SellaBand Business plan 2008: The Alphabet
So, this is it. Our Business Plan for 2008. Inspired by our music friends Second Person, we have put our plans and ideas into an alphabet. It adds up to exactly 26 short chapters and it covers everything that every individual who wants to be part of this compelling journey with us should know. In the past months we have had countless discussions with Artists and Believers alike, had meetings with potential business partners and media representatives, posted threads on the Forum and received hundreds of e-mails from people with their thoughts and ideas. All this input, combined with our own feelings and opinions has resulted in the document that you are now reading. There is a bit of fine tuning of the concept, a number of announcements and intentions and at least a handful of clear and (hopefully) bright ideas that we are currently working on. We are very proud and excited to share it with our community. Today is October 2. We are working towards January 1, 2008 as the target date to have everything in place and to have SellaBand 2.0 up and running…
mbitions
Our ambition, as put down in our mission statement, remains unchanged: SellaBand wants to break down the fences in the music industry. Everybody should be able to be on the inside. What this basically means is that we are aware that we are all in this together. As rockband Placebo once put it dramatically in one of their album titles: Without You I'm Nothing. Without Artists and Believers there would be no SellaBand. And without our brainchild 8 artists would not have been able to make their dreams come true so far and thousands of Believers wouldn't have had the possibility to be involved and help make these dreams come true. We're in this together. It is our ambition to turn SellaBand into a proven concept for aspiring artists, to give music lovers a voice that cannot be ignored and to create an economically viable alternative for the existing models in this very traditionally operated industry.
elievers needed
Plain and simple. Like all other websites, we want to grow in traffic and turnover, but right now the most important thing is to bring in new Believers. To lower the entrance barrier, make newcomers feel welcome and appreciated, and to launch a full blown affiliate program, are the three obvious steps that have to be made and are currently in the works. More of which you will find elsewhere in this Alphabet, and further details will be announced in upcoming Tribunes.
ompany structure
Until now, SellaBand was a so called GmbH & Co. KG under German law. Not a very common structure, but one that was easy to set up and decided upon in conjunction with our angel investors, who are based in Germany. As of September 1, 2007, SellaBand the company, has changed into an AG (Aktiengesellschaft). The United States equivalent term is Public Company. The equivalent term in the UK is PLC , in Dutch we call it an NV. As Wikipedia puts it, an AG is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e., owned by shareholders . Our business year runs from April 1 to March 31, and as an AG we will make public statements. An AG is also quite handy for new shareholders to come on board, so in case anybody is interested, just give us a shout…(For further reference look under the letter I in this Alphabet)
istribution
We are moving into physical distribution. Why? First of all because we can, secondly because we see it as a natural extension of our playing field and thirdly because we think 'our' artists are way too good to be not available in stores! The albums by Nemesea and Cubworld will be in store in the Netherlands as of October 26. Followed one week later by Second Person. The pre-ordering process will start this week. Our Benelux distribution partner is Rough Trade (see Weekly Update). We are also close to finalizing deals in the UK and Germany. For the European Continent we aim to have albums priced at €9,99. Net profit per CD will be €3 exactly and will be split evenly between Artist, Believers and SellaBand. We aim to have all 'our' albums in store, for other releases this physical distribution element will be added much closer to the online release date. Other territories will follow suit, as we aim to transform in store sales into one of the steady revenue streams for our collective music sales.
xtension of license rights
As it was before, the SellaBand Recording Artist will still become the owner of their master after 12 months. But, in order to allow an album to have a normal 'shelve life' and for SellaBand and the Believers to recoup a bit more of their investment (in our case man power, marketing money, warehousing, etcetera and in the Believer's case a return on investment on their Parts), we ask all artists to grant SellaBand a non-exclusive license of the master for another 12 months. In laymen's terms: the artist can still sign a record deal, make their own distribution arrangements, put some of his/her/their recordings on compilations and so forth, but SellaBand can continue to sell and promote the album for another 12 months. During this additional period, all earnings will be split equally, as before between Artist, Believers and SellaBand. Two months before the end of this second period, the artist can notify us (or vice versa) that the deal will not be extended, and the license will end, or alternatively, can decide to maintain the relationship with SellaBand (and the Believers) for another period.
ree downloads
There's an old saying that says: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. As somebody put it nicely to us: You haven't even given it a serious attempt to break it! There's a lot of truth in this statement. The experiment with three free downloads and 0,50$ each for the remaining songs has not been tested long and well enough. If you expect people to download music, you must make sure that a/ they know that this service is available and b/ where they can find this section. Part of our campaign to promote the albums that have been released so far, will be a number of banners placed on partner sites and through advertising on the worldwide web. These banners will clearly advocate the promotion we have on offer: 3 FREE downloads. They will remain DRM-free and will be brought to you at the 256K bit rate as before. The artists choose the songs they want to give away as free downloads, we will promote them.
