Q + A SellaBand CEO Johan Vosmeijer

 

The No Holds Barred Interview 


It started as just an idea on the Forum. Let's ask JohanV everything we want to know and let's see if he's game to play along. Well, he did play along but had little idea of what he was in for. A real bombardment of questions, tackling almost every subject there is in relation to SellaBand. In the end, the very dedicated and enthusiastic Mandy Kongaika selected the questions and turned them into a real interview with at least some kind of flow and pattern. SellaBand CEO Johan Vosmeijer took the time out to answer all of the questions. He decided to go for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but his truth. Read on if you dare, but don't say you haven't been warned. For lack of a better description, let's call it the Belated Happy Birthay To The One Year Old-Forum interview, and if nothing else, it gives you something to do on a rainy July afternoon...

 


Big Bands joining

Q: Recently there has been a lot of discussion over BIG Named acts joining Sellaband. What opinions do you hold on the matter?  Also what about artists who have already had a recording contract with a label coming to Sellaband?  I think some artists and believers are scared that they will rip out the soul of sellaband.  What can you say to help calm these fears?

A: “EES Manager Bob Slayer first contacted us in October 2006. At the time he said he and the band loved the concept of SellaBand and that it was very much in line with what the band saw as the future direction for the Music Industry and their career. He also express his concerns about certain aspects of our T&C, especially in relation to what the band had achived until then. Compared to EES we had achieved close to nothing. 18 Monthts later, Bob turns to us again, this time to tell us that EES will sign up with SellaBand. To me that is proof that we have done something right, first and foremost, and maybe it is also an indication that the existing Record Industry has gone down even further. Secondly I applaud any artist with a track history in the ‘traditional’ recording industry, who is brave enough to try new avenues. EES are a great example of this type of artist and so are Highway 101. Personally I don’t see any threat or danger in this development. We already welcomed 22 so called ‘unknown’ Recording Artists for SellaBand, when EES became #23. And you know what, one of those 22 'unknowns' still holds the record of the fastest rise to 50K, which also tells me that on this platform there’s equal chances for everybody. Oh, and can somebody please define the ‘soul of SellaBand’, beceause I still haven’t figured that one out;-)”

 

 

Competitors 

Q:  Another hot topic has been our so-called competition.  

Tell us your first reaction to seeing competitors?  Do you see any that are a real threat?  Or is it the more the merrier?  Also what do you see as the advantages that Sellaband has over places like SLP from THE ARTIST'S perspective?

A: “When we had our first meeting with our new investors, one of the questions they asked was how many competitors had already copied our concept. I told them I had counted around 10 of them already and was kind of afraid that it would lower the investor's interest in SellaBand. The complete opposite happened. Their reasoning: No competiton usually means there is no market for something. If you are the original, then the number of copycats is an indication of the potential of your concept. Staying ahead of the competition is another thing. I’m not saying that we have nothing to fear, but so far I haven’t been impressed by any of the competitors that I have seen out there. As for the advantages for the artists: read the rest of this interview, and you'll know;-)”

 

We want your Advice

 

Q You have been in the biz for most of your career.  Our inquiring minds would like your advice on success here on SellaBand and also in the real world.  What does it take to ‘make it?’ In the music world, either here or there?

A: “There is no such thing as a formula for success in this industry. I’ve met many ladies in my time who had sold millions of records, but being able to sing in key was not one of their talents;-) And vice versa, to think that talent alone is enough to make it is a very naïve assumption. Sure, musical talent and songwriting skills do help, but in this day and age you need a good business sense as well. My advice to anyone -be it here on SellaBand or elsewhere- who wants to have a sustainable career in music, would be threefold: 1. Know what your strengths are, but also acknowledge your own weaknesses and limitations. 2. Get a good manager, or have at least somebody or a team of people around you who can do business and make tough decisions on your behalf and who is/are not afraid to tell you the truth either. 3. Follow your heart. At the end of the day you will last longer in this business if the things you do make you happy. Sometimes you will have to compromise but at the end of the day you must always be able to look in the mirror and say: ‘I’m proud of what I’ve done so far.’.”

 

Q What is your vision of the perfect artist/believer?

