Utterly B Groovy_

28 April 2008

How To Be Noticed on Sellaband

I was approached by Taff asking on my thoughts on getting noticed within SAB ... actually for Rohksan Heydari - you know what, I quite like her stuff too. :-)

Active:

It's a puzzler this one. Why should it matter that an Artist is "active" on the forum, etc - you either like their music or you don't! That said, the punters (that's you and me!) seem to like the Artists that make a nuisance of themselves more that those that don't.

I guess it's just a matter of seeing their name often ...

So, as an Artist you should start to read the Forum and comment on issues. Don't slag anyone off or be too contentious though - obviously!

That said, there's only a _very_ small percentage of the Believers who are active on the forum, so whilst it's a good idea, it's not really going to make that much difference on its own.

Gigging:

If you're gigging regularly that is a GOOD thing regardless, but especially so if you can film it, or better yet, stream it. Find a venue with a webcam (eg The Bedford, in Balham) and advertise the gig on the Forum.

I see there's a Guildford gig in there too. Hmmmm.

Might be a laugh to try teaming up with other SAB Acts in the area (assuming she's sort of based Sarf london!) ... Natalie Ross plays in Guildford too - but she's more blues, still might make an interesting mix for an evening!

Commercial:

The problem here is that "commercial" is more a personal preference thing. For example, I can't stand jazz. Jazz screws you up. Just say NO! Other people obviously like it, but that's just because they don't know any better ;-)

There are Artists on SAB who've done well who I rate very low on the "commercial" scale ... but good luck to 'em you know! If they can get the $50K I don't see it as taking $$$'s from Artists I do like 'cos SAB isn't a competition, it's a journey (that's a bit trite and cliched but true none-the-less!).

If you like an Artist you can't imagine how anyone else, indeed how everyone else, won't like them too, but tastes differ.

Collaberations:

I'm not that big a fan of all the collaberation projects that go on on SAB, BUT it's another way of being seen by more people. It's not for everyone, and you probably need access to a Home Studio to join in in any meaningful way ... but if you can join in a collaberation it certainly won't hurt!

Weekly Chart: [link]

If you can arrange with your Believers to have a charge just after the Weekly Chart is zeroed (sometime on Tuesdays - mid day CET ?), that's a good way to get noticed too.

Tribune:

Contact JohanV and try and get an interview in the Tribune, or something. Again, not _that_ many read it, but it's just about getting noticed.

Team <Insert Artist's Nickname Here>:

I'm in two minds about this sort of thing really. I'm not so keen on all the "Extra Special Parts Offer" posts in the forum, and yet having a few people who are in your team can get you mentioned in forum threads, and elsewhere on the net too (myFaceSpaceBox, etc).

24 April 2008

Could/Should Sellaband Market/Promote Their Artists

Wow - two Blog posts in one day! Maybe I should add a time to the date!

The same thread as below has one Believer asking whether ... hey, let's just cut and paste the question :-

I believe that the 'Sellaband' brand will be much stronger if the Sellaband artist is well known and successful outside of SAB:

So, are you willing to substantially promote and market 50K artists to the rest of the world - not just within the Sellaband community?

You probably don't want me to answer this, but some points to consider.

I agree whole-heartedly that SAB will be more of a success if/when a SAB $50K Artist makes it in the real world, but there are a few problems to iron out first ...

1) The Promotion/Marketing Budget

Where is this money going to come from? The $50K is pretty much all spent on the recording. Even if it wasn't, $50K isn't really much of a Promo/Marketing budget if taken in its entirety.

I guess this is where the hook-up with "Sponsors" comes into play, and, IMHO [;-)], the only place where such a budget could be sensibly raised, if the sponsors are willing!

2) Promotion/Marketing Budget Allocation

Assuming you can get a budget, how do you allocate it amongst the SAB Artists?

    Limit it to just the $50K Artists?

    Limit it to just the Artists with albums out?

What about Artist who move into the group after the initial allocation (eg someone just gets $50K, or just releases an album - do they get a share, and if so, do all the existing Budgeted Artists give up a portion to fund the newcomer?).

