Indistr Archive

We’ve covered indie music site Indistr before including the exclusive launch of their latest version and founder Benjamin Gott provided a variety of tips for Startup Tips Month.

Today Indistr has launched another new feature called, “Name Your Own Price”. The idea is simple – fans can pay whatever they think the music is worth from $1 to $20 per album. The NYOP isn’t available for individual songs as of yet and musicians must accept this new pricing model or they can stick to pricing as they wish.

Let’s be honest here… I love the idea but as we’ve learned today, everyone wants everything for free – just look at my feed for a buck. Will fans want to pay more than $1 for an album? It’s an interesting test and I sure hope it works because it could be a change for the better in the industry – listen to the music and decide what it’s worth versus buying a cd for $17 an deciding it was only worth $2. We will check back with Benjaming in a few months to see how things are going with this new music-fan business model.

There’s just no real incentive to pay more than the minimum – perhaps if Indistr looked at some sort of badge system for the site showing off fans who support the indie artists on the site, that could help influence higher payments.

Kristen has her thoughts on the offering.

We reviewed INDISTR on their initial launch in January and described INDISTR as, "a way for indie music creators to sell their music to fans." It’s in the same category as Amie Street, they differ on pricing models.

INDISTR is relaunching this afternoon and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the new features but more importantly provide a 360-degree view on the upgrade from both Founder Benjamin Gott and from the design agency he worked with, Thought & Theory.

New Features

• Considerably enhanced search feature based on tags, popularity, etc. This was much, much needed.
• New rating feature.
• An ‘Other Artist You Might Like’ feature powered by tags and popularity – not genre.
• Easier-to-use checkout process.
• Easier-to-use backend for artists uploading/hosting their music.
• New design and branding

Interview with Founder Benjamin Gott

Allen: Can you share some stats on your first version? (musicians, downloads, etc.)

Benjamin: I’m not a fan of giving out exact numbers quite yet – although we do have a plan to start making our earnings, and thus the artist earnings public in the next 3-4 months. I will give you this very interesting statistic: I don’t have the exact percentage, but 90% of our sales are for complete albums, not individual tracks. That kind of blew my mind as I am quite often a single track purchaser myself. I think the buyer is different, they are considerably more tuned-into the artist they are buying from and love the fact that they are directly supporting the artist.

Allen: What led you to the decision to redesign/upgrade?

Benjamin: About a day before the original launch I was working on new designs! I am a classic over-thinker on things like design, so I am constantly thinking about ways to tweak and enhance. So when the time became available and I found a shop, Thought & Theory, that saw the vision of where we wanted to go with it – we went to work. It’s been really great working with them.

Allen: What goals did you set going into the upgrade?

Benjamin: I got a lot of emails saying the site wasn’t easily searched, the design was a bit stuck in the past, and various other insights/complaints. So we really took those to heart. Searching was one of the huge improvements. We didn’t have a tagging feature before – not a smart move – so we put that in place and it has greatly enhanced the search function as well as a new function we have that suggests other artists you might like based on similar tags and popularity. So search and then a lot of focus on a new design that would last and work as a solid platform to build a brand on. Beyond all that stuff, staying under budget was a huge thing. Thought+Theory were very in-tune with that so it worked out well. As with Mike Perry and Bruce Benson @ NuSoft solutions, our development partners, they really helped keep everything under control.

Allen: Were the goals met?

Benjamin: I think so. We have a lot of other ideas and functions we’d like to add, but I’m really happy with the results from this latest version.

Allen: With all of the talk this year about non-drm music, how will this affect (if at all) Indistr?

Benjamin: We, of course, don’t support DRMed music so it feels good to watch the other players in the market going the same way. The issue that seems to come up more than anything else is music prices eventually falling to nothing. I could write a 4 paragraph answer to this – but my general feeling is this: are people forgetting to put value on the artistic/creative effort? Just because its easier to produce music doesn’t mean its worth less in all cases!

Allen: Have you changed your monetization strategy?

