3/13 night interview -- Mu Shi

Rhodeside Grill, I had a nice talk with the bar tender Mike. He told me most of the musicians, who to do live music in the bar, were from the friends connections. The bar really use routine bands and musicians to perform, the manager definitely want to more diverse musicians. Actually, the Rhodeside Grill is not a bar focused on live music, the manager prefer some one can take care the shows and music, so, he could more focus on food and management. Our service will be more valuable if we can not only help him to reach the musicians, he would prefer we can directly offer him the service by packaging different musicians every month.

Galaxy Hut- It's a small but highly reviewed bar in Courthouse area. People like the bar because they can always expect nice music and environment. The manager really want to have reliable musicians and bands to perform the bar. And because the bar has regular events every week, the manager always get connect with agents to try new bands and musicians. After I mentioned our idea about Giggity, the manager showed great interest in how to save the money he usually paid for the agents, and he was very happy that he could get the link to  many different musicians and bands for free. 

Friday Afternoon - Actual Last Interview (3/14)

Travis, Denver, CO, Trout Steak Revival - Male, White, Late 20s
Travis is an old friend of mine who has been playing in the band Trout Steak Revival for the last few years (check them out!). I spoke with him at length about the challenges of being in an emerging band and getting gigs. He was interested in our business model, and suggested that we create a threshold for ratings, so that a band/venue isn't ruined by one bad review. He also suggested that we focus the ratings on whether or not bands performed expected services (did they show up on time, finish at the right time, bring the crowd they promised, etc.)
Key Takeaway: Ratings aggregation only works once a critical mass is reached.

Friday Morning Interview (last one!) (3/14)

Chris, DC, Listen Local First - Male, White, 30s
Chris was referred to us by Geoff, owner of Bedrock Bars and Restaurants. Chris is very involved in the local music scene and operates Listen Local First, a website that helps emerging artists to get their music heard. Chris was excited by our idea, but short on time. He gave us some good feedback and promised to help us establish connections with other people in the scene. He did warn us, though, that money & the music industry rarely go hand in hand.
Key Takeaway: Making money in music is HARD.

Interviews March 3/13

Hema Chandra Chittuluri

Lizzy, Courthouse Place
I was surprised to find a musician within my apartment building who was advertising in the common area that she is willing to play at parties. I met her later in the morning and she, unsurprisingly, had a full time job and loves music and thought this would be a good way to do something she loves and make extra money at the same time. I asked whether she would be interested in playing at a venue, she replied she would love it but that she hasnt got time to go after all the venues especially when she js not even sure if they want to listen to her. When I explained what we were doing, she got really excited and said that would be a great way to reach a bigger audience and grow. She said she will be willing to pay for such service even if its expensive. She also wants it to have a means to communicate with other bands etc, to look for opportunities with them.


Phone interview with member of carbon dioxide
I interviewed a guitarist from the band carbon dioxide. He responded to my craigslist ad and was very helpful. Like in all the other interviews with musicians, the biggest problem with them was finding venues to play at, knowing the schedules and also knowing different means to play at a venue like can they offer happy hours, or should we be referred by an artist, contact a promoter or just contact the management directly. If they cross somebody they would get burned. So having first hand information helps. He would definitely use the service if it has lot of venues, has genuine information about venues and can help build their reputation.

Phone interview with Cheeko
 I found Cheeko on one of the musician community portal. A very friendly guy, he runs a band called piece by piece. He is very committed to music and does it full time but the problems that are applicable to the smaller bands that play part time applies to him too. If you are not on contracts you dont get gigs often, if you get into contracts you will miss out on great opportunities , if you go with a promoter you stick to his kind of music and earn a lot lesser. He said something like what we are planning to build will definitely be useful and he will pay to use it.

Phone interview George clinton
George is a senior musician, he has been in the industry for really long. He owns a band called funkvibe. Unfortunately he did not have lot of time to speak but he said he might try the platform if it has enough venues signed up with us.

Thursday Evening Interviews (3/13)

Red, DC, Jack Rose Saloon - Female, Indian, 20s

Red is the manager of Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, a thriving music scene in DC. She informed me that, despite the high demand for music in the area, Jack Rose does not often utilize live music due to the difficulty in obtaining talent and the problems they sometimes cause. This was insightful, as I realized we might be able to lure venues that have problems like these with our twofold solutions: make bands easy to find and make them easy to vet.

Key Takeaway: There may be an untapped area of this market.