Once you decide upon a group to promote/market, do you split the money equally, or perhaps make a personal value judgement on which of the available Artists has the best chance to succeed?

24 April 2008

The Curse Of The Sellabandoliers

Kind of off the back of Dreb, from Sheet Metal's rather unassuming forum post entitled : I DEMAND ANSWERS FROM SAB HQ!!!!!

It's an interesting quandary: You want the Artists and Believers to "buy in" to the whole Sellaband ethos, to become Sellabandoliers even, but part of that is almost inevitably going to result in _us_ (the Believers, the Artists) getting _too_ involved and, as has been the case, claiming ownership in one form or another. I guess the "You Are The Record Company" slogan being used by SoMe (mentioning no NaMeS ;-)) to try and cause trouble doesn't help, but it IS a cracking slogan and it would be real shame if SAB were forced/coerced into having to change it.

A tough balancing act to achieve for sure!

But, to the people (mostly PeRsOn) who keeps coming back to this point, a word in your shell-like ... YOU ARE NOT THE RECORD COMPANY! Sheeze people! It's a just a slogan - you can't rob a post office then say you're allowed to because you're wearing Nike trainers and they say "Just Do It"! - you can't demand to see the accounts, or demand pension rights!

It's a great slogan, but it's just a slogan - GET OVER IT!

If you could count up the number of requests, and indeed demands, for changes to "Sellaband" (and by "Sellaband" I mean the website, the T&C's, the whole shebang) from the forum I would guess they would count up to a V. high number. There is NO WAY that all these requests, or arrogant demands, can be met - and certainly not from a small, relatively new, company.

This is before we even consider that some of the requests/demands might not be sensible, or legal, or fit in with Sellaband's own plans -

for example, assuming there's a big re-write planned for the website and someone makes a suggestion to improve the Forum. If SAB have plans to replace the whole site, why would they expend energy to improve something that is going to be replaced?

- OK, so we can understand how not every request can be met, and not every request should be met, so there are going to be a lot of disappointed back-seat designers asking for changes in the Forum! The more you demand changes the more upset you will become if they aren't delivered!

When I make suggestions (unless there's already a thread about it and I just want to flap my gums! *cough*), I tend to email info@sellaband.com. I don't expect a response and I don't expect it to be implemented, but I feel I have at least tried to help by giving my opinion, and exercising my, often inflated, belief in my own ideas.

19 April 2008

Son-of-Sellaband

Everyone's got ideas about what Sellaband should become and there are a myriad of forum threads (that we can't search!) with these ideas repeated ad nauseam - so I'm opening my own section in my Blog Area with my thoughts on the subject - scroll down to the bottom to find my thoughts and cogitations ... and do tell me if you think I'm talking rubbish! :-)

10 April 2008

16 March 2008

Papa George - A Blues Hero

I've mentioned Papa George before, on the forums, but I just found a youTube clip of him playing at the RamJam Club in Kingston with Alan Glen (Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero) and just wanted to share ...

     Blackjack

UBG's Almost Legendary Tribune Chatroom News Roundup
11 March 2008

Somehow I got stuck in my very own copy of this chatroom ... spooky!

Well I guess we might get a few more people in the TribChat this week - now Kaitee Page isn't ruining it for everyone by hitting $50K! The nerve of the girl!

I'll be in and out most of the day ... as work allows ... but I'll be in there for defo when the 73rd Tribune appears!

... any other news ?

Well, Dan WM is rapidly approaching the Amazon $30K mark with only 60 'something' Parts to go ;-)
... could we get him there soon enough to get a mention in this Tribune? Maybe a bit of a tall order ;-)
[OK OK ... I know ... Dan this, Dan that - I like him alright! When you post something you can pick your own favourites! - and he is in the No1 Slot (if you'll pardon the expression)]
::STOP PRESS::
To clarify, there really is no press - I just type this shit in!
Dan's made it - $31,000 including the Amazon 100 Parts!