A: “I’ll have to take a raincheck on this one. I’m sorry, but I don’t think in these kind of patterns. This is the one question out of 35 where really I have nothing to say. Sorry ‘bout that...”

 

Q Recently Lady Haidee made 50k with one believer buying almost half of the parts spending $23,500.  What are your thoughts on this?

A: “First of all, I’m happy his credit card didn’t bounce;-). We gave up on the 5:000 - 1 model a long time ago, so somehow this doesn’t come as a surprise. Two years ago, even before we launched the site, we had this notion that perhaps people would invest $10,00 in a number of different artists, so we came up with the idea of rewarding people who would be prepare to invest $100 in total. Then we launched the site, and on day 1 there were two people already who bought 50 Parts each. I remember in the very beginning how I would get in touch with people like Baloumba, Lucretia or EmpireOfOne, just to check out if they knew what they were doing. I stopped doing that at a certain point and since then my philosophy has been: ‘These are all grown up people, I can only assume they know what they are doing.’ If an artist is not comfortable with a certain situation I am sure most of them can get vocal enough to make their objections clear and deal with it.”

 

Q What is your take on BIG Believers?  I mean obviously we would not be where we are without them. Are you a big believer?  

A: “This kind of ties in with my previous answer. To me a ‘BIG Believer’ is not only about the amounts of Parts invested, although I am fully aware that without them we would not have 23 Recording Artists today. Yet, it is also about being part of our community and about being active on SellaBand and elsewhere. I must say I’m still taken aback a bit by some of the fanaticism. To most people -or at least so it seems- return on investment is not their main reason for coming here and spending money. Which ties in with Pim's original idea, because really he invented the concept because he wanted to do good! There’s a lot of colourful, big-hearted people out there and we feel very lucky. We see friendships emerge and that is a fantastic thing to watch. Having said that, we’ve also seen some situation where things went sour. I’ve even noticed a couple of people who jumped on board big time and then, when something disappointing happened to them, they get very emotional. I call it the ‘disappointed lover syndrome’ and there’s not much we can do about that. At the end of the day it’s all about expectations. Am I a BIG Believer? Again, depends on your definition. Well actually, I think Pim will agree that I was one of the first Believers. After all, he took his concept to me, after which I gave up my job at Sony/BMG and started this great but very uncertain adventure with him. How much bigger can you get as a Believer?;-)”

 

Q What does it take to get you to believe?

A: “A couple of decent tunes, usually helps. Basically, I’m a rock guy. Never learned how to dance and have a weak spot for Neil Diamond. Grew up in the Seventies on Led Zeppelin, and Thin Lizzy. Those are still among my favorite bands and I think those musical references shine through in my choices on SellaBand. Mind you, I used to try and check out every new entry on SellaBand but I gave up on that early 2007. I do intend to have one Part in every Recording Artist, so sooner or later ten bucks from this stingy Dutchmen will be coming your way;-)”

 

Q: I’ve heard talk of putting caps on how much each believer can invest in an artist.  How do you feel about that concept?

A: “We’ve talked about this internally, too, but really this is not on our list of priorities. Sure, I’d like to see an artist with 2,000 Believers or more, but we like to get there in an organic way, not by forcing new rules upon people.”

 

Web updates

 

Q Can you fill us in on the latest with the new Web site?  What are the changes you are most excited about?

A: “Yes I could, but no, I won’t. We’re on track for some major improvements that will be launched on August 15. I’m confident that with Rey Gamba at the helm of our online team, and with the incredibly hardworking Roy on board as well, we now have taken control of our own web development completely. For our web team to emerge from within the community is one of the best things that have happened to SellaBand. I know that these guys will deliver, and if anybody knows what needs to happen and what is on the priority list of our community it’s them. So, what I’ll say is this: there will be a revamped site on August 15 and from that moment on further improvements will be upon us fast and furious!”

 

Q Some Sellabanders are disgruntled that the forum is not a “top” priority for HQ. Will you explain what are your top five Priorities as far as the new web pages go?