John, DC, Mellow Mushroom - Male, White, 40s

John is the manager of Mellow Mushroom, also in Adams Morgan. Unlike Jack Rose Saloon, Mellow Mushroom often hosts live music, with a particular focus on young, up-and-coming bands. John told me that he used to do booking himself, but that it was time consuming and has since outsourced to a local booking agent named Anders. After explaining to me some of the problems with booking (bands don't fit, are unreliable, etc.), he mentioned that Anders was actually upstairs putting together a show and that I could meet him.

Anders, DC, Booking Agent for Songwriters & Poets - Male, White, 50s

Anders has been heavily involved in the DC Music scene for several years. He focuses on getting indie bands to perform in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. He said his biggest challenge in booking bands was a lack of credibility on the musicians' part - there is no underground radio, bars haven't heard of them, etc. Anders said he often feels like he has "one big spider web to deal with" and that there is a constant problem finding a good fit for venues and artists. He also said that he spends far too much time doing booking, as he as a full-time job. He also said he likes using BandCamp because of its simplicity. After hearing about our project, he was interested and suggested that we utilize his stable of artists as a test run.

Key Takeaway: Focus on simplicity.

Matt, DC, Gravel Road Bluegrass - Male, White, 40s

Matt is a musician in the band Gravel Road Bluegrass who was introduced to me by Anders. Matt has been in the local music scene for quite some time. Honestly, he didn't seem particularly enthused by our idea, but I believe that is because he has done things the same way for a long time and feels as though he has paid his dues, and that new artists should too. He refused to accept that making things easier would be better, saying that the struggle was part of being a musician.

Key Takeaway: It might be difficult to reach people who have been in the industry for some time, as they are used to doing things a certain way.

Thursday Interviews - Musicians

Three interviews last night in Courthouse and Alexandria.

The best was with Brad, around 30, who used to be in a band and continues to play as a guitarist and singer. He's actually been in multiple bands, and expressed that some way to find other musicians might be nice. However, he indicated that the biggest pain was finding gigs, and that, typically, it was delegated to one person. If you were that person, you spent a lot of time and frustration trying to find places to play. Once I explained what we were trying to do, he said that he would definitely use that service and was willing to pay $10 to $20 a month for it. He also said we should look at coffeehouses as another venue, since many small artists use those venues to get their music out.

Another interview was with Miguel (manager) at a Mexican restaurant that hosts live music five nights a week. However, he said that, while he was open to a system like this, they have a set rotation of musicians and, because it is a specific type of music, tend to find people through word of mouth.

Finally talked to John at Hard Times, and he said that they typically do not have live music, at least in their location (Hard Times is a chain) because it is so difficult to find good people to play. He said he would consider bringing in live shows if there  was a way to easily find good bands, but that he would have to see the service and how it performs before deciding on whether to pay or not.

3/12 evening Interviews

Hema chandra Chittuluri
Location Dupont Circle

Cafe Citron
Cafe citron has many bands playing live music and is a place frequented by MSB students. I talked to the manager Aidda who explained me that they have a huge number of bands playing with them and they have a dedicated person to select the bands. The bands are auditioned in the cafe and then chosen to play, unless they are have already made a name for themselves. When i explained the platform she said she will give it a try if it can provide access to more bands.

Midtown Lounge
I was refused entry into the lounge and was instead spoken to on intercom. The person on the other side said the manager wont be available for another week and politely asked me to leave. When i tried to ask about the bands that play there, i did not get a response.

Dirty martini
I talked to manager at dirty martini bar who said that they dont have live music everyday but they do have latino saturdays when bands play there. They have arrangements with promoter and the promoters arranges the bands to play on the venue. There is no direct interaction between bands and the venue and many times they do not know who is playing that day, which was interesting.

18th street lounge
Its a known and classy venue where live music is available everyday. I talked to the manager Yonis who said that the bands that are regulars there are not treated as on contract or even as a separate entity but as employees of the lounge and they are playing since last 10 years. Very recently they added latino music to the regular jazz bands that play there. This is a more exclusive and selective venue because its owned by a DJ with a taste. Unlike other venues which look forward to host bands, this venue hosts a nee band only of the band approaches and if the owner likes their offering.

Bayou
It is a place known equally for its food and live music. Since the manager was away I talked to Joe who was at the reception. Even though she didnt participate in the decision making, she seemed to be knowledgable about the love music scene there. She said there are always new musicians coming there and based on performance, they get more gigs or never return. And they find bands through multiple sources.

Wednesday evening interviews(3/12)

IOTA CLUB& CAFE has great reviews on yelp, and this club likes to use original local bands to perform live music. Because the club has live music play every night, the manager needs lots of bands and musicians to make the music schedule happen. 