Isn't it great to have Alexx and the Nearfield boys back in town eh! He's not far from the Amazon top-up and that's gotta be the next 'event'!
Also, a great idea from Jelle where Alexx has setup a Believer Profile for Nearfield Believers - you gift Parts to the NearfieldFunCrew (Hubman) and Alexx keeps a record of who gifted what - the leCDs are then sold at Nearfield gigs and you are credited back with anonymous Gift Parts when they are sold, and with your share of any advertising, download, and rCD sales.
Check out the forum thread about it for more info!

What can I say about Tiff and her tireless team - pushed past the half-way mark - collabs with Nearfield, Dandelium and that beatiful collab with Caya.

Great to see Lucia Iman passing the halfway mark too (and 688 Believers!) - it won't be long before you'll need $25K+ just to be on the first page - it's already a $20K club! Shame I missed the "back stage" video with N'Kenge that DaveTI put up - I thought I'd be able to dip in and watch one every day or so.

Those wonderful So What boys are heading for the halfway mark - are they really known as The Dutch Busted? (OK ... No, they're not - I just made that up!)
Closely followed by Radius, Wetwerks, and Angie. These guys are going to have a right royal tussle for the top slot at some point!

Ellie Williams is continuing to storm up the charts - first page now, $21K and climbing ... speaking of which, I understand Francis Rodino and the boys can't make Storm ... that's a bummer!

Last on the front page are the Radio Orange folks. They arrived in a hurricane of investment a year or so ago and have since been quietly doing their thing - just passing the $20K mark and definately heading for the top with their classy songs and arrangements.

... and in other news ... a cat stuck up a tree caused traffic problems on the B2376 ...

Maitreya's release party was an unmitigated disaster (not really - sheez, can't you people take a joke!) because the fool of a boy decided to organise it for a day that UBG couldn't make it. Everyone was heard to say "Where's UBG?" - other than that I hear it was pretty good actually. For me, this is the one that got away, both the leCD and the party, though me and Skanky were otherwise engaged learning how to work Sheep dogs up in Yorkshire, then a most excellent play, Abigail's Party, put on by The Dewsbury Arts Group - an amateur production but you really wouldn't know it!

Kaitee Page is gonna change her name - well, the name for her Artist Profile anyway.
   Arcane Tryst
   Moontryst
... and other suggestions ...
Obviously, being quite old I fear change, but as long as I can still be known by my real name ... er ... oh. OK.

Those wonderful Francis Rodino fellas have decided to pull the plug on their second SAB Profile for the time being. Quite interesting to be hearing how much work it is taking to record the album - we only really glimpsed this from the other recorded Artists in that it took such a long time. I guess not being a muso means you simply have no idea of the process(es)!
Oh yes ... I got my Sellabration Guitar from Fran at the Ginglik gig - it makes my wrist ache, but apparently that will ease up and become more flexible as I practice - I did have a stab at tuning it, which, I have on good authority, is more than many can manage :-)

... and the new SAB Collab Profile is all sounding pretty interesting too! Great idea and looking forward to seeing how it works out ... could I suggest having links from the Profile to the important threads in the forum?
    Open For Business ...
    SAB Collab Project ...

We touched on those wonderful folks at Amazon UK earlier - on the second page (currently) of Sellaband Artists at Amazon UK there's some band called Empirical with a self titled album (ie called "Empirical") ... anyone know who they are?

I think the least said about my "DWM Parts Swap" the better - it appears to be about as popular as a fart in a space-suit (actually, maybe not as bad as you might think if it is your own)! Was it that the rules are too complicated (I don't think so) or that everyone who likes Dan (oh there he goes again ... Dan this Dan that ... he loves Dan - UBG loves Da-an UBG loves Da-an) already has Believed except the WishListers, but they don't visit SAB enough to read the forum?
Any chance we could get a list of the Dan WishListers?

     OK ... I'll get my coat.

UBG's DMW Parts Swap :-

[See Also Forum Thread]

As some of you may know, I printed off a few Dan Ward-Murphy Gift Parts to take along to The Bedford gig last night but there wasn't really an opportunity to try and hawk them around the room. I can't really just hang on the them 'till the next gig as they have only a month to run from 4th March ... so ... (wait for it) ...

