Over the past couple of years, as digital services and tools for musicians have proliferated, the search for the perfect tool has given way to a search for the perfect toolkit.
As companies jockey to provide the perfect brand of analytics data or social media or digital distribution, everybody from private platforms (Indaba) to unions (the American Federation of Musicians) to major labels (Warner Brothers) are all looking to group these apps and services together into compelling one-stop shops. And in the coming months, a promising platform called Indie Ambassador will enter this fray as well.
Developed by Ben Maitland-Lewis and Chris Cave, a pair of veteran musician and artist managers who also run a full-service alternative marketing and management company called Sidehatch Entertainment, the Indie Ambassador platform is meant to create a horizontal playing field for bands seeking to do business. Maitland-Lewis, who founded Sidehatch, has extensive experience to draw on. The Berklee grad has played percussion in everything from a symphony orchestra to a drumline to an indie rock band, and he's worked in music marketing, both as a band manager and at Sony, since he was in high school.
“We're not coming in to this as venture capitalists who think it would be cool to dive into music," Maitland-Lewis told me. “This is what we eat, sleep and love everyday."
“This is literally a product of our environment," he continued. “We've been in this our whole lives."
Music start-ups are far from a sure thing. But Maitland-Lewis had the knowledge, experience, and entrepreneurial drive to fully pursue Sidehatch, and eventually Indie Ambassador, and he was confident enough in its success to walk away from a coordination and management position that Sony offered him after graduation.
“I didn't want to move to New York and give up everything I was working on independently to work in an office all day," he said. “I wanted to see what I could build."
WAMM: What influenced you and Chris [Cave] to start the Indie Ambassador service? Ben Maitland-Lewis: Dating back from 2004 to about the end of 2008, we were actively managing bands and promoting various brands and festivals. We were managing a couple bands out here [in the Boston Area] and a couple on the West Coast; there was always this constant challenge to keep all the band members, as well as ourselves, on the same page, as well as to manage all the various aspects of each and every one of their careers in a way that sort of kept everything together and organized. We saw this need, this hole, to create a system where bands and music entrepreneurs can better manage themselves. We felt that by stepping back on the direct management role with these bands, it would be better to build a platform to enable an industry to self-manage themselves and create a conducive environment for growth by keeping things transparent in one location. It's really a way for us to give a large contribution to music as a whole and to its future development by giving entrepreneurs the tools and resources necessary to build transparent, sustainable careers.
The site is currently in a Beta stage. How do you plan on running the site once it is fully live? It's going to be a subscription-based platform that starts out with free, basic access that gives you a limited amount of services, but definitely enough to kind of do what you need to do. The next paid platform will be the music entrepreneur level, which is for someone who is in a band, probably does some session work on the side, might also produce some records on the side, do whatever. For that type of individual who is a little more active, there will be more tools to cater to that, as well as more user and member benefits which include a lot of our third party affiliate discounts. The next level up from that is for more a pro account, which is meant for indie labels and professionals to basically help them better manage their entire roster.
Ben Maitland-Lewis
One of the reasons why we are a subscription based service is because relying on a free system and selling advertising kind of limits us to how we can grow and help the independent community. We don't want to simply rely on Viagra commercials and things like that; we want to have a very clean, fast running system with some money coming in so we can provide better opportunities, like tour support for bands. We don't want to be like “these are our bands, you're signing on to our service and we are your master." It's more like “let us grow as a company so we can provide more opportunities for artists using our platform."
What kinds of musicians are you targeting with Indie Ambassador? What is your main demographic or target audience? Active musicians and music entrepreneurs within that space are basically our target: musicians who are actively touring, playing, recording, doing session work, publishing their music works, and people like that. I think the system is mainly geared towards those who are physically active in the industry, growing their career, and who could use a tool to help them better organize the chaos, versus those who are just getting started. I think that's predominantly where the free account comes into play. For those that are getting started who are looking for some tips, looking for some ideas for a framework or a blueprint to sort of figure out the steps that they need to take. They will also have access to other members as well as being able connect to third party intermediaries such as agents, managers, reps, and promoters. Our members are going to be able to see certain patterns that other bands are doing and what might work for them. They'll also be able to look into some third party affiliates like health insurance, gear rentals, and all the necessities. A band that is physically active within the industry is going to be able to use all of these available tools to their advantage and save a ton of time, money, and aggravation.
There are a few other sites and companies that kind of work to do similar things. Do you see those companies as competition? How do you plan on setting yourself apart from them? There are definitely good companies in the space, 100%; there are a couple who we have on our radar. I don't really see them as competitors over partners. What we're doing is if you were to combine a LinkedIn, QuickBooks, FanBridge, Sonicbids, Yelp, and all of your awesome consultants in the industry, we're working to aggregate all of that into a single platform that's transparent while using a secure online and mobile platform. The thing I see as mainly separating ourselves from the rest is that we're based around the music entrepreneur, that is, the individual using the account. All these “individuals" then create groups and invite their colleagues to participate. It's less so much signing up as a band; it's more signing up as you as a person, and from there you can build your own personal music space and manage it henceforth. That's one of our main differences.
On top of that, all of our third party affiliates' resources will be available to members. With our tour routing software, for example, not only can you tour the areas that work for you and your budget, you can also select routes from maps and geo-based analytics and it will pull up your different intermediaries and support systems like hotels and restaurants, where a lot of it has user generated reviews, integrated email messaging, social media and profiles, all that type of stuff, all built into the system and on your mobile platform, as well as direct to fan merchandising. All those other systems don't have that, we're going have it and it's going to be a lot easier for bands.
Basically, we're going to make it so easy for bands and music entrepreneurs to use that they end up seeing the benefits of actually being a diligent manager of their own career. No one likes to balance checkbooks or keep track of Excel sheets, but we're going to make it so easy that it becomes a natural piece and a valuable tool for them to be able to continue to build a sustainable career for themselves.