The manager Joel usually use agent to dealing with the musicians and bands, they do have a long-term cooperation relationship. Sometimes his friends may recommend bands to him, bur he always feel lack of board choice and info about bands and musicians. After I explained Giggity to Joel, he showed great interest to our idea. He told me that he want always like to use local good musicians and bands, and he want to make the customer have fresh experience from time to time, if we can deliver the info with talented musicians locally or from other town, he always welcome and he even could pay for this service.

Clarendon Grill usually has a DJ to play some really loud music; some time they do live music. 

The person who was in charge complained a lot about how difficult to get a reliable DJ and easy to cooperate with. Because many DJs may late for the work, sometimes disappear even. What they want most form Giggity is the reliable profile about the DJs and how are the records of them. 

Wayne, the bartender also mentioned that the bar was not interested to pay the service.  

Third Iteration of Business Model Canvas

Tuesday Morning Interviews (3/13)

Phil, DC - Male, Black, 30s
Phil is an employee at Middle C Music in DC and a musician. Phil told me that the majority of people who visit his store are not interested in performing live; only 15% do live shows. He said that this is more because of their target demographic though - kids in band/orchestra. When he would get gigs, he would usually do so via word of mouth. He never really sought them out because he was more interested in playing for himself. This surprised me, as I assumed that every musician wanted to play live. Phil estimated that 50% of musicians are uninterested in performing.
Key Takeaway: Not everyone wants to perform.

Roger, DC - Male, White, 50s
Roger is a musician who plays in a classic country band that performs in the DC metropolitan area. Everyone in the band works full-time jobs and one band member concentrates on finding gigs. He said that that member often complains about the amount of time it takes to find these gigs. He usually contacts bar owners directly w/ info. They spend a lot of time getting gigs, but only play 2 per month. They have had problems with venues not being clear about expectations until after the fact ("you get a percentage of ticket sales, but only after reaching a certain threshold") or being in a bad location. His band plays because they enjoy it, but of course don't mind making a little extra cash. Roger had some reservations about our service: Would it be expensive? Could a bad rating ruin a band? He said they might pay for this service, but would need to examine it first. He also suggested we implement a management piece to the service.
Key Takeaway: Will the rating system frighten bands?

Cody, DC - Male, Mixed Race, 20s
Cody plays in an alternative hip-hop group in DC. They have been together for 3 years. They have been very fortunate in that gigs came to them relatively easy at first and, a year ago, they were able to get a monthly residency position at a bar in DC - The Tropicalia. They of course had bad experiences getting gigs, though; once they found themselves playing in a shopping center because the booking agent didn't tell them everything. "The real problem was a lack of communication." They have had shows cancelled last minute, as well. Cody's band is a little more established than our target demographic, but despite this he said that they would absolutely utilize our services. He said that venues would need to participate, though; he wouldn't be drawn to it unless he saw venues that he was interested in playing at on the site. He balked at the idea of paying, saying that there are many bands out there that get taking advantage of and that the service should instead be "Freemium", in which people can try for free, pay for more. He also suggested that we implement a "Tour Builder" feature.
Key Takeaway: Get venues on board.

Tuesday Evening Interview with (3/12)

Evan, DC - Male, White, 30s

Evan is the booking agent for Penn Social, a bar/club in the Chinatown area of DC. Evan is also a musician. Upon hearing about our project, Evan said that it solves his two biggest problems: booking shows for Penn Social and getting himself booked. He became really excited and said that Penn Social would be the perfect place to debut our service. We have a meeting with him next week to talk about the logistics!
Key Takeaway: There is potential for this to be implemented, but we need to structure how to do so w/o an online platform.

Guitar Center Interviews - Lunch 3/13

I showed up at Guitar Center this morning just after they opened and was able to talk to two employees who play live music around town.

Omar seemed to play bigger shows, but both of them indicated they play more house parties and churches than bars and clubs, though each would like to break into that scene more. Omar said that he did spend a lot of time chasing down gigs, but that the amount of time put in was proportionate to the result. He said that, for a product like I was describing, networking with other artists to find people to play with, and fostering a DIY culture were big draws.

He suggested that offering the ability to buy download cards and have them shipped to the artist would be great, and suggested that I talk to some connectors in the business, such as Alex from Paperhouses, Sasha Lord, and Steve Lambert.

Eric was in many ways like Omar, but seemed more focused, right now, on small house shows. He suggested that a street team, that would go around promoting in their region, hanging fliers and posters, would be valuable. Furthermore, if there were a way we could offer a premium service which guarantees up and coming artists a spot for their posters at exclusive venues, he would pay for that.