UBG's Parts Swap Bonanza :-
    I have 5 Gift Parts for Dan Ward-Murphy and I will swap each of those DWM-GPs for a Gift Part in some other Artist ...
    Please don't just Gift Part me, as there are some rules ...
    1a) YOU: Must be someone who doesn't already have Parts in Dan (though you may already have him Wishlisted)
    1b) You may nominate someone other than yourself to receive the DWM-GP, but they must not already be a DWM Believer. - we could even form a GP-Chain :-)
    2) The Artist you want to send me a Gift Part for must be an Artist I don't already support.
    3) I will a accept nominations from Believers and select which Artists I wish to swap the DWM-GPs for having listened to all the candidates.

So YOU get a Part in DWM, and get to promote one (or more) of your own favourites and I get introduced to a bunch more Artists
Dan gets five more Parts and five more Believers
Five other Artists get a Part each and one more Believer each.

My GPs expire one month from yesterday (when all my troubles seemed so far away) ...

   Please Nominate Your Artists In This Thread

The Orchard Feb 28th 2008 @ Ginglik

Cracking gig at Ginglik last night - Julia was/is unwell so Second Person didn't play (get well soon Julia!) so Maitreya stepped up and did a set - a real treat!

Dan Ward-Murphy kicked off proceedings - the two new songs, Queen of Something New and My Beautiful Predicament, are excellent and the drummer brings a whole new dimension to the songs. He's defo another keeper!

Kaitee up next - another great gig from her - shame she couldn't hang around afterwards to chat but having just got back from the US I expect she needed to catch some ZZzzzzzzz's.

Fran and the boys did their usual "consumate entertainer" thang - I do love seeing them in their natural habitat. Francis presented me with my guitar which has been signed by a host of different SAB Artists, including Cubworld, and the folks who were at Sellabration last summer - nice to finally get my hands on it! Maitreya joined them at the end for their Burn collab, then took over the stage to end the night on the mic jamming - Fran, Nik and Allan joining in the fun.

    A great evening in an interesting venue.

Sellagig Feb 1st 2008 @ Storm

First off I have to apologise as it would appear that Drunk B. Groovy may have turned up instead of me. He's an affable sort of chap but does tend to go around hugging everyone. It's kind of embarrasing!

Dateline: The Chandos

Well, I arrived at 6:30 (slightly earlier, but who's counting!). Picked up two pints of the most excellent Old Brewery bitter (why queue up twice eh!) and hung around until a couple of others turned up too - Martin esp. waiting for Isca to show with his ticket!

Moving over to Storm just in time to catch the last few songs from Lucky Horse who kicked off the evening, and first on is always going to be tough. I missed the start (Mmmmm. Old Brewery!) but what I heard I thought was great. Well crafted songs, great harmonies, love the banjo sound too.

Rebecka Haak took over with her excellent accompanying violin (Rebecca) and cello (Marie) - does everyone have cellos on Sellaband? DanWM has one (Milo - and it's his birthday very soon!), Francis is, I believe, a cellist, and I think one of the So What lads is too! Again, tremendous songs and a wonderfully confident and professional delivery from the whole ensemble.

Sure hope you girls are having a ball in London!

Next up is that Kaitee Page (is that the right number of a's, i's, and e's?). Do not be under any illusion that Ms Page is anything other than a rock-chick! I was totally blown away by her band who totally set the scene for the rest of the evening. This is a live act well worth catching when you get the chance!

Sheet Metal then turn up the wick to 11 when they come on next. Third time I've seen them and they were brilliant again. They play that Rock, the Classic Heavy Metal that maybe doesn't appeal to so many people, but they do it oh so well. Definately another excellent live performance!

Last up was that happy-go-lucky head-in-the-clouds bunch from Mau'Dib And The Awakening. The sound level returned to '10', but the funk-o-meter was off the scale, and I suspect there will be funk-aftershocks for weeks to come in and around Leicester Square. They should carry a Funk Warning: This Band May Contain Funk!  (which, incidentaly, would be a great name for an album!)

Now as some of you may know, I'm not really a funker. Whilst I do like to funk on occasions it's not something I would normally go looking for. So, whilst not exactly a funkophobe, I'd have to say they were simply excellent! Definately headline quality, 100% prime funk!

