Idea for new website - Feedback wanted

T

T.B.B.

Inspired
Hey,

I'm having some idea for a new website..technically its not about the axe...
but there are so many awesome guitar players around here (and band people)
which could give me some feedback. Its still in the early idea phase..
but right now im fascinated by it and i was wondering if it would work out!

The idea:

One sentence: A video platform for musicians who can share live feeds of themselves combined with game theory and live stages

Ok, there are plenty of websites around here which offer live video recording and such things.
So why another one you may ask? Well, let's try to focus on the musician/band here....
The site would provide like 5 (or X) main channels for e.g. Electro, Rock/Alternative, Indie, Metal whatever
Viewers can choose between those..and will get a live video from multiple bands. (like on a festival where each band has a timeslot for a stage)
Here is the catch: Musicians on the site need to collect "thumbs up" to be able to enter the channel for a time slot.

E.g. As a musician i would register on the site and be a new member. Ill be able to have my own streaming session on the page,
and people can watch me play guitar (a nice solo, jam with other people, rehearsal) whatever.
When I get more votes (thumbs up), I would be able to get a time slot in one of the "beginner" main channels. (where more people watch)
When i get good votes for my performance, i may able to get to the next amateur stage. And so on...eventually till up to the BigStage.
In that case the BigStage would be a real professional channel, so its harder to get a time slot (more votes) but more (a lot) of people
will watch you...and you may get more famous/fans and be on the main central page. (it would be even more amazing to get some huge bands to live
perform there e.g.)

So its practical a website with core gaming techniques (leveling up) till you made it to the top.
For musicians: A nice push to practice as you will get more fans/likes and be able to play at the front of a bigger audience eventually.
For viewers: Find new bands, new musicians...and everything is live!
So what do you think?

From my side: I would use it as long a lot of people would watch the big channels. (its like a little live performance from home ^^)
And with the axe..i could guarantee a good audio signal.
Maybe the idea already exists as a site..though i didnt find anything...

edit: @Chris: forgot to add that in the most optimal way some of these main channels (like beginner - amateur) would be 24h/day. (so no scheduling for that)
for the bigger events..there would be additional planning needed. (like once a month/a week maybe). Thanks for the feedback :)
 
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I like the idea. I do a live stream on my site mostly to teach people how to do something. I have HD quality video 3000 Kbps and 320 Kbps stereo audio. That doesn't come cheap.

The hardest part is going to be getting a good mix for the entire band. Each band will need their own mixer large enough to mic everything, skills to mix and sculpt the sound for the heavily compressed web audio, then the bandwidth and upload speed to broadcast at a high enough quality so that doesn't become part of the judgment criteria.

As much as I love the live concept, it's a ton of scheduling to just get the band there at the same time, then the audience has to be there too :)

Just a lot of moving parts which would need a lot of coordination and gear.

Love the concept though.
 
any one else? :D If you dont like it or wouldnt use it...then just say it...feedback is feedback nontheless ;)
 
What's your revenue stream? Ads? The bandwidth is going to cost; no one is going to begrudge you making a buck off it, but how you do it is an important consideration.
 
yes revenue streams are important and without them nothing works out. But for me right now the more important question is if people would like
the idea and use it. Then I can still think about it (doesnt say i dont have any ideas about it)..just want to highlight the idea behind it,
which is much more important and get some feedback from you guys.
 
So basicly a musician's blend of YouTube and Twitch.tv?

Sounds interesting.
There's a huge downside to this though: it's very hard to create a high quality live-feed of a concert (from a technical perspective). It usually requires a lot of additional equipment and someone who runs it while you play. So in the end, the best videos will always come from someone who has the best technical expertise, not neccesarily the most fun band. Also, it will be hard to generate a large enough userbase to support the idea.
Other than that, the concept is indeed interesting; could be a great way to advertise your band and get more fans, if you include a robust search algorithm for various music styles, locations, etc..

There's one more thing you need to pay attention to before you put up your site: intellectual property rights. Get a lawyer's advice on this. Critical themes here are: who owns the rights to the videos uploaded? What are the rules for uploads (in terms of "sensitive content" like offensive lyrics or when it comes to covers)? Also; who will moderate the uploads? There has to be a security concept because as you run this site, you are personally held responsible for all content on your page.
 