A: “Are you trying to say that if we build a nicer toilet that the shit people dump there will smell better? All joing aside, I am not aware that the Forum is not a ‘top priority’ for SellaBand. We just think that it really is not as bad as some people say. On the contrary, that's why today we welcome our new Community Manager.  A couple of months back amidst a lot of Forum-turmoil, a post on a personal title was made by Dolly, who said priority number one was a Forum Manager, but in answer to all the demands, unfounded accusations, rants and so on, she stated that in the transitional phase, while still lacking a  Forum/Commnity Manager and Dagmar and myself writing the Businessplan (which would answer a big part of the "questions" and had been announced as such) there were other priorities then getting sucked into a bottomless pit of hysterical rants. Was it a wise thing for her to do? She's the first to admit it wasn't; even when the hurricane changed slightly into a storm, she was misinterpreted completely.

Now, back to the question. Let me tell you something first: the number of people who have reached out to us with a request to please shut down the Forum completely, is actually bigger than the number of people posting on the Forum. To me, personally, the positive aspects of having a Forum still outweigh the negatives. A lot of the ideas and feedback have been and still are very useful and I still take time to read most what is being posted, but I’m also amazed at the unpoliteness (to put it mildly) of some users. I like to think we are very open to new ideas and suggestions and most people know I’m easy to find and have a pretty good ‘respondence rate’. But making public demands and posting emotional rants are not a very appealing invitation to give feedback to and if the result is that we’re being perceived as ‘autistic’, then so be it.

Some Forum improvements are indeed on the way, it is on the list of things to do, as are many other things. Which brings me to the Top Priorities for the site: A clearer and more appealing ‘home page’ is number one. Better navigation of the whole site is #2, followed by a genuine Download portal, additional tools for our communty to spread the word virally so to speak, and also on top of the list is the need to improve the position of the 50K artist. Once we get all of these things done we will focus on the ‘fun element’, such as a Forum, chat function and what have you.”  

 

Q How will the new web site be more conducive to selling our music weather digitally or physically?

A: “Better visibility and findability is key. The new homepage will give clear directions and music should never be more than one click away. But, what’s even more important in my vision is how the music is visible and being promoted outside SellaBand. Raising $50,000 is what makes this site unique. For selling music there are thousands of other platforms that are bigger and better equipped than we are and we want our music to be available on as many platforms as possible. Our relationship with the great people of The Orchard -who take care of our digital distribution- is getting better and better and as we learn how to work with them even more, our options will also increase. Also, I’m more and more convinced that the vision we had to turn to the likes of Amazon for our physical product is the right one. In conclusion: Distribution is key for our type of product and in this respect we are more outward looking than inward.”

 


Q Any updates to the T&C?  Like artists have to make at least x amount of songs rather than three?

A: “Nope. We have nothing planned in that direction. The three song element so far has turned out to be irrelevant. But when the next \Pink floyd emerges on SellaBand we want them to feel secure in the knowledge that we accept 3 songs that are 15 minutes each... The only element we are still looking at is to optimize the ROI for the Believers, but we’re still thinking all of this over very carefully before making any changes.”


Q I know a burning question for many is when or if the site will be translated into other languages.  Will we be able to choose our language preference for the site any time soon?

A: “I checked with Rey Gamba and this is what he has to say: ‘Yes, it will be at some point. The problem is that the original website was never built to have multiple languages. To make this possible now we have to start from scratch again. Bare with us please, we are now focussing on getting the English site to the next level, after which we can start working on the multiple language thingy...’ I couldn’t have said it any better, myself...”

 

Promotions

 

Q Tell us how sellaband has been promoting the artists on a collective level as well as on an individual level.  I know we are hoping for a viral movement… how are we coming along behind the scenes?