Another band to defo catch live but please take precautions if you have a funk allergy as you may not get out alive!

So, what could possibly top it off then eh?

Maitreya's in the house! He only steps up on stage (where was security I hear you ask!) and raps - is it called 'free styling' or am I just showing my age, and why does young people's music have to be so loud! So fast and fluid it's hard enough to keep up from the 'ear' end, let alone how he get's his mouth to run so fast!

You can see them working on stage - LIVE - right there in front of you. Maitreya and MDATA melding into one. Each giving space to the other to do their thang, looking for (and leaving) the gaps to spit lyrics or ignite a guitar.

We all know I don't like "rap", but I do like Maitreya, and now we all know that I'm not a Funkophile, but I do like Mua'Dib, and seeing the two together - totally unrehearsed - well, it was like watching magicians at play as I just ended up wondering how the hell they do it?

Great to see all the usual faces too, and a BIG THANK YOU to Dreb for organising it. It must be quite a stressful thing to organise something like this - Kudos my friend!

Songs from Soho 6th Oct 2007

Dan Ward-Murphy Saturday 6th October @ The Dean Street Studios

Another great idea - get yourself into a studio and record a bunch of your tracks in front of a live audience. Better yet, because the Live Audience pays for the privilege (and make no mistake about it, it was a privilege to be there!) and therefore helps offset the cost of the studio time!

Fast Forward to Sat 6th at 7pm (actually, a little after, but who's counting) when the doors open and the SAB faithful stream in like an invading army bent on conquest ... er ... actually quite an ordered and well mannered stroll downstairs to be greeted by Anna WM and a "Welcome Pack".

Wine and nibbles vs talking bollocks ensues as the fans gather.

All very civilised.

Tony Platt (or "Comedy Tony" as we now like to call him) and Adam Sieff are wondering about - nice to see them in their "comfort zone" for a change. On home turf so they're not so shy, not skittish like a pair of young fawns.

Something else happened too. Something that is becoming more common within the Sellaband family. Mark Maclaine, of Second Person fame just happens to have some talent with film and came along to film the evening. Really looking forward to seeing the results of that too!

Now, I'm not a musician, so I can't tell you anything about the music - there's going to be no "wonderful arpeggio" from the "fifth bar" in the "second movement". No "take it to the bridge". No wistful wondering if a cello player could 'take' a double-bass. I only noticed Helen swapped her violin for a viola 'cos Dan pointed out it made her hands look small (for I Think I Made You Smile, if yer interested). I just thought she'd got further away and the violin had got closer, and she must have long arms?

What I can tell you, indeed what I have said before, is that there is a quality to Dan's song writing that shines through. I don't want to come over all poetic-like, but like driving home into the autumn sun. There's a glow and a warmth that wraps around you as your journey unfolds.

Dan has also been fortunate/lucky/professional/p icky enough to collect a great bunch of musicians to play with him. It turns out that they are a fun bunch to hang out with, but even if they were a bunch of moody bastards it'd still be worth putting up with it for their musical abilities.

So, a nod and a hug to Jen, (S)Milo, and Helen. A great gig (again!).

So, the Set List (see below). Some new songs (Shirt & Tie, I Think I Made You Smile, Flame, White Decay, and The Genius Of Myra), four songs with Jen taking the lead (Life In The Fold, In This Fair City, The Sun Is In Your Eyes, and S.O.S), a couple of songs with just Dan (White Decay, and The Genius Of Myra), and one song where we have to clap 'till our hands bleed, and then a re-take so Mark can get some crowd shots (Act Of Defiance).