et Out There
If there is one message that has been made clear to us, either via e-mail, in conversations or on the Forum, it has to be: Get Out There and spread the word. SellaBand has been underperforming as far as online visibility is concerned. With over $1,200,000 invested in unsigned artists, three fantastic CD's released, 5 more albums to come and quality downloads to give away, the time is more than right to be vocal about our achievements and drive more people to the site. We will do so via partnerships with other sites (concentrating on social networks and music sites), affiliate programs and bannering campaigns. Also we are proud to announce that for the UK we are working with renowned PR agency Cohn&Wolfe, and as of now we are in business in the USA with a lean and mean publicity agency called BHG Public Relations (see Weekly Update.)
omepage
The target date for an all new homepage has been set on January 1, 2008. Until then, a couple of quick and easy changes will be made to make people's entry on SellaBand easier and give newcomers more direction. We have 3 basic messages: Believe, Download, Buy. Oh and we have 8 artists that have raised $50,000 and have all but disappeared in the current situation. The first homepage adjustment will be coming very, very soon.
ndependence
It has been suggested that SellaBand is secretly funded by a major music company or other global corporation. This is definitely not the case. SellaBand is a completely independent company, and although we definitely cherish the phone numbers of people we have worked with in the past, SellaBand has no official connection to any of the so called 'major labels', or any other media company for that matter. To further the careers of 'our' artists and to expand the company we are open for business with anyone who can bring something valuable to the table (see also under C…) but our independence will always remain intact.
ukebox
What a wonderful, flashy looking Jukebox we have on display on the homepage. And what a user unfriendly little devil it has become. The jukebox is one of the features that has to be improved and personal playlists are high on our priority list. We are also working on plans for podcasts and perhaps even a 24 hour online radio station. Once some of the other urgent matters have been resolved, we expect to have more time to be creative again and will bring you more details on what SellaBand FM should feel and sound like…
(50, to be precise…)
Three albums released so far, 5 more international artists currently recording their album. We're expecting at least three more artists to reach $50,000 before the end of this calendar year. It is our goal to have an average of at least one artist reach $50,000 every month in 2008.
imited Edition CD's
The much debated Limited Edition CD's will remain on sale on the site for $15, as before. When making the inventory of how many copies Believers want to have sent to their homes, from now on the default will be set on 'All', and there will be more options added, like having your copies sold in store and some other suggestions that have been suggested by various people on the Forum.
obile content
An area that has been ignored so far, but we are ready to roll out subscription models for mobile content, such as ringtones, wallpapers and a 24hour updates on all things SellaBand.
ew gadgets
Let’s face it. Music will be like water. Everybody gets it everywhere, anytime, anyhow. The times of sitting on valuable content and keeping it to ourselves are over. This way, more and more people will enjoy the music that is discovered on our little portal. To enable you to share the music of the artists you Believe in we will do everything we technically can. We are opening up our system to communities like Facebook, Beebo, Hyves and MySpace. We will do so by creating APIs that enable programmers to take what they like and place it on pages and websites that they have access to. We will publish XML feeds that will enable you to create your own widgets. People like Roy, Magnus, Daniel Forcheimer and Rey Gamba have been very pro-active in this development. We very much appreciate their support and plan to give the technical gurus of our community the tools they need to help us grow into a size that will enable us to break down the fences and realize our dreams.
n the road to 50K
Trying to raise $50,000 through crowdsourcing should always remain the core activity for artists on SellaBand. However, this can be a long and labor intensive journey. To make the ride even more worth wile, we will launch The Road to 50k, meaning that there will be incentives for artists on their way to 50K. Equally important is the soon to be launched option for these 'pre 50K artists' to sell other stuff through SellaBand. One example: there will be a link on the profile pages to sell previously recorded and released albums. Renowned online retailer CD Baby has been confirmed as the party who will take care of the fulfillment of these sales. Downloads and t-shirt options will be next, as an artist SellaBand can become your one-stop-shop, if you so wish...
ublishing
SellaBand Publishing will play an active role in promoting the songs the artists have recorded with us. The most important roles of our publishing division will be: exploiting the catalogue, administering the rights and support the artists to further their career. SellaBand Publishing will operate like any other fully fledged music publishing company. SellaBand Publishing will invest a fixed advance sum in all Recording Artists. This money should be used to promote and market the CD's that have been recorded with SellaBand.
