Taking a Chance - Free startup idea

I wrote this up in a text file a while back, I have a bunch of other ideas, but no time and lack the experience to do many of them. So I thought I would throw one up on HN in the event someone sees some value in it.

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MDW Dec 3rd, 2010

Idea-in-a-sentence: “We are going to put the human element of life between the 0's and 1's of the cold digital music wasteland.” or “Experiences, Memories, Personal Connections, and Passion are all uniquely human. Streaming the ciphered bits of 0's and 1's of a song is uniquely digital. We want to change that.”

makes songs take on character/personality of vinyl records

songs get more "seasoned" as you play them more

how? - analyze large sample of vinyl vs. mp3/flac

analyze variation, rate of change, identify at least 20 variables between digital and vinyl and how they change over time using as much user context as possible(does temp. affect sound? Does virtual/physical record player change not only sound when played, but also change future characteristics of audio? Etc..)

overall strategy: bring soul/personality(one advantage of vinyl) to digital(convenience of play, storage, etc..)

logo/brand ideas: representation of character/soul/personality/interactiveness in a sea of binary

overall concepts: put emotion in an emotionless medium; to humanize digital; warm(human, dynamic) the cold(digital, static)

monetization questions: how? where is the value? - is the value in the ability to have a (DDM)dynamic digital medium taking traits from (DAM)dynamic analog medium in vinyl, or is the value in the curation/storage/market-making services of company for the converted DDM?

would people pay for service, if so, when? - after songs take on a warm, analog feel, or before file conversion based on expectations?

what are expectations?(quantify acceptable level of Δ(DDM/DAM))

how to create enduring value after Δ(DDM/DAM) approaches 0 acceptably?(in other words, once the song is seasoned to acceptable level, and continued use yields less and less noticeable results, how do you still generate revenue?)

- market-making?

only part of value can come from audio features, other features must be just as important in order to be a platform, not a widget.

In staying with theme of value synergy between digital(cold, mp3, flac, convenient, experiences do not follow the medium, they follow the user) and analog(warm, vinyl, record sleeve signed by artist, human connection, experiences travel with physical medium), we can further add value by storing experiences of one user and being a market maker for others to consumer that value.

- for static digital medium(mp3's, flac, etc..) now: what the user does with it, how it's played, what shows they went to, who they met, pictures of events and people, and other experiences do not follow the file, they stay with the user(not creating value)

- for dynamic digital medium we want to make: what user does with it, how many times it's played, where it's traveled, who they've met, pictures from shows and events, signatures, etc.. still stay in users memory, but also follow the file (creating a sort of provenance > value > $$$).

metrics: ?

feature ideas:

Live Show>Hotspot>Signed Album: allow artists to set up “hotspots”(50 yard radius?) at shows that will virtually add text/drawings/photos/content controlled by artist to album cover/inside sleep/etc.. of DDM of people with the app.

Streamlined integration with mobile/tablet/big screen. Users won't be able to fully realize value of album art, signatures, pictures from shows, etc... on a small screen(mobile). This makes the multi-screen integration a very important factor. Should files be cloud based and then streamed?(easier, but limited by bandwidth and connection reliability) Or should the program use a more local approach that connects directly between devices?(harder, could run into compatibility issues and may make development more costly and delayed)

Goals: Meet with people who would enjoy using website/app Put a rough draft of dream team together, keep in contact with them, consult with them often Further hash out idea with potential team members and others input. Create mockup videos of how it would be used(think iPhone commercials) and concept in action. Can it work? Proof of concept (toughest goal?) How Much will it cost? Secure legal counsel, find best way for company structure(start as LLC, but plan for c-corp?) Make sure a dynamic digital medium doesn't infringe on any copyright issue. Identify any foreseeable legal issues. Create logo/brand identity Hire team Create beta website/app. Usable, but minimal upfront development costs Pitch idea to record stores, ask for feedback, input from employees. Show how website/app could increase their market share and increase their profits. Somehow get small investments from large number of record stores without giving equity. Hard, but the key may be to get their point of view on how it could help them. They may be a large future userbase and advocate, offer future discounts, exclusive rights to at least 3 points of integration into program? Something like that. Identify robust set of static(non changing) variables to analyze between digital audio and vinyl audio Identify robust set of dynamic(changing) variables of vinyl and how various use affects these variables. Normalize staticΔ(digital/vinyl) – (make audio file consistently sound like brand new vinyl) Normalize dynamicΔ(digital/vinyl) – (make audio file consistently sound like seasoned old vinyl) Fill the gap! Connect how vinyl changes over time/use to digital, and apply in between normalized staticΔ and normalized dynamicΔ. Release beta to vinyl enthusiasts, audiophiles, record store employees etc.. free, but with feedback tool included