Omar said he would pay $5 to $10 a month for the service, though if it could replace his marketing efforts on Facebook and elsewhere, he would pay more.

Eric said that if we could get band guarantees, and then take a % of that guarantee, every artist would use it (don't think thats feasible unless the band has 10+ ratings, because we need to be guaranteed of their performance).

A look at our updated Mock-Up

Let us know what you think!

Exploring Comedy - 3/12

I spoke with Charles tonight, a comedian at IO and The Second City, who has had stints in both improv comedy and stand up comedy. It was very insightful, though, for the most part, in a negative way given our idea.

The process of finding gigs in comedy is much the same in comedy as it is with musicians, scouring multiple websites, dropping off cards or videos, and cold calling. However, for comedians, the process of finding a gig is a huge building block for their talents. Having to go to an open mic night, or taken a crappy job, or going to a club in case someone cancels, is part of your professional development. In their profession, a lot of their development is seeing others (both good and bad), taking challenges with new places, and trying new styles.

For example, if a comedian goes out and tries a new style or new set of jokes, he does not want to necessarily be judged on that. He might go down that route for a few weeks, and during that time clubs might rate him a one. But, in reality, he is very good; the whole exercise was to explore new styles or jokes.

He said it was a frustration going through the process to find a gig, but, unlike musicians, that process was important and fulfilling. We agreed to talk later down the road to see if we could find a solution to the problems he, and his bookers, faced, but at this time I don't believe comedians should be pursued (at least until there is a very established value and community of users for our service).

Wednesday Afternoon - Interview w/ Entrepreneur and Bar Owner (3/12)

Today, as a team, we spoke with Geoff Dawson, owner of several bars and restaurants in the DC area. After describing our idea to Geoff, his first question was "When are you going to market?" which was a strong indicator that we had something viable on our hands. He mentioned that he and his team had recently discussed that they needed a better way to filter and vet performing acts and that there should be a single hub for this. Geoff provided us with a lot of great insights and contacts. He reaffirmed complaints we had heard about DJs and suggested that we pursue that further.
Key Takeaway: We need to connect with DJs - both good and bad.

Previously Touring Musician - 3/12

I interviewed Stuart, a 30 year old musician who had toured previously and is still growing his band. He said most club owners want to see your Facebook and myspace profiles, and most of his gigs came from cold calling (though his hit rate was 10% or less to book a gig). Another way he found gigs was talking to other bands and offering to open for them. This is all very time consuming, and he said if he was employed at the time most of the gigs would never have happened.

When asked about touring, he said most owners would not take a chance on outside bands - a need would could fulfill by assuring the quality of the non-local band through the ratings and reviews. He suggested that a good city to look at with a large number of our target musicians would be Athens, GA. He also suggested that, in addition to bar/club owners, fraternities and sororities should be a consideration, since they typically pay highly for bands and, right now, find them by word of mouth.

I then described our service and asked him how much he would pay for it. He said $20 to $25 a month, though if we had some sort of premium service he would be willing to pay more since he's older than many musicians (i.e. $25 a month is accessible to high schoolers).

He also mentioned Smith 7's in Memphis, which gets young musicians to sign contracts to produce a bands t-shirts, posters, CDs, etc. He said many of these companies are huge rip-offs and an alternative to that would be a huge added bonus.

Name Change and New Business Canvas

UPDATE: We are now Giggity!

The Best DJ of african music in the City is a MSB MBA

When DJ Kweks heard that one of the teams is working on a platform to connect bands with venues he was interested and contacted us. He was a great source of first hand information about the live music scene. The live music is played at the venues mostly by artists who are under contract or by promoters who cater to a certain type of audience with certain music. Its a numbers game to get a chance to play at the venues. He used his business acumen and starting building audience by offering happy hours when he performed. The audience loved his music and were hooked and there was no looking back. Now he says he doesnt need any promoter to enter a venue and ask for a chance, his numbers speak for themselves. But he also agrees that not everyone can do that and it will be great to have platform that makes selecting bands easier for the venues and at the same time helps bands build a reputation and get them gigs to play.

Unger graduate who love to watch baseball games with friends

Charlie hauffe is an undergrad at Georgetown and loves attending gaming events. He knows about them through his friends and his searches on smartphone. The one problem he faces is finding one place where he has information about every single game happening in the city and be able to buy or know where ti buy tickets and the app should provide him with non sporting events too. He os willing to pay for it but only a one time download fee. He would love it if he can interact with and form a rsvp of his friends within the app.