Set List

Shirt & Tie (new)

The City Inside

You Live Up In The Stars

She's A Knockout

I Think I Made You Smile (new)

Life In The Fold

Under The Wire

Flame

In This Fair City

  I N T E R L U D E

White Decay (new)

The Genius Of Myra (new)

The Sun Is In Your Eyes

Soldier's Song

S. O. S.

The Most Important Thing

  Take II

    Shirt & Tie

    The City Inside

    White Decay

Heart On My Sleeve

Act Of Defiance

  Take II

    Act Of Defiance  (To film the crowd clapping)

You could imagine an evening of so many songs from one person might get perhaps a bit samey. Not when you see Dan. I've seen him play (a LOT!), and whilst other acts on the same bill sometimes do have a bunch of songs that all sound the same, somehow Dan manages to avoid it. The evening is broken up by having the wonderful Jen take the lead for a few, and this time by an interval and Dan returning to play the first two after the interval on his own. They provides a light and shade, hues and patterns, that means you don't get jaded as each song is as fresh as the first. That was always true for a normal gig and remarkably it was true here too. 17 songs, and 4 of them played twice. There's not a duff song in there. We were asked to vote for our favourite 5, the top 3 will be cut to CD (or emailed as mp3?) for us as a special thank you, but picking the favourites wasn't easy. Do you pick the ones you know the best already, or the ones you've not heard before. I had a mixture, but who knows which will win. In truth, I really don't mind, except I'd like them all!

As I understand it, the plan is put some of these on Dan's Limited Edition CD as extras, and that is going to make the leCD worth it's weight in gold!

All in all, a great idea well executed. Sign me up for the next one.

Francis Rodino Band Friday 5th October @ Zulus in Fulham

What a great night out. Zulus is still a bit of a shocker in the front bar where nailing some wood to the tills on the bar, and some African style masks attached to the walls make it somehow a Zulu Theme Bar!

The venue in the other bar is great though. Great stage area and reasonable sound.

Fran and the boys played a full set with all the old favourites. Muggins here was roped in to see CD and get people to sign up to the email list (and guess which band member seems to have lost the clip board?).

There was a 3 track sampler for £2 and a 9 track sampler for £7. Best of all, the 9 track sampler had the URL for a Sellaband Gift Part in Fran's band printed on the CD - such a great idea and something I need to expand on elsewhere at some point.

Great to bump into the folks from Bim, and thanks so much for the CD - it's honestly a great listen!

The Elements: Tuesday 7th August

In conjunction with a thread about which Element you are I went hunting for more information.

Wikipedia has a bunch of stuff on the Chinese Zodiac and I already knew I was a Tiger, and apparently I'm a Water Tiger! Who would have thought!

Wednesday 6th June, The Cuban in Camden

Francis is truly great live! Not sure about the first two acts who were on, but the 3rd act were pretty good too!

As someone else said about the London Showcase, it was like being at a reunion in a room full of old school friends you'd never met before!

Tuesday 5th June, The Gibson Guitar Studios

London Showcase for London's Calling

Well I know, 'cos I was there!

So much to say about it ...

Firstly, I'd like to thank all the Believers who came over from mainland Europe - obviously you Dutch folk, but from all over. And I feel I have to tip my hat at you all for speaking English. Especially those of you who feel the need to apologies for your English not being "very good" - it's really you people who are making SAB what it is - I love to exercise my pidgin French/Spanish/German, but it really does only run to "two beers please", "How are you", and a few rude/risque phrases that it's best to quietly pass over at this point! (Let's just say no one seemed that interested in coucher-ing with me se soi!)

Lucia Iman kicked off - Really mellow lounge vibe, cool tones to sooth everyone's evening as the temperature in the Gibson Guitar Studios went through the roof - it was really hot in there, but sadly no one took off all their clothes!
Bullet Proof Messenger took the stage next, after a brief interlude. They were/are totally AWESOME. It was also loud enough, but not too loud - something I'm sure the neighbours are very pleased about!
Next up ... Maitreya in the house! He, and his excellent DJ, sang one song on his own then proceeded to bring up some special guests!
Cubworld
Francis Rodino
Clemence
Maitreya's set was simply excellent!

Next up were Second Person. We know all about these people already - they simply do not disappoint!
We finished the evening - over running by a hour at least, with Clemence performing a English version of Where Are You (Ou Es-Tu).
We can all see what a total darling she is - you sometimes forget that she's only 18 years old. She has such a bright future, and the best thing is you get the impression that she doesn't realise it herself yet!

Now on to Brian from Vegas Dragons - co-host and bon viveur. The great hairy antipodian buffoon was everywhere - chatting, handing out Aussi goodies _ you know you get the impression he might be a bit of a live wire, well, he's all that and more - Nice one Brian - and see you tonight at Francis' Camden gig!

