Ask HN: Review my startup, iwantmyvinyl.com
I need artists that want to sign up Start a New Vinyl project, upload the album cover and some samples.
I need fans that sign up to the service and add records to the wantlist.
http://www.iwantmyvinyl.com/
I need artists that want to sign up Start a New Vinyl project, upload the album cover and some samples.
I need fans that sign up to the service and add records to the wantlist.
http://www.iwantmyvinyl.com/
Product: As others here have said, you are a two sided marketplace, but you have a really strong value prop to indie artists. I'd make the homepage about building crowdfunding campaigns for indie bands rather than the consumer side of your marketplace. You really need to fill up your supply, and that will increase the demand side. This happens because your artists likely already have a following who would want your product.
UX: Your primary CTAs (call to actions) compete slightly with your secondary CTAs. I'd consider using color for your primary and something greyscale for your secondary actions. Also, try to have only one primary CTA on the page.
I'd ditch the categories for now as well, you don't have the stock to divide it up like that. the result will be that your catalogue will feel empty.
Visual Design: overall a decent direction. I'd try really hard to keep everything gridded up though. At 1280px wide, you don't have things aligned down the left and the right, this makes the user's eye jump around the screen instead of moving smoothly down the page. Try using a grid system and sticking to it.
Logo: It feels a little off balance, if you found a way to make the dot of the I the hole of the record I think the logo would lay out nicely and better reflect your company.
Overall I think this is an awesome start!
Here are some potential competitors whose service you could beat or streamline:
* https://www.onecutvinyl.com/
* http://www.palominorecordspressing.com/
Direct your homepage messaging towards artists: "Crowdfund your band's vinyl release. You upload your songs and artwork and tell your fans. We take their orders and ship them the finished product."
Drop the messaging to listeners. Once you become known for vinyl pressing and fulfilment, you can focus on getting fans to suggest you to bands.
As someone who has been buying vinyl from independent/underground artists and labels for nearly 20 years, and buys 4-5 records a month, I can't say that I've ever once thought that I could be bothered to 'force' artists to release on vinyl if they don't want to.
The sales numbers would likely be so low, and the margins so tight that you would need to get insane volume to generate revenue. Are you working with pressing plants directly? If not, forget about it.
You're also presuming that fans are going to want to upload stuff for you, you'd be better off seeding the site with content yourself to get things going. There's nothing more offputting than an empty two-sided marketplace (which is essentially what you are building).
I think it's a fun idea but you really need to get some product market fit before you take this further. Good luck.
Disclaimer - I have a lot of contact with independent artists and labels from running https://www.soundshelter.net/
Here's some feedback
1. Include some info about how it works for artists on the page. I didn't realize there was a video with an explanation. Also, fix the popup for the video.
2. Cleanup the links in the bottom section. They don't work right now. Also, the 'Sign Up Now' goes off the edge.
3. Provide some details about the process of actually pressing the record. Getting a vinyl record pressed is quite a bit of work. There are a lot of details that go into one. Bands are going to want to know what their final product will be and what they need to provide. Or are you not involved with the pressing at all and this is just a crowd funding site? If so, why should I pick you over an established platform like Kickstarter??
thank you for taking the time to write!! and please let me know if you have any other comments.