Student from out of town

I interviewed another student who is from new york and likes attending events especially charity events or food festivals. She checks for them only once in a month and actually attends one once in a quarter. She finds it difficult to find the right kind if events especially to know if the events are as good as they sound. She prefers going to events with a friend but will attend a event alone as long as it is educational in some way. She would definitely use an app to find events but wouldnt use it very often. She will pay for it but no more than a one time few of 2.99

Mom and Daughter who are friends on facebook

I found a Lady and her daughter waiting for their transit connection and asked them about events they attend.
They were very friendly and most of the time completing each others' sentences. They were from Massachusetts, loved going out as a family(the daughter loves going alone too). They had difficult finding events that they can attend together. They generally know about events from fliers, word of mouth and ticketing sites. They are willing to pay for the app, wouldnt mind advertisements but they want the app to remember their choices, likes and send pop up notifications about the new events around them and offer deals and discounts

First Interview with a stranger

Location : National Airport
Time : 10:30

I have always been a shy person and had difficulty talking to people I know already. Talking to a total stranger is scary. I scouted the area to find people to whom I can talk to and always found excuses to not approach. After quite a search found a lady just waiting for her cellphone to get charged.

I approached her,introduced myself and asked if I can talk to her about a research project that we are doing. She said she is busy and cannot. I insisted on talking to her and said it will be done in 5 minutes. She was an african american woman in her 40s. She is on business from New York. She said she attends events only once in a while and only movies and tours. She said she wouldnt use an app on her smartphone as she wants to keep it clean but will use it if there is a web interface. She prefers learning about events from internet and television ads.

Tuesday Night 3/11, Interview with Live Music Venues- Mu

I visited four live music venues yesterday night. All of them locate near Dupont Circle. I started my interview around 19:00 and got great feedback form two managers.

The first venue I interviewed was John at the Utopia Bar&GRILL on the U St. They host great bands and dance nights in the two performance spaces. Most of the bands they used were promoted by bands agents and friends’’ recommendation, John wants bands to perform in professional way which means they show up on time, play good music and interact with the audience. If the bands were good enough, the Black Cat willing to have long term cooperation with them and pay certain amount of money. John believed the most important things for the Bands he would use were great music and reliable, so, John like the idea that we offer to have a platform to link directly with the bands that he never used. He said the new talented bands were always welcome to him, but he need to know the past stage experience, track record and demos form the bands. He use the agents because they can offer reliable bands, if we can offer the same service with cheaper price and more chooses, he would not hesitate to use our service.

The second successful interview happened in Black Fox Lounge with LAURA. It's a jazz lounge, the performance space is small and it maintains a small size of performers too. Usually Laura cooperates with few long-term performers but she is always open for new good performers. Because she only focused on Jazz, so, if we could offer service that promoting new Jazz performers every month, she would definitely try to reach them and invite them to show in the lounge.  

Tuesday Night - 3/11 Bar Interviews - Paul

Hema and I began by going to bars in Georgetown to talk with managers on how they make live music decisions, focusing on M Street. Many of the managers either didn't have the time to talk or couldn't talk for long, however we got some great insights.

The best interview in Georgetown was with David at the Rhino bar. Due to noise restrictions in the Georgetown area and a limited space, they only use DJs, and have no plans to change that. Currently, he contracts a company which supplies DJs, and the company is responsible for making sure the DJ shows up, stays on the set list, and acts professionally. Other than that, David doesn't care who the DJ is. Without even posing a question or prompt, he said you know what I really want and would make my life easier - some kind of automated DJ that stays on the theme I pick but can also take requests. I asked him if it would be something like an off-site DJ which still takes requests and is hooked into the sound equipment by computer. I really think the closest product to what he is looking for is TouchTunes.

Second best interview in G'town was Robert at Mr. Smith's of Georgetown. He said they used to have live music, but its been a few years. Like most bars in Georgetown, they switched from live music due to noise restrictions, and now function as a piano bar. He currently contracts out two piano players, and they have each been playing at the bar for five years or more, and he expressed no need to change from his current state.

After realizing from a few other bars that we would have trouble finding establishments with live music, we went to the Courthouse/Ballston area. There the best interview was with Jonathan at Ragtime, a cajun bar which regularly hosts live music. Jonathan said they try to have a wide variety of music, and that he spends a significant amount of time finding or vetting and booking shows, but he couldn't think of another way to book. Because the bar was busy he asked that we talk later and gave me his card. 

Tuesday Morning 3/11 - Paul

First interview was Paige (F-W-late 20s), who mainly goes to concerts and plays. Location is the biggest factor in attending events, though if there is a band or show she really wants to see she will travel. She usually learns about events from TV and radio commercials, but this leads to a lot of missed events due to them already being sold out. Like most, she says she would use an app to find events near her, and would pay up to $5, also wanting ticket purchasing features to be included. However, she expressed that she thought something like this might already be out there, yet hadn't downloaded it - her pain point is not great enough to spur her to action.

