like finding a needle in haystack. Visualize the solution as “LinkedIn” for musicians where your resume is your musical talent. Your bio will portray your persona related to music like musical instrument you play, type of lyrics you like, type of songs you listen to, your favorite band etc. Depending on such choices of yours you will be suggested probable collaborators for your music project (similarly like the recruiters in “LinkedIn” find “applicants” – through “connections”). Think of it as the nexus of “LinkedIn” and “Tinder”. Once you send a request with your idea of music project for collaboration to your probable collaborators, they can either accept or reject. You can also chat with your probable collaborators letting them understand the potential of your project. Once you find the collaborators, work on your project and upload your finished work in the site itself. If it gets the nod of other musical minds present in the network in form of “Likes” and “Share” you, my friend, will be flooded with “connection” requests for collaborations from similar projects. Then you may create your own project or select one of the project requests. You can continue your 9-5 job and enjoy your creation with your collaborators at spare time. Below is the storyboard of the idea.

v  Assumptions:

Suggesting solutions is one thing but making it a reality needs a lot of assumptions and hypothesis validated.

·         Need Assumption:

People will be ready to discuss about their music project on an open platform like this.

·         Technology Assumption:

Matching collaborators on the basis of their profile is possible. Well this assumption is a valid one, as because there are too many websites and apps run by algorithm specifically doing the same thing.

·         Production Assumptions:

Creative people will be inclined join a social networking site with such specific agenda like music on the plate. (Although this assumption can be considered valid, otherwise “LinkedIn” couldn’t have been a thriving success, it has to be validated to make sure that such specific social networking site related to music can exist and reap the benefits of “Network” effect)

·         Commercial Assumption

Profit can be made through this in form of advertisements i.e music related entities will be interested in putting advertisements in the site.

Low-cost experiment:

Low-cost experiment for this idea needs to validate two most important assumption for the success of the solution.

Assumptions/Hypothesis tested:

1.       People will be ready to discuss about their music project on an open platform like this.

2.       Creative people will be inclined to join a social networking site with such specific agenda on the plate.

That’s why this low-cost experiment is also the “last experiment first” testing the “Leap of faith” assumption. For this I will create a specific page in the existing social media platform say Facebook and send requests to people with affinity towards music asking them to post their original work in the page. The page will be closed for others. This will replicate the environment of a closed group of music enthusiasts that the solution advocates and envisions. The page will also describe the objective of the solution in its “description”. As their profile would be visible to me, I’ll match them with probable collaborators that I may seem fit. I’ll participate in the act and upload some of my unfinished projects and ask others to collaborate in the same.

Measure of Success: Once the match is done, at the end of the day I’ll ask the participants about their matched “connections”/” friends” that whether they shared their thoughts on music or shared their ideas/work on music projects. This will be my “measure of success”. If the participants share their work and ask the matched person to collaborate, my second assumption will be tested and proved to be right. Willingness of the participants joining the page will test the second assumption that creative people will be inclined to join such exclusive network.

Cost of the experiment: Nothing

Prototype of the solution:

Wire-frames: There are 3 wire-frames. first one depicts the profile page of the site where details regarding the individual are shown. the next one lists the relevant projects the individual might be interested in. the third one shows mapping that algorithm has done to match the individual with people having similar projects and taste in music.