Ask HN: Would you use this? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Would you use this?

12 pointsjamesgagan15 comments

I'm looking for feedback on my weekend project - http://songsp.in/ It's a daily newsletter to help people discover new independent music. It's targeted towards people who still love music but are maybe a bit older or too busy to go searching the web for new bands. I would really like to know what the HN community thinks of this and if it is something they would subscribe to.

View on HN

I envision this could work as a newsletter in a similar mold to thesixtyone.com; indie artists (and eventually labels as you say) would want to give out their music for free, in hopes of converting into paid downloads.

If this were free you could gain wider user adoption, and thus, supply of music.

Let me ask; who do you want your customer to be? Listeners or artists?

Well, the idea is that listeners are the customer. You may be right that it may initially get more traction as a free newsletter. But then it would basically be another mp3 blog, and that wasn't the idea.

If as you say, a free version doesn't have a competitive advantage or differentiator over mp3 blogs, why is the service better if you charge for it?

Can you line up interesting partners, make it a community somehow, crowdsource reviews from the newsletter, etc? What is the #1 reason to subscribe to your service?

Ideally, the #1 reason to sign up for the service is the curation and convenience of having it emailed to you (I guess that's 2 reasons). I have thought about publishing the newsletters a few weeks after they first appear - that may be a way to have my cake and eat it too, but it also may discourage subscriptions if people can just wait a while and view it online.

I have that exact problem; finding new music. Pandora doesn't dig deep, oddly. That said, I just can't imagine people paying for music. Is it possible you could convince bands that the promotion is good for them, and to give the music for free? Then maybe throwing ads into a free newsletter to make your money?

Regardless, best of luck.

My hope is that down the line, if it gets enough users, then it would be a place that labels would want to promote their artists. I agree that a lot of people don't want to pay for music - I'm hoping there are enough out there that are willing to pay for curation and the convenience of being told about a cool new band each weekday. So far I've had a few subscribers by running facebook ads, but it seems there's a bit of an art to getting the most mileage from the ads.

Clickable: http://songsp.in/

ADDED IN EDIT: What I really don't understand about HN is the people who downvote the small contributions that are intended to help others. I added this link to make it easier for people to see what it's about, to make it so they don't have to copy the URL and paste it into a browser. Someone upvoted it - which was nice - and then someone downvoted it. I really don't understand why.

I don't care about the karma. It won't get me another coffee, it won't fix bugs in my code, it won't make my in-box any less full. I do care about understanding the systems I interact with. I've given up trying to understand people in general, but thought I had a chance of getting along with the people on HN.

So, can someone explain?

Thanks.

I think it's a bit of backlash against what some see as using HN to advertise a website. Nevertheless, I for one, appreciate the link and the comment! It would be great if there was a separate tab or feed for Show/Ask HN - that way people actually building stuff and looking for feedback would not see their posts disappear into the void...like this one is about to!

Take a look at at http://hnshowcase.com for a great showcase of apps and startups posted on HN.

A fine idea, and a nice service, but not something I'd ever pay for. And your design looks more Enterprise than Indie Hipster, which is kinda offputting.

I agree about the design - but my design skills aren't great so I just got a template from themeforest.

First off, I wouldn't even click the link because it's a *.in link. Sorry - you aren't going to get taken seriously by me with a .in domain name. I lump .in with .ru, .cn, etc in terms of "Is this a domain I would use? No way - I don't trust them." Whether you agree with my opinion or not, it's a scenario you'll encounter.

Interesting - I had no idea .in had a bad reputation. Just got it because I liked how it worked with Songspin.

Why does .in have a bad reputation?

Use it, perhaps, pay a monthly fee - definitely not. Perhaps Flattr or donations (avoid Paypal).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com