Kevin (M-W-30s) goes to a wide variety of events from games to stand up comedians to holiday events, however he seemed unimpressed by the app idea. I would think he would be our target customer - younger, tech savvy, and said he checks multiple websites for events - however, he expressed little need for this type of app. He said that it would be a nice thing to be able to find all the events in one place, however he doesn't mind checking multiple info sessions right now, and would not pay for this app, though ads would be fine. He said he would LIKE (not need or want badly) something where he could save his previous favorite events, try to stay in a certain area, and get notified when an event matches his profile.

Tuesday Night - 2 Live Music Venues (3/11)

I visited a handful of live music venues tonight. Two of them had their booking agents on hand and both seemed eager to chat (I think their jobs are boring between 7-9pm, before the acts go on).

10) Leigh, DC, Twins Jazz - Female, Black, Late 50s
Twins Jazz is a fairly established Jazz venue on U St. It is small, but can pull some locally known names on weekends. During the week, though, they get a wide variety of acts. These all come through their website or emails - bands reach out directly asking to play, they reply asking for clips and bios, a back and forth ensues. They often get bands that do not fit their interests (non-Jazz). Sometimes this is okay if it is close (Blues, light r&b), but most times it is not and sometimes results in bands performing who do not fit the bar. They occasionally get house bands, but it is hard to keep them as they can't draw a steady crowd. Bands are compensated well - 70% of cover. A lot of acts are found via word of mouth and personal connections, but she noted that she doesn't really care about the relationship aspect of finding acts.
Leigh freaked out when she heard our idea. She wants it and wants to use it. She said it would make her job much easier and give her time for other things.
Key Takeaway: Venues are assaulted with acts. Their challenge isn't necessarily choosing the good from the bad, but choosing the act that best matches their venue.

11) Mack, DC, Brixton - Male, White, Late 20s
Brixton is a large, 3 story bar on U St. They have bands on weekdays and DJs on weekends. Mack gave me a LOT of good info. His ideal situation would be to have a regular band for every day of the week, but this isn't possible because bands can't bring consistent crowds each week for a single venue. He said that bands often reach out, but they are fortunate in that a part owner of the bar is a member of Thievery Corporation (mid-name band) and he passes artists along. Sometimes they reach out to bands they like, too. Lots of bands reach out b/c Brixton is a big name and they like the exposure and compensation it offers. They have no formalized expectations of crowd size, etc. DJs are easy to get, but unreliable - 1 in 4 flake out or are terrible. Bands are harder to acquire, as they want a group that fits their needs. Bands never flake, though. Crappy acts come through all the time and he feels like there isn't anything he can do about it.
Important quote: "We are a bar, not a music venue. We get people to play here to make the experience better for our customers; we don't get people to play here to get customers."
Big challenges: Lack of vetting, lack of skill in performers
Upon hearing about our idea, he thought it would be very helpful, especially the rating system. However, he said that most venues have reservations regarding ratings as they know how Yelp! can destroy a bar's reputation. He said a free site is great, but they would totally pay $20 a month for access. The easier the better - he wants an accessible site that gives a detailed list w/ very specific genres. He said many bands exaggerate their genres and that this needs to be deciphered. Ideally - 2 steps to narrow down to 10 bands. 15 minutes or less.
Also, St. Paddy's Day is coming up and they needed an Irish band. He looked everywhere to find an "Irish" group. He mentioned that really specific things like this should be available.
Key Takeaway: Vet the bands, make sure they are serious.

Tuesday Night - Booking Agent Interview (3/11)

9) Aaron, DC - Male, White, Late 20s
Aaron is a friend and fellow MBA student at MSB. In his previous life, he was a booking agent for 6th and I in DC, a mid-sized venue that hosts a variety of acts, but likes to focus on indie rock. He explained to me how the booking process goes on his end. I won't go into details here, but essentially it is 1/3 of his job and takes a fair amount of time. That time is mostly spent vetting bands - figuring out if they work for the space, if they are reliable, if they can draw a crowd, etc. He said that even though they are mid-sized and typically pulled national acts, they would still consider local acts and emerging artists. Sometimes he would even reach out to artists on his own (rather than them contacting him) b/c he had heard them somewhere or heard good things about them. They often did emerging artist showcases, too.
A real challenge for Aaron was getting the info he needed upfront. Many bands wouldn't be 100% truthful in the info they sent out. Another challenge was selling the space to people who hadn't heard of the venue (this is more for established acts).
He liked the hub idea, but mentioned the competition (Reverb Nation & Poll Star). He understood, though, that we were filling a different niche and thought that small venues would benefit from our service (bars, etc.).
He really wants to see the bands being monitored by someone to ensure that awful acts aren't going through. "There needs to be trust."
Key Takeaway: This is viable, but there are points that need to be covered; specifically trust.