Other surprises - well top of my list was Mysti turning up! Totally great to meet you Mysti - really made my evening!
Alex from Nearfield was there too - I had time to press one of my stupid, and by this time sweaty, "SAB Believer" cards into your palm - but no time to chat! Next time!
Dan Ward-Murphy and Jen, one of his crew, were around schmoozing too - I heard rumours that Kirt was there, but didn't hook up with him - it was like a jungle in there - no really! A jungle but hotter and way way more humid!

We had to leave, as my Wife has to go to college this morning, so we jumped in a cab at about 12:30, which was just as the party was getting going!

I had an absolute blast - thanks to everyone who made it, because you are the people who made it!

... right ... so, where's the next party at!

UBG

================= Son-of-Sellaband =================

As always, ones thoughts turn to Son-of-Sellaband and 'features' that might be cool, and today's spotlight falls once again on the forum :-

-: Home Page :-

    -: General :-

The Home Page needs to be more about the music and less about the legalese of how Sellaband works, etc.

My idea is to have something akin to a "Music Fruit Machine". Imagine if you will a fruit machine but replace the fruit with the Artist's images. Have as many "reels" as can comfortably be put on the screen - at least 3, but prefereably more - maybe even something anyone with a Profile can change?

Have a button to "Spin the reels"!

Each "reel" should have a drop-down options list to select what is shown, for example :-

      - Free Music Artists

      - Recording Artists

      - Top Ten (site-wide)

      - Top Ten (by Genre/Country/etc)

      - Top Ten (by No of Believers)

      - Top Ten (by Song Plays)

      - Top Ten (by Biggest Gainers)

      - Top Ten (under $40K,$30K,$20K,$10K,$5K)

      - Latest Additions

      - Random (site-wide)

      - Random (by Genre/Country/etc)

      - etc

NB: It should be engineered to allow new categories to be added easily, thereby allowing a gradual roll-out of the possibilities listed already.

Mouse-over an Artist's Image to see their stats, including, but not limited too,

      - Artist Name

      - Join Date/Time

      - Last Update Date/Time

      - No. Parts Sold/Total $$$s

      - No. Believers

      - $50K Date/Time

      - Album Release Date/Time

      - First Track (this should be playable from the front page somehow)

Mouse-over could even play a snippet of the First Track (or perhaps the track nominated by the Artist).

    -: Genre Specific View :-

Many people actively dislike various genres of music so being a ROCK fan and coming to Sellaband and finding acoustic/jazz/funk/etc could well be a turn off. Provide a site-wide filter through specific Genre URLs such as :-

    - folk.sellaband.com

    - rock.sellaband.com

    - blues.sellaband.com

    - etc

    -: Coutry Specific View :-

With the technology developed for the Genre Specific View it should be reasonably easy to provide a similar filter for other areas, such as a Country Specific View :-

    - Canada.sellaband.com

    - Portugal.sellaband.com

    - etc

    -: Internationalization :-

         -: General :-

Important information, such as the Terms and Conditions, etc, should be available in a number of languages. These items are (hopefully!) unlikely to change very often and so shouldn't be too much of an overhead to keep uptodate.

If a user has a specified preferred language and an internationalized page is visited it should automatically display the preferred language. If there is no copy of the page in the preferred language then second, third, etc, choice languages should be supplied.

The default should be English.

Rest of the Site (ie SAB Provided Content):

Use the same country flags, and use the Profile set Language Defaults, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

         -: Artist/Believer Profiles :-

See the major Artist/Believer Profiles section for more information.

         -: Forum :-

See the major Forum section for more information.

-: Artist/Believer Profiles :-

    -: Personal Messages :-

A fully featured Personal Message system should be implemented, allowing new folders to be created, to move/delete multiple entries at once, etc.

    - Inbox

    - Outbox

    - Address Book

         Build address lists to allow anyone to list a number of people, be they Artists or Believers.

    - Message Opt IN/OUT

         Be able to opt in and/or out of various levels of message, eg do not allow other Believers to message me, etc

    -: Comments :-

The Comment section should use the same technology as the Forum allowing new threads, etc, to be started.