Benjamin: Not at all. One of my favorite things about INDISTR is the ‘engine’ we built for payment to the artist. 75% to the artist instantly when their music is purchased. Very simple. We also eat the majority of paypal fees so they get as close as possible to that 75%. We really pride ourselves on that.

Allen: What’s been your biggest lesson learned since launch?

Benjamin: Have a proper team. I thought a lot of growth would come naturally by word-of-mouth. While it did to a certain degree, you still need to be out there putting in the work. That means hiring a full-time marketing and operations person which we did – Kevin Hockin, super excited to have him on board.

Allen: Now that the new site is here, what’s next?

Benjamin: A strong focus on growing the number of artists we have on the site. That’s really number one priority. And of course, our nature is to start thinking about the next levels of enhancements as well!

Interview with Thought & Theory – Jason Sadler and Dennis Eusebio

Allen: Why did you accept this project?

When we decided to start offering design services, we told ourselves that we would only work with the right people and the right ideas. This is a tough decision to make in the early stages, but we wanted to make sure that we worked with people that understood and respected what we could do for their project. Benjamin was one of those people.

Dennis and I really believed in INDISTR and felt that we could connect well with Benjamin. We all shared the same vision on the project and that helped ensure that this would be right for all people involved.

Allen: What were your thoughts about the previous INDISTR site?

The premise of INDISTR is great. It is the only site that guarantees the artists immediate pay-outs, at the full advertised percentages. The framework that Benjamin laid out for the previous version of the site was definitely solid, but it needed that extra push to keep people coming back. As Benjamin mentioned, search was very limited in the previous version.

One critical element of the previous site was the back-end for both the buyers and the artists. While most people won’t see all of this information, it is very important to create a simple experience for both parties.

Allen: What was your goal in the redesign?

Independent music is very organic and needs help to grow. Our main goal was to setup specific ways to create an experience that kept people involved. It’s easy to slap on a couple generic features that other music sites use, but its another to really think about what an independent music site needs.

An important element to the redesign was creating a unique voice for INDISTR. There are many other music sites, but it was really important to position and plan for INDISTR to provide everything independent artists and supporters would need.

Allen: Do you believe you accomplished your goal?

We believe we laid down a great framework for the future of INDISTR. While we accomplished our initial goals, our long-term goals for the site are still ahead of us and we look forward to continue to bring fresh ideas to the project. We are still waiting for the thank you cards and flowers.

Allen: What would be the one thing you wish you could have done?

We wanted to add a couple more features to the site, but these are coming down the pipes and will only further the growth of the site once implemented.

Allen: What’s coming next for Thought & Theory?

Thought & Theory is currently working with a select handful of clients as well as working on a few of our own projects. We are open to talk to anyone about their projects and look forward to building more great relationships in the future.

I hope you enjoyed reading this 360-degree view of a relaunch. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks to Ben and Thought and Theory for participating!

Last week I reviewed the launch of a new music site, Indistr. To find out more about the application and what the plans are for monetization along with some lessons about what a startup needs to be successful, I spoke with Benjamin Gott, founder of Indistr. Check out the interview below (sorry, no audio).

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Allen: Can you provide a brief background about yourself?

Benjamin Gott: I have worked in the ‘internet industry’ for about 8 years, had my first ‘real’ gig in high school around the middle of the first bubble. My skill set focused first on classic web-design and then moved to backend development pretty much exclusively in classic ASP. Moved around to different employers, did some consulting, a lot of freelance, and then decided to settle a bit in the supply chain industry developing international suppliers portals with a focus on the furniture industry vertical. I have no formal education/college education. I grew up in the south Chicago-land area and I now live in downtown the young thriving city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Love it. Also, I started and run THE BRILLIANCE with a great friend of mine Chuck Anderson of NoPattern as well as Virgil Abloh our sole contributor – and I have an absolute blast being a part of that site. Maybe more important than all that would be my background in music – of which I really don’t have any! I was never talented enough to be an artist myself, but music has an almost 24/7 presence in my life and I have always been surrounded by great friends that make great music – all of them being independent artists.

Allen: Where did the idea for Indistr come from?