Tuesday Evening - Artist Interview (3/11)

8) Tom, DC - Male, White, late 20s

Tom is a fellow MBA student and a good friend of mine. He also happens to be one of the best guitar players I know, which he should be as he went to undergrad to study classical guitar. Tom spent a lot of time in NYC gigging, while also working a full-time job. He said that it was a lot of work finding and emailing different venues. They all ask for:

    List of places you’ve played

    # of followers

    # of likes

    Activity on social media

He tried using promoters but found that some of them were sketchy; they would call the day of the event and say, "by the way, you have to bring 50 people or you have to pay the venue" etc.

Tom thought a service like ours would fill a large void and that he would definitely pay for it, as he spent a great deal of time doing the work that our site would do for him.

Key Takeaway: The promoters being sketchy wasn't something I considered - we should look more into it.

New Direction

After speaking with our Startup Mentors Alyssa, Jeff, and Eric, we discovered that at our most basic essence, we had two key focuses: serving as a hub and creating filters. How could we apply these to niche communities? After batting around ideas for awhile, we came upon a B2B solution: a LinkedIn-esque website for local, unsigned bands and small venues.

Let me explain:

I used to be in a band when I lived in NYC. I had a full-time job and this was a fun thing for me and my friends to do evenings and weekends. I spent a lot of time trying to find venues, though. I would Google "best small music venues NYC" to find a bunch of pages about small venues for bands. I would check each page individually to find how to get in touch, what kind of music they wanted, etc. I spent A LOT of time on this. Why couldn't it be easier?

The idea is bands create profiles featuring band bios, music, reviews of them by venues they have played at, links to social media pages (to see number of followers ie. popularity), etc. Bands pay a monthly fee for the site (maybe $15?). Venues have their own pages with similar info. You can filter out what you are looking for (Venues that host bands that play folk music and draw crowds of about 50 people and play original music) and connect with those users individually. It would also offer musicians the option to order posters and other merchandise and have it shipped directly to the venue.

This is an untapped market. Reverb Nation and other sites do something similar, but they all target either touring bands or bands that want to "get signed." No one is targeting local bands that are just starting or wish to remain local. This is a HUGE market, especially in big cities.


Going forward, we will interview promoters and live acts.

Tuesday Morning Industry Expert Interview (3/11)

Thank you Prof. Koester for connecting me with Mack. He was a great resource! The only downside is that he is super busy and could not schedule an in-person meeting; we had to speak over the phone.

7) Mack, DC - Male, White, 30s(?)
Mack is an industry expert on events websites and applications. Years ago, he and some friends beta tested an app called "Spontaneous." He sent me a few pics of it, and it looks almost exactly like our idea. He said that this events finding app has been tried hundreds of times and no one has been successful, for a variety of reasons. Primarily: it is really hard to get enough, viable info to satisfy a user. No one is going to upload the content to your app, so you have a few choices: 1. Do it yourself 2. Pay someone to do it 3. Build a server structure that crawls the web for events and uploads them to your app, which is virtually impossible due to the variety of postings. His app tried to do the 3rd option by looking for tag associations and commonalities. They had 2000 events per month, but needed 4x that. No one was using it. Not enough events per day, and not enough nearby. They thought they could do a round of funding and get $1 million, but that it would just be wasted in the end. He mentioned another key thing: events apps are too broad. You almost need a different app for every single niche community: mom app, hipster app, city app, etc. People in Pittsburgh only go to events their friends are going to, while people in NYC will go to events alone. Most people have blogs or websites they follow for event postings specific to their tastes.
Key Takeaway: Find a niche and exploit it. Also, many have tried at this and none have succeeded.