uestionnaire
Three days after putting up the recent questionnaire, already over 1,300 people had taken part. It gives us not only the information we requested, but it also tells us how eager you are to let us know who you are and what you think of us. The results of this first 'big' questionnaire will be shared with you in an upcoming edition of the Tribune.
eturn on investment
Lest we forget: the very tangible return on investment that should make every Believer proud, is the Limited Edition CD that will be sent to your home, once your artist of choice has reached the 50K and has finished recording his/her/their album. A lot has been said about the potential earnings that being in business with SellaBand and our artists can bring. It is all still in the early stages and everything is speculative as to where things can lead. We're not going to make any promises we can't keep. But, selling your superfluous Limited Editions, putting the albums in store, extending the ROI-period with another 12 months, are all part of the positive changes to the original concept and should all impact the ROI on your Part(s). Call us naïve, call us what you want, but the fact that with $10, or more you have been able to make an artist's dream come true is a Return on Investment that should always be categorized as 'priceless'…
ellaGig
There are no more official SellaBand gigs planned. While they were a lot of fun to put together and were a great way for people to get to know each other, they have also been extremely costly affairs with limited results. Instead of doing one off showcases, we thought long and hard about doing something substantial instead, where more bands can benefit. First of all we've been working on a basic database for artists to fill in their upcoming gigs and thus create a nice 'Event Guide'. But along the way, we came up with something better: SellaGig. An extension of the SellaBand concept, aimed at live-gigs. Your chance to team up with other bands and organize your own gigs and mini-festivals. In a nutshell: You bring the music, we supply the venues. Planned roll out date: Summer 2008.
erms & Conditions
The long awaited update of the Terms & Conditions, including the most recent amendments has been completed and will be put on the website before the end of the week. A courtesy e-mail to all people who have registered on SellaBand, either as Artist or Believer, will be sent out before the new T&C goes 'live'.
ser generated content
It's not just a buzz word, it is something we strongly believe in. Give you more things to do on your profile pages, set up a section for blogging, help us compile the weekly newsletter (aka The SellaBand Tribune) and feed Club SellaBand with more news-items. Oh yes, the wonderful Club SellaBand will definitely get a more prominent place on the homepage. It must be turned into a place that is created by you and for you.
ideo channel(s)
Hundreds of artists have uploaded their own video on their SellaBand profile. Isn't it about time we did something with that and channel them? Exactly. There will be a video channel on SellaBand and elsewhere? Elsewhere? Exactly. Let's just say there is a healthy demand for SellaBand content in the outside world. First announcements are imminent…
elcome committee
More than 5,000 Artists have registered on SellaBand, 20,000 people have signed up as Believers. But do they know what SellaBand is all about, how you should approach your rise to 50K, or how to become a member of the community? We will start with a so called 'Welcome Committee', a group of Artists and Believers who know their way around SellaBand and are well respected within the community. Every new Artist and Believer will receive a letter to welcome them to SellaBand. This letter will include a link, which will direct them to the section where they can contact individual members of the 'Welcome Committee'.
L
This is the working title for an intended expansion of our concept. SellaBand XL (target launch date Summer 2008) will be the place to go for 'returning Recording Artists'. As before, artists are free to leave, also after they have recorded their album with us, but we would also like to give them the option to come back for a so called 'second round'. Why go somewhere else if you're happy and pleased with what you've got. Basic principle: Artist X comes back for album number 2, their Believers get first option to 'make music and money' once again. We have the plan, but don't want to wet your appetite too much, so that's it for now…
ou are the record company
We are very much aware that expectations were going to be high when we changed our slogan from 'Your music your choice' to 'You are the record company.' We stand behind this phrase 100%. But we are also aware that we must create the tools (banners, flyers, widgets, etc.) and insight (statistics, industry information, etc.). Make no mistake about it, all these tools will be delivered, so all of those who are waiting in the wings and are ready for action can go out there and be truly in business with their artist of choice.
ero tolerance
Just kidding… Of course there is no zero tolerance policy. And although we have spotted other music sites that have recently shut down their Forums, we are firm Believers in freedom of speech. But personal attacks on other users, or on members of the SellaBand Team will not be tolerated. A team of Forum Moderators will be in operation soon. The SellaBand Forum remains a place to speak your mind, but please use it with care and respectfully…
Weekly Update
This is not a 'regular' SellaBand Tribune, bu we decided to go ahead with the Weekly Update as usual. There are so many relevant things to report that it would be wrong to wait another week before sharing this information with you. And next week, there will be an equally 'packed' Weekly Update, because it is all part of the execution of our new business plan. Things are moving forward, things are moving fast, so please enjoy this update...