How would all these different players utilize Indie Ambassador? What will keep everyone connected? When we decided to dive full force into this system, we were acting as a management & artist development company. So for us, we envisioned the interface as having a list of all our clients so we can go in and out of each account and keep an ideal tally of everything that's happening with each one of our clients. So too is the mentality of Indie Ambassador.
Indie labels need to keep track of their assets: money is going in and out, tour budgets have to be balanced, mechanical royalties need to be split, pay is going this way and that. Producers are a big part of the system; they can manage their recording schedules and projects, release dates, royalties, and a lot more. They're a big part of the system. Booking agents will able to video-conference with the bands while routing so they're going to be able to really communicate and have that open line of communication while everything goes on. When the tour manager is on the road with the band and they are running low on t-shirts or sold out of CD's, he could go onto his computer or iPhone and order those and they'll get drop shipped to the nearest location on their tour.
In terms of the individual, the managers starting out, the management companies, the agencies, the labels, these guys are all going to be able to be a part of it and we welcome that. They are also going to be able to come aboard and offer up their services at a discount to Indie Ambassador members to help build a better environment for the independent movement, essentially.
I think another type of thing that we are going to be doing in the future is allow keyhole access to certain entities who are going to want to see who the top touring, revenue generating, or fan heavy bands are in the independent space. We're going to want to be able to promote those artists and help them make the connections needed to grow to the next level.
Indie Ambassador plans to launch into Private Beta later this year. If you would like a Pre-Beta account, click here.
As companies jockey to provide the perfect brand of analytics data or social media or digital distribution, everybody from private platforms (Indaba) to unions (the American Federation of Musicians) to major labels (Warner Brothers) are all looking to group these apps and services together into compelling one-stop shops. And in the coming months, a promising platform called Indie Ambassador will enter this fray as well.
Developed by Ben Maitland-Lewis and Chris Cave, a pair of veteran musician and artist managers who also run a full-service alternative marketing and management company called Sidehatch Entertainment, the Indie Ambassador platform is meant to create a horizontal playing field for bands seeking to do business. Maitland-Lewis, who founded Sidehatch, has extensive experience to draw on. The Berklee grad has played percussion in everything from a symphony orchestra to a drumline to an indie rock band, and he's worked in music marketing, both as a band manager and at Sony, since he was in high school.
“We're not coming in to this as venture capitalists who think it would be cool to dive into music," Maitland-Lewis told me. “This is what we eat, sleep and love everyday."
“This is literally a product of our environment," he continued. “We've been in this our whole lives."
Music start-ups are far from a sure thing. But Maitland-Lewis had the knowledge, experience, and entrepreneurial drive to fully pursue Sidehatch, and eventually Indie Ambassador, and he was confident enough in its success to walk away from a coordination and management position that Sony offered him after graduation.
“I didn't want to move to New York and give up everything I was working on independently to work in an office all day," he said. “I wanted to see what I could build."
WAMM: What influenced you and Chris [Cave] to start the Indie Ambassador service? Ben Maitland-Lewis: Dating back from 2004 to about the end of 2008, we were actively managing bands and promoting various brands and festivals. We were managing a couple bands out here [in the Boston Area] and a couple on the West Coast; there was always this constant challenge to keep all the band members, as well as ourselves, on the same page, as well as to manage all the various aspects of each and every one of their careers in a way that sort of kept everything together and organized. We saw this need, this hole, to create a system where bands and music entrepreneurs can better manage themselves. We felt that by stepping back on the direct management role with these bands, it would be better to build a platform to enable an industry to self-manage themselves and create a conducive environment for growth by keeping things transparent in one location. It's really a way for us to give a large contribution to music as a whole and to its future development by giving entrepreneurs the tools and resources necessary to build transparent, sustainable careers.
The site is currently in a Beta stage. How do you plan on running the site once it is fully live? It's going to be a subscription-based platform that starts out with free, basic access that gives you a limited amount of services, but definitely enough to kind of do what you need to do. The next paid platform will be the music entrepreneur level, which is for someone who is in a band, probably does some session work on the side, might also produce some records on the side, do whatever. For that type of individual who is a little more active, there will be more tools to cater to that, as well as more user and member benefits which include a lot of our third party affiliate discounts. The next level up from that is for more a pro account, which is meant for indie labels and professionals to basically help them better manage their entire roster.
Ben Maitland-Lewis
One of the reasons why we are a subscription based service is because relying on a free system and selling advertising kind of limits us to how we can grow and help the independent community. We don't want to simply rely on Viagra commercials and things like that; we want to have a very clean, fast running system with some money coming in so we can provide better opportunities, like tour support for bands. We don't want to be like “these are our bands, you're signing on to our service and we are your master." It's more like “let us grow as a company so we can provide more opportunities for artists using our platform."
What kinds of musicians are you targeting with Indie Ambassador? What is your main demographic or target audience? Active musicians and music entrepreneurs within that space are basically our target: musicians who are actively touring, playing, recording, doing session work, publishing their music works, and people like that. I think the system is mainly geared towards those who are physically active in the industry, growing their career, and who could use a tool to help them better organize the chaos, versus those who are just getting started. I think that's predominantly where the free account comes into play. For those that are getting started who are looking for some tips, looking for some ideas for a framework or a blueprint to sort of figure out the steps that they need to take. They will also have access to other members as well as being able connect to third party intermediaries such as agents, managers, reps, and promoters. Our members are going to be able to see certain patterns that other bands are doing and what might work for them. They'll also be able to look into some third party affiliates like health insurance, gear rentals, and all the necessities. A band that is physically active within the industry is going to be able to use all of these available tools to their advantage and save a ton of time