I like your idea very much. So to understand, once the jam session/gig has ended, will the viewers not be able to vote anymore? I would say, make it live streaming and then have a window of a few days where viewers can watch the recorded session and still decide if they are going cast their vote. Maybe that's what you already meant, if so then awesome! :)
 
chucma said:
I like your idea very much. So to understand, once the jam session/gig has ended, will the viewers not be able to vote anymore? I would say, make it live streaming and then have a window of a few days where viewers can watch the recorded session and still decide if they are going cast their vote. Maybe that's what you already meant, if so then awesome! :)
Click to expand...
Check out twitch.tv, to get an example of how this works and could work; it's basicly the same just for games. ;)
 
Another thing is, you would have to be careful if bands do covers, you could get hit with some serious bills if everyone starts covering the most popular song of the time. Record companies (or the powers that be) would want their royalties. You could either get a license for this, and pay royalties, or filter out covers somehow.
 
Zwiebelchen said:
So basicly a musician's blend of YouTube and Twitch.tv?

Sounds interesting.
There's a huge downside to this though: it's very hard to create a high quality live-feed of a concert (from a technical perspective). It usually requires a lot of additional equipment and someone who runs it while you play. So in the end, the best videos will always come from someone who has the best technical expertise, not neccesarily the most fun band. Also, it will be hard to generate a large enough userbase to support the idea.
Other than that, the concept is indeed interesting; could be a great way to advertise your band and get more fans, if you include a robust search algorithm for various music styles, locations, etc..

There's one more thing you need to pay attention to before you put up your site: intellectual property rights. Get a lawyer's advice on this. Critical themes here are: who owns the rights to the videos uploaded? What are the rules for uploads (in terms of "sensitive content" like offensive lyrics or when it comes to covers)? Also; who will moderate the uploads? There has to be a security concept because as you run this site, you are personally held responsible for all content on your page.
Click to expand...

Technically I was going more in the direction of live streams rather than full uploads of stuff. (like younow.com) But yes it is still important to think about that too. (People would def. like to rewatch their streams) From the technical side. Yes I've thought a bit about it. Thats why there are going to be different main channels in the beginning. Like one main channel "Rock" for beginners. I imagine that there are going to be more people with more or less pro gear but still fun to watch.
If you want to go up the ladder (like getting a timeslot at the more professional channels (e.g. amateur Rock) you will need to have better gear and or the know how, how to get better audio signal - (cause of the other competitors who have a better quality and therefore more viewers)
but thats kinda the purpose: As a musician I always strive to get better in playing and recording. That would be a little extra motivator as i would see it. Thats also where good support can be handy or extra features on the site
to help out. (e.g. for premium users)

and compared to twitch i think it adds a little twist: there you just stream for fun, my idea tries to add some gameplay (level up) elements to the whole scenario. (getting the timeslots for a stage and moving up the ladder)
 
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chucma said:
Another thing is, you would have to be careful if bands do covers, you could get hit with some serious bills if everyone starts covering the most popular song of the time. Record companies (or the powers that be) would want their royalties. You could either get a license for this, and pay royalties, or filter out covers somehow.
Click to expand...

Yes thats true. If I'm gonna start this I'll def. get some legal advice (which is free here at my university for some hours :) )
Good question with the royalties...though I'm wondering how youtube did it at their beginning? I think they basically waited till they got the first legal letter from the studios :D
Also wondering how twitch does it right now...as they have a even bigger problem. Games like Rocksmith exist and people stream that music as well over twitch.
 
A good start would be to read the terms of agreement of YouTube and Twitch for a reference of how their legal departments work. It's usually very restrictive on their users; they take away almost all of your rights to the stuff you upload. There's also a team of moderators that constantly shoot videos with licenced media.

It might be a good start to limit your website to non-cover bands only. You can always upgrade to support coverbands at a later point when your userbase has grown.
The "live feed" feature should imho be optional. Allow bands to record and edit their videos or you will restrict your userbase way too much [Remember that for a live-feed, you need broadband internet connection available ... which is not always accessable in all venues]; again, there's much to learn from twitch here: Have a chat on live feeds and mark live feeds with a symbol, so that users can destinguish between uploaded videos and live-feeds.

Games with licenced music like GTA V or Rocksmith often end up getting removed from Twitch or YouTube by moderators. So I guess there IS a legal problem with those games. Most Let's Players disable music in GTA V. I don't know of any professional Let's Player who plays Rocksmith.
 
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