Tuesday Morning Interviews @ the Airport (3/11)

I was able to do 6 (count 'em!) interviews this morning at the airport. Prof. Koester was right - people at the airport have nowhere to go and are more than willing to chat. My goal was to speak with average people who would be potential users of our app. I spent my first 15 minutes there pacing up and down the corridor, trying to build up the nerve to approach someone. I kept coming up with reasons not to interview someone: he's eating, she's on her phone, that guy has earbuds in. Finally, I just bit the bullet and went for it:

1)  Dave, CT - Male, White, early 50s
Dave was my first interviewee. He was very interested in events as his wife is a Broadway reviewer and he is an avid airshow fan (former pilot). His primary concern in choosing an event was interest in the topic, although proximity to family was important. This was evident in the fact that he was at the airport returning to Connecticut after visiting his daughter just to go to a sports event. Dave typically checks the newspaper and online for events each day. He does NOT own a smartphone and isn't crazy about GPS. He would use a website for events once a week though and is open to ads. He brought up the idea of having discounted events on the website, which would be a big draw for him.
Key Takeaway: Dave searches out specific events, rather than waiting for events to pop up.

2) Jen, NY - Female, White, late 30s
Jen doesn't go to adult-focused events too often as she has kids. She usually goes to concerts or the theatre once a quarter. Weekends are preferred. She is very willing to travel. Jen is tech savvy and has email alerts sent to her for specific kinds of events. She does not use her smartphone for events, though. She would use our app (didn't seem super excited though) and is open to both ads and a one-time fee of $5. Preferences (filters) are key for her. Jen also mentioned that she would like to do things with her kids.
Key Takeaway: Even the tech savvy aren't necessarily interested in the app.

3) Kim, NC - Female, White, early 40s
Kim doesn't go to many events for adults; occasionally a play, concert, or sporting event. She does, however, go to events for kids quite often, as she has two high school students. Saturdays in the daytime are best. Family friendly is the most important thing an event can be to her. She doesn't care if friends are going. She typically hears about events through magazines or the newspaper, once a week. Doesn't really use her smartphone for events, not on social media. Always checks reviews. When pushed on the app, she said it sounds like something her kids would use.
Key Takeaway: Maybe we should be targeting young people more.

4) Sunga, DC - Female, Black, late 20s
Sunga LOVES to go to events. In fact, she was at the airport because she was flying to an event. Yes - she is willing to fly across the country for an event (specifically concerts and conferences). She has a flexible schedule and disposable income, so no big deal. Location and weather are very important to her in choosing an event. She doesn't care if friends are there. Food is very important, though. She finds events online and gets emails from her favorite venues (BAM, etc.). She uses her smartphone for this all the time, but does not like GPS due to the tracking capabilities. She has never found herself wanting for something to do, as she typically lives in big cities. She would use our events app and is willing to pay a nominal fee. She thinks filters would be very important.
Key Takeaway: Sunga seems like our ideal users, although she is turned off by the GPS function. Perhaps this is something we should allow to be turned on/off.

5) Kira, MD - Female, White, Late 60s/early 70s
Kira is retired and likes going to events in the daytime. She receives mailings from her favorite venue, the Strathmore. She doesn't own a smartphone, but has an iPod Touch she uses to find events and buy tickets. She seemed a bit interested in our app, but said she liked her mailings and the fact that she has a relationship with Strathmore.
Key Takeaway: I've noticed this several times - people like getting mailings from their favorite venues. What gives?

6) Leslie, DC - Male, Black, early 30s
Leslie is a truck driver and listens to the radio 8 hours a day. He hears about events on the radio (and sometimes TV) and then goes to those. He like bar events like karaoke and special events at museums, like King Tut's tomb at the Smithsonian. He does a lot of research before going to an event. He hears about it on the radio first, decides if it is for him, and then does the research. He would never pay for our app, but might use it.
Key Takeaway: People know what they want. They don't need an app telling them.

Monday Night Interview Fiasco (3/10)

In order to find more information on our Events-based app "Shindig," Hema and I went to Politcs & Prose, a bookstore in Tenleytown, to speak with people at an event they were hosting. The bookstore was hosting a reading by Nell Lake, author of "The Caregiver." Upon arriving, we quickly realized that "The Caregiver" was about end of life care and right to die. Everyone in attendance for the reading was there because they had recently lost someone. Not the ideal environment for interviews.

Key Takeaway: RESEARCH YOUR INTERVIEWEES!

Shindig Business Model Canvas #1

Interview w/ Candice

Candice only goes to 1-2 concerts per year, but the fascinating thing is that she wants to go to more but does not have the time to look for upcoming concerts. She says, "It would be nice to have one place to go to and search for every venues' upcoming events instead of going to each individual site.  By the time you hear about stuff on the radio it is sold out."

She usually does search for the games or concerts on her iPhone, and purchases tickets on her iPad, but is frustrated with how hard it is to find out about events around her. She said she would use an app to find events around her once a week, and would be willing to pay between $1 and $5 for the app, but would want to try it first, and advertisements or suggested events would not bother her. She would also want the app to be able to handle ticket purchases natively.