Benjamin: I remember reading a magazine called ‘The Fader’ a while back, the issue had Cam’ron on the cover and he was explaining how the ‘mixtape game’ works in NYC and how hip hop artist have embraced that form of hand-to-hand distribution. I was fascinated to see how it worked without any ‘traditional’ record labels or distributors help. INDISTR really started happening this past summer when a great friend of mine, Christopher Kent, approached me to build a site where people could download his music on a site built specifically for him. I started brain storming ideas and really started to develop the idea of a very, very simple distribution model where music is uploaded, sold, and the artist is paid instantly. Enter INDISTR.

Allen: How many musicians do you have signed up so far?

Benjamin: I don’t like to discuss specific numbers this early on…but from our core base of beta testers we grew about 6-7x that number in the first 72 hours…was a pretty amazing thing to watch.

Allen: Can you share some information about your users?

Benjamin: Artists: They are heavily self-marketed, often solo artists – but not confined to that, motivated, and from every genre you could imagine. That’s really the beauty…these artist love what they do – they are passionate enough to take the risk and make music knowing that they may never ‘make it’ – they love what they do. Buyers: Internet savvy, pro-indie music, all ages, fans from all genres.

Allen: How do you monetize Indistr?

Benjamin: Super straight-forward – give the artist 75% instantly upon the purchase of their music and we keep the other 25%. We find it extremely important to be as straight forward as possible. Artist can upload as much music as they’d like for free, there is no limit, they can then bundle the music into an album and price it as they wish – no limit on the price or track count. Single tracks can be purchased for a fixed price of $1. Simple stuff…

Allen: Funded or self-funded?

Benjamin: Angel-funded by a local family…very, very small funding in comparison. And we find it important to keep initial funding low.

Allen: How are you marketing Indistr?

Benjamin: Very grass roots. One thing I have learned with running THE BRILLIANCE is the power of connecting with bloggers and being active on message boards, etc. They are so tactile – it’s a hand-to-hand marketing approach that spreads like wild fire. I love bloggers!!! I also love detractors – they seem to be the best people to get the word out quickly, they love to talk. Myspace has certainly helped as well.

Allen: What technology is used for Indistr?

Benjamin: The backend is done in ASP.net with an SQL database and the front end uses some Ajax stuff and minimal Flash where needed.

Allen: Who are your competitors?

Benjamin: Not as many as I thought there would be. Snocap for sure – they are a bit of an 800 pound gorilla in the indie music game, obviously with the MySpace deal. CDbaby is a bit, but they are still heavily focused on a brick-and-mortar type setup having a warehouse, etc. I would also say in a sense that Amie.st is, but they have a different model for pricing.

Allen: How does Indistr compare to Amie.st?

Benjamin: First off, let me say this – I really like Amie.st. In regards to how we compare – we have a completely different pricing model. Big difference is the ability to bundle music into albums and give the artist pricing control – Amie.st is dynamic pricing based on popularity. There payment terms are also more standard – I believe once a month, once a quarter? We are instant.

Allen: How does Indistr compare to iTunes?

Benjamin: One great thing about iTunes is the checkout process – can’t beat a client side application like that – very easy to buy music. But they are obviously more powered by the labels rather than the actual independent artist themselves. They have pretty much admitted that the store is there to power the sales of their iPod – and its working well. I know there are services out there to get your music into iTunes – but they are cumbersome and once it’s up it’s not easily changed. INDISTR is totally flexible allowing the artist to change album artwork, track sequence, add tracks, delete tracks, rename tracks, rename albums, adjust pricing, etc all on the fly. And, of course, we pay instantly.

Allen: What’s next for Indistr?

Benjamin: New design and search features! We just launched, but being a small house and needing to get to market quickly we ended up rushing the design in hindsight. I don’t hate the design we have right now, in fact some people have commented they really like it, but I just think it could be a lot better – heavy focus on usability and more fluid process for uploading music and building albums…as well as checking out.