This would allow the usual formating, links, etc, and allow the poster to edit and/or remove their own postings as per the Main Forum.

The owner of the Profile should be the controller/moderator of their own Comment Forum and therefore be able to allow/disallow people to start new threads, etc - be able to Delete anything posted, etc.

Any new threads started by a Believer/Artist in the Main Forum should be mirrored in the Artist/Believer's personal Comment Forum.

    -: Internationalization :-

The owner of the profile selects a native country and writes their information in that language.

The owner may also select alternate countries and write copies of their information in the alternate languages.

It will be the owner of the profile's role to keep the various language copies up to date as they see fit.

When visitors arrive they will be automatically sent to a matched language from their own profile, if such a match exists, otherwise be sent to their second choice language, third choice language, etc.

The default is the Profile Owner's native language.

Here's how I could see the multi-language stuff working for the User Generated Content - ie the various profiles, and maybe extended into the Forum too :-

All profiles (Artists/Believers) have a setting to fix their default language. If nothing is set, then it defaults to English.

It might also be useful to allow 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ... choices too, 'cos whilst us Brits tend to be mono-language types, I never cease to be amazed by the language skills of all you mainland Europeans - puts us to shame!

OK, so, your Profile (Artist and Believer):

Set your default language

  write pages in the default and any others you can manage.

Visitors will be presented with their first choice language. If that doesn't exist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ... etc choice languages instead. If there's no match, then the Profile Default :-

Viewing any Profile should provide a line of flag icons (with country name appearing on mouse-over) to allow anyone to actively select the language to view the Profile. Once selected for a Profile, that language should be in use for the duration of the visit to that Profile (so you don't select German then click on a link and go back to Welsh, or something!).

Example:

Assume an Artist/Believer Profile with :-

     French (Default)

     Spanish

     English

A visitor with no default set, or someone not registered as a Believer/Artist, will get the Profile default language, in this case French.

- So French Artists asking French people to "come and look" will provide them with a French profile :-)

A visitor with English or Spanish as their default will get the English or the Spanish.

- Where possible, the site will provide you with pages in your language.

A visitor with Italian 1st, Spanish 2nd would get Spanish.

- If there isn't a page in your language, the site will try and provide a page in one or other of your languages.

-: Forum :-

A fully featured Forum offering all the whistles and bells that are expected of a forum, and indeed are available for free from many external sites.

   -: Introduction Section :-

New Artists/Believers can post a "Hello SAB World" message.

   -: Voting Requests Section :-

A 'special' Forum section for voting requests, but I think perhaps specifically for voting on sites external to SAB and the SAB community.

To setup a thread in this section you should fill in various stuff like :-

    - Competition Name (eg "Addicted To Noise")

    - Competition Website (eg "MTV", "SpinStudent", "Orchard", etc)

    - Link to the Competition Site Ts&Cs

    - Start Date

    - End Date

    - Voting Instructions (eg you do/don't have to register, etc)

Once the end date passes, the thread should no longer be sticky.

If there are several such threads then the order of the sticky threads could be by End Date - ie the competition with the least amount of time left to run is first.

   -: Gigs Section :-

As per the Voting Request Section, this could reasonably easily be expanded to allow a second such forum section or Gigs, comprising much the same info :-

    - Gig Name (eg "Sellabration '08", "London Calling", "Alemo")

    - Gig Website (eg "Orchard", "London Rising", "Truth & Consequences" etc)

    - Link to the Gig Site Ts&Cs

    - Date & Time

    - Ticket Instructions (eg how/where/when to get tickets, etc)

   -: Music Reviews Section :-

Sort of what I assume the idea behind the current About the Music section was for, reviewing new Artists, reviewing new SAB Releases, etc.

   -: About Sellaband Section :-

Much as the existing forum, to discuss the niceties of Our Record Company ;-)

   -: Off Topic :-

The usual Off Topic section for people to talk about anything and everything.

    -: Internationalization :-

No need to split out the 'other' language, just show one of the country flags for each thread (as the default language for that thread), and a flag for each posting - we really _don't_ want to stop people posting in their language if that's what they want to do.