Chart Analysis
A pretty average week in 'new Parts sold', but overall September brought us around $110,000 invested in unsigned artists, so you can say that Summer is over indeed and we are back on track. So is Jonatan Cerrada Moreno, who manages to hold on to his #1 position on the Weekly Charts. The same goes for Miss Julia Marcell at #2, and Bulletproof Messenger at #4. Good to see Angie Arsenault holding on to a top 5 position on this chart, seems like our Canadian friend has really settled down on SellaBand.Two Austrian bands in the Top 10 this week, both Confused5 (#6) and SolidTube (#10) confirming the importance of their home country on our platform. Backed by a few strong Believer initiatives, Mysti Mayhem is this week's Highest New Entry at #3, is she on her way to a Top 10 position in the overall ranking? Radius are The Biggest Gainer (18 - 7), looks like they will soon rival Radio Orange for highest ranking Dutch band. Quite a number of re-entries this week, but only one real newcomer, so we say hello and nice to meet you to Dave Patrick from the UK, (#15), who also happens to be the guitar player for Rox Clayton Scott, who is doing very well for herself at #10. Special mention of the week goes to Lady Haidee, not only because she is new at #14 and very talented, but also as an excuse to tell you to check out the new video on her profile; it's HOT!
Lady Haidee
Rough Trade Distribution
October 26, 2007 has been set as the Benelux in store date for Nemesea's 'In Control' and Cubworld's 'Step Lightly: Create Out Loud.' Putting the albums on the shelves for us are Rough Trade Distribution, the Netherland's leading independent music distributor. Their impressive roster includes DJ Tïesto and current million seller Katie Melua. Paul Davies, General Manager at Rough Trade is very happy with the deal. "It's great to see new innovation meet traditional record business. We're looking forward to working all the SellaBand records. Not only will Sellaband fit to our label portfolio perfectly, I've known Johan & Dagmar for many years now and therefore I'm looking forward with confidence that we'll be able to make this work."
Katie Melua
An offer you CAN refuse
In our conversations with Rough Trade, they have shown major interest in selling the Limited Editions in store as well as the 'regulars'. They are fully aware of the nature of these albums, and who actually owns them, but would like to sell them anyway. RT think €14,99 is a reasonable consumer price for the LE CD. They must be able to work with a dealer price of €9,00 before discount and will then take their distribution % off. We will pay the artist royalty and will put the necessary barcodes on the albums and can thus offer you $7,00 for a limited edition to be sold at retail. This is obviously less than you would earn if you wait for them to be sold online at SellaBand or try to convince people to buy them via your own shop link, but it also means you won't have to do anything for it either. And you will remain the owner of the 'Part' that is tied to the CD, meaning you will still earn your revenues via SellaBand as before. Like it says in the heading, this is an offer you can refuse, but this experiment will be tested in the coming months and we'll just have to see how many takers there are and how quickly the albums will find their way to new consumers. Believers with multiple limited edtions for sale through SAB can expect an e-mail about joining this procedure in the next few weeks.
Making inroads in the US
It should come as no surprise that Europe is currently our biggest market for both Artists and Believers. Our Top 5 in visitors from this continent of the last six months is: 1. NL, 2. UK, 3. Italy, 4. Germany, 5. France. The UK was only at #6, before London Calling and before we started working with a professional PR Company. That is why we have now hired the skills of a PR Firm in the United States, called BHG Public Relations. Based in New Jersey, they will help us to make serious inroads into the (North) American market. Our very own Dagmar is actually on a plane to the big apple to meet them, as we speak.
"SellaBand to us is the perfect example of a company which has both a brilliant and innovative business plan, coupled with deep pocketed and seasoned investors who are in this for the long haul" stated Rob Hammerling, CEO of BHGPR, SellaBands United States public relations agency. "Music is one of the basic elements that bonds human beings together. From our earliest days we have been compelled to create music and it continues to play a vital role in everything from childhood development to the bonding of families, friends and cultures. That being said, the old model for the discovery and nurture of new talent is dead and nobody before SellaBand had devised a viable alternative to fill the void. As an agency we represent companies who either are, or have a realistic opportunity to become, true iconic brands and SellaBand fits our model to a T."