I also really want to focus on more search features. Honestly – I really looked at INDISTR as a conduit site – not really a destination to find new music. You were simply referred there by an artist’s blog, Myspace, site, etc. But an overwhelming amount of feedback about searching, tagging, genres, etc have come up this past week. Fortunately we have been working on some of these features for the past few weeks – so be on the look out for some new functionality.

…and lots of growth!!

Allen: Do you find it’s harder to compete from Michigan vs. if Indistr was located in the Valley?

Benjamin: My favorite part about INDISTR might be that we are not in the Valley. I don’t have anything against the Valley – it’s a breeding ground filled with some really amazing people. The overhead costs here in Grand Rapids are obviously way, way lower – huge advantage for a start up in terms of securing funding. I think one thing about West Michigan that a lot of outsiders don’t know is the ‘fertile’ business climate. We have some seriously concentrated wealth here on the lake shore – its pretty amazing – and as manufacturing type industries go overseas this wealth needs to be invested somewhere – and I think its an amazing opportunity for young startups like myself to foster great relationships with very savvy business types that can not only invest, but give guidance. Since the business community is so concentrated there is a lot of hand-shaking, collaborating and overall respect – no back-stabbing allowed in a community this small. It’s made an amazing environment to start a business – I love it.

And lets not forget – it’s the world wide web.

Allen: What are the most important things that a startup must have to be successful?

Benjamin: Be frugal. Be focused. Spend the majority of your funding on whatever it is that will differentiate you in your market – the backend, or feature set. If you are using a service provider and not doing it in-house make sure you love who you pick. Be small until you need to be big – I find that to be very important, sort of something to live by. Another thing that is more left-field, some might disagree: don’t be afraid to build/develop your idea in a bit of a vacuum. Outside influence and opinions can be unbelievably distracting to what your initial vision was/is. I’m not saying don’t do market research – but be cautious that you don’t live and die by a focus-groups opinion or what all the tech/venture blogs are saying. I’m sure there are more, but one of the most important is to have as much fun as possible – that’s the magic in our favorite companies – they love what they do.

Allen: Which Web apps besides Indistr you believe is next to be a star?

Benjamin: Swivel.com! Love that site – I may be wrong, but I really see them being acquired for a decent chunk of change. Their model is great – and they really focus on business, not consumers. They will be one of the first true ‘Business 2.0′ companies embraced by really, really large (sometimes boring) companies that have massive amounts of information that needs to be cataloged, compared and acted upon. Brilliantly simple.

Allen: Where do you see the digital music moving in the next year?

Benjamin: I’m biased of course, but I really see the shift being control back into the hands of the artist. Record sales need to be so high today to make the existing models work – and with artist doing their own distribution on sites like INDISTR it makes things so much easier. Selling 100,000 records in a year’s time would be more than enough as an indie artist. In today’s world, selling that few records would get you dropped from your label! But I also don’t think all artists are capable of managing the business end of things – such as marketing themselves and perhaps using INDISTR for distribution – so I think we’ll see the traditional label model kind of fade away while management type models will be king – distribution will happen directly on sites such as INDISTR. DRM will really start disappearing more and more – but until the iPod loses market share there is no reason for Steve Jobs to get rid of their DRM – why would he?

This morning, INDISTR launched. Indistr offers a way for indie music creators to sell their music to fans. Seems pretty similar to Amie Street. Indistr is founded by Benjamin Gott and is self-funded out of Michigan. Check out the Indistr Life blog for more information from Benjamin.

The big difference between Indistr and Amie Street is in the pricing model. Indistr uses a self-set pricing; that is I set the price as the artist and make 75% of the sales. Amie Street uses a volume pricing model where songs begin free and then move up based on downloads to a max of 99 cents.

Benjamin says, "A new conduit is truly needed – there are way too many artist and groups out there with amazing talent, vision, branding knowledge and market savvy with no real distribution channel where they control every aspect and see the majority of income. It’s just needed right now – indie music has truly arrived."

I will say that typing Indistr is not easy. You just want to go for the E after the I. I hope that people don’t accidentally go to the wrong site because of it!

Good luck to Benjamin and the team and we wish them all the success in the world!