A: “I will tell you, but only if you tell me how you have been promoting the artists on an ‘individual level’;-) Alright then, I’ll go first... Our main priority is to promote the ‘brand’ SellaBand. Our strategy is twofold: offline marketing via free publicity (although ‘free’ is a relative notion, since we have to pay PR-people to work on this for us) and online marketing via a viral campaign. When we promote SellaBand, one of the upsides and unique selling points we can use is the number of artists and the variety of artists (genre, nationality) who have raised 50K and who have released albums. So, whenever an opportunity comes along we decide which artist(s) would be best to put forward to illustrate our story. At the same time, a very important element of our marketing strategy lies in a different field: Distribution. Our partnerships with the likes of Amazon and The Orchard work in such a way that in return for (some) exclusivity, these companies actively market and promote our albums. We are convinced that an e-mail to people who have also bought Evanescence, telling them that they might like Nemesea too, is the best possible marketing push one of our bands can get. And it worked, because after Amazon.co.uk did this, we sold at least 100 Nemesea albums on that day. Then of course, there is a flat budget of promo/marketing money available for every 50K act from our Publishing fund. Bands are free to spend that money how they want, when they want and where they want, but our people do give advice (when asked) and can get better deals for joint promotion activities. All in all I dare to say that the notion that SellaBand does not help and promote its music is a total misconception. I will even go as far as to say that through our partnerships and the strength of our brand, we can do a better job than many an independent record company could do. The one thing we don’t do is pick and choose. Equal opportunities to everybody. We didn’t pick the bands who made it to 50K, so we won’t pick the bands to give and extra push either...”

 

Q Do you feel the promotions have been successful up to this point?

A: “No, but that’s probably because I’m hard to please. Actually, it depends on which ‘promotions’ you mean. If it’s the individual artists, there is room for improvement. And it will improve, since the number of useful partnerships will increase. Please don't forget that this company is not even 2 years old. Last year we had to go through quite some trouble to get a few journalists to attend SellaBration, now the media are putting in their ticket requests themselves. If it is about how SellaBand has been covered by the press and how, in less than 2 years we really have made a name for ourselves in the Music Industry, then yes, I’m a happy camper. We are building a new brand here and this takes time. I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved so far but am aware that we have a long way to go. The question we ask ourselves mostly these days is this one: ‘How come so many people have heard about us, but only relatively few join in as Believers?’ We have found some obvious answers and these are being addressed as we speak but I don’t think I will ever understand why there are so many bands on SellaBand who have yet to convince their first friend, neighbor or family member to start Believing in them. Isn’t that why you signed up in the first place? Because we are NOT MySpace or GarageBand? Anyway, I could go on about this forever, but I guess I’ll just have to settle for: well, let’s do an even better job to educate these people and teach them what SellaBand is all about.”

 

Q Any big airplanes writing in the sky?   Give us the inside scoop on things were not supposed to know yet:D.  Who do you hope will be our American Distributors?  Amazon again?

A: “There are not many things that you are not supposed know, perhaps only a few things you really don’t want to know;-) I think so far we’ve been pretty open and transparant about what we do, who we work with and where we’re headed. At least more so than any traditional entertainment company I know of. We are in talks with several media companies, as well as big online names, but to avoid disappointment and in order to not disturb the negotiations I'd rather keep these names for myself. For now. Negotiations are also underway with other retailers and or distributors and what I can say at this point is that they are likely to be similar deals to what we have now. Online retailers bring a lot of advantages, such as visibility, but also no storage problems and a distinctly diminshed chance on returns. Returns? Yes, that is the fate of the traditional music industry. If your albums don’t sell, usually retailers have the right to return them to the label, who will have to swallow the costs.”

 

Q We know that more believers is the top priority for sellaband.  Tell us…what are your precise plans to get more Believers to SAB? How many believers do we have at the moment and what are your projections for the end of the year?

A: “Right now we’re at around 30.000 registered Believers and we’d like the number to grow to around 50,000 by the end of 2008. If you look at the numbers we’ve achieved so far, this might seem a little ambitous but the plans we have confirmed for the new season, i.e. the Fall of 2008 make me confident that we can reach this target. We’re going to need your help though... As I’ve stated before, our plans will be lanched and revealed on August 15, so I hope you forgive for not giving you the scoop right here, right now.”

 

The ever-controversial Limited Edition CD

 

Q Sellaband made LEcds available for sale on the site. What is the general mood about this decision? (We know you get lots of pms).  Some people think we should wait until all of the LEcds are sold before we start selling regular cds and there are others who think we should not sell LEcds at all. Some even think we should do away with them all together.   Where do you stand and do you see things changing in the future?