Rey Gamba joins the team
Not only has he been the man behind clubsellaband and a firm Believer in the concept since the day he joined, but is also an experienced online guru since the early days of the web. So, it is really hard for us to curb our enthusiasm, knowing that Rey Gamba has decided to accept our invitation and now officially join Team SellaBand! Rey will be in charge of our E-presence, distributed content and online community. What that means? For everything under points B, F, H, J, K, M, N, O, U, W & Y in the Alphabet, this is the man to talk to;-) Only half joking, as usual. Rest assured, Mr. Gamba (real name: Marc Toonen) is equally excited to join the team: "Normally I just send the recipes, but for SellaBand I would also love to do the cooking. It's going to be a challenge to make SellaBand one of the best places to hang out."
Rey Gamba
Music executive joins SellaBand
As of October 8, Alix Gibson will join the SellaBand team in Amsterdam. Alix, who has recently moved to the Netherlands from her native England, is a very experienced person in the music world, so it should come as no surprise that she will join Dagmar in our music division. Previous work experience includes a stint at Warner Music UK, and a job at a publishing company called Music Sales. Alix has also worked as an Artist Manager for a firm called Big Life Management. She has worked with the likes of Snow Patrol, Badly Drawn Boy, Vanessa Mae, Nigel Kennedy, Philip Glass & Killing Joke, to name but a few.
Alix Gibson
SellaBand Revenues
Ad revenues in September were up, not only compared to August (which was a terrible month), but also compared to July. We have yet to beat June (remember the surfer dude invading your screen? He may have been incredibly annoying, but it sure paid the bills…) but are totally confident that this in only the beginning. Having said that, we think it is very good to know that in this first quarter of being in business together, with its Summer lull, fine tuning on the site and only a couple of third party partnerships in place, we've still been able to share over $15,000 in ad revenues and music sales with Nemesea, Cubworld, Second Person and all their Believers. It may 'only' be something like a 10% ROI so far but we hope you don't mind if we do call it a historic moment, because SellaBand does share the earnings on music and advertising as promised.
Second Person Regular CD
Excuse us for still being music people first and foremost, but our hearts start beating faster with every new CD we get our hands on. Especially when it's an album we have been personally involved with. This morning, the hard copies of Second Person's 'The Elements' arrived at the office. The regular CD's, wrapped in a jewel case, feature fantastic artwork with song lyrics, brand new pictures and the names of all the Believers that have made this recording possible. Oh, and it has a barcode too, so we have set the in store date for 'The Elements' in the Benelux on November 2, 2007. A UK release is expected shortly after.
SellaBand on Hyves
Hyves is a Dutch social networking website that supports six languages. Hyves mostly conforms to the MySpace format. The site has grown to be the most successful Web 2.0 social networking portal in the Netherlands. It was founded in October 2004, the site is growing rapidly, and by early 2007, Hyves had more than three million users. Right now, Hyves has over four million users. Many famous Dutch artists and politicians are members and use the community to promote their music and standpoints. Soon SellaBand will have a separate page where we can create our own look and feel. This way "Hyvers" can discover SellaBand artists, participate in polls, listen to playlists and more importantly enter SellaBand to join our community as Believers.
Get out there (continued)
It was quite empty at the office, today. Dagmar is in New York, where, amongst many other things, he will be giving a lecture at New York University. Pim has barely recovered from speaking at the Picnic convention and today, he and Dolly are at another business convention, spreading the word and approaching potential partners. Later this month, Johan will be sitting in on a Round Table Conference in London, discussing the future of the music industry. He will also be sitting in on a panel at In The City, one of the UK's biggest music convention and has been invited on a key speakers panel at the next Midem in January. All these activities are part of our 'Getting out there' policy. But it is also indicative of the demand there is out there for us to tell the story of SellaBand and confirming our status as a new, quality brand.
The Week That Was
It was the week that we heard ourselves on the BBC once more. A special report on SellaBration was broadcast on Digital Planet, a weekly show on BBC World Service. Very serious, very prestigious and very exciting to be reminded of what a great evening SellaBration actually was. To listen click here. (click 'world service' and then 'digital planet') It was also the week of 'Zwoel', of course, an initiative by Dutch Believer diegozer, who basically booked a venue, persuaded T-ka and her band to drive all the way from Paris to perform and managed to deliver her a sold out show. Together with dutch Artists BBconnected and A Z-Atic, the show was a perfectly balanced. Hats off to Zwoel and all the people involved, you are a shining example of taking 'fan-involvement' to the next level. Whaley was there of course, sitting in the front row, taking some great pictures, that can be found here. Equally exciting was another Believer initiative, led by Englishman Sommersby. His simple, but creative competition gained over 3,000 views on the Forum and put a big smile on our face. So, who will win the finals? It's a showdown between Wetwerks and Confused 5, apparently, in a competition that has only winners and no losers.
T-ka performing @Zwoel