A: “Let’s start with a little history lesson. Initially we were going to send all Limited Editions to your homes, no matter what. Then, towards the end of 2006, when we saw a lot of people buy multiple Parts in a single artist, we sat down and tried to figure out a way to help these people sell their superfluous copies. We then came up with the luminous idea to create ‘mini-shops’ and offer each Believer his or her own store to sell these albums. In theory, we still think this wasn’t a bad idea per se, but somehow the perception of people seems to have changed from ‘a service from SellaBand to accomodate Believers’ to ‘an obligation for SellaBand to sell my Limited Editions’. I still haven’t been able to figure out where it went wrong. Right now it doesn’t seem like a lot of people are actively trying to sell their LE’s and perhaps that is where the original idea went wrong. Some people will argue that without the shift of responsibility towards SAB, people would have been less inclined to buy multiple Parts, but my counter argument would be that if you take one look at the first four artists who raised 50k (Nemesea, Cubworld, Second Person, Clemence) you will find a lot of people with 100 Parts or more who, at the time, could not have guessed that we would be selling these albums for them. Again, we do feel committed, but we also know that unless all of a sudden thousands of people come to our site to buy the product, something will have to change. And it will. We have come up with something that we think will cater for both Artists and Believers. Artists should feel less pressure to deliver extra content for their LE CD, Believers should feel comfortable that they won’t be stuck with dozens of albums that won’t sell. The change will be introduced around SellaBration and implemented before the end of 2008. There are one or two other conceptual issues that need to be addressed as well and this will happen at the same time.”

 

Q Will Amazon.de be pre-ordering 100 LE CD's as Amazon.uk do?

A: “No. With every retailer or distributor we will try to come up with something different. As our relationship with Amazon.de will develop, I’m sure there will be other meaningful opportunities on the horizon. The focus will be on marketing the existing product, i.e. 50K albums, first and foremost.”

 

Q Will the option of CD sales at concerts (like with Maitreya's 3rd party LECDs) become a regular option for $50K artists? If so, will it be retroactive to those $50K artists prior to him?

A: Well in reality it already is, isn’t it. Artists who want to sell the LE CD’s at gigs or elsewhere are registered in the system as a third party and get the same conditions as regular retailers. EES for example, intend to take 1,000 copies on the road with them, this will be registered in the same way as if Amazon.de would order 1,000 copies. I see no reason to complicate the system by adding an extra option, unless somebody can explain to me why he/she would agree for their albums to be sold at gigs but would refuse their albums to be sold via Amazon or Rough Trade under the same conditions (i.e. same return).”

 

Sellagigs

Q What kind of sellagig constitutes having an official sellaband representative present?  Casper (and others I'm sure) was very disappointed in not getting the official seal.  Is it just the luck of the draw or is there a game plan?

A: “No, there is no game plan here. If we’re in the neighborhood and feel like showing up we will, and if we don’t, we don’t. Personally I think having somebody from HQ at your event is highly overrated. Seriously, I like to think that these events are meant as a nice get together for members of this community, a platform for artists to perform and for Believers to spread the word and introduce new people to the wonderful world of SellaBand. These events came into being in a very organic and spontaneous way. Having a ‘seal of approval’ to me kind of spoils that. We do feel flattered and we do care, but we don’t want to turn them into ‘officially endorsed’ things either. They're supposed to be fun, remember?”

 

Walter M put it so well here in his question:

Q How does Sellaband feel about/ look towards the unofficial events and promotional activities that are organized by its bands and believers?   Some bands and believers (for example Hogdaddee, Sommersby) are actively organizing gigs and festivals.  I can imagine that despite the effort put in it by the organizers it doesn’t always meet the quality Sellaband would wish.

A: “People are free to organise events, with or without our conscent. What we do need to do is give people some guidelines and tools to promote their events if they want to use our logo and name. This will happen and the guidelines will be implemented. The one thing that worries me is that some people seem to take these things very lightly. It is not easy to organise an event and make a decent number of people turn up on the night. Just like producing an album, I see organizing a concert or festival as a profession. In the ‘real world’ it’s a proper job for skilled people who make a living out of producing concerts and festivals. It’s not so much the quality I’m worried about, it is rather that we want to see how we can avoid disappointment and desillusion after putting in many, many hours for an event where only a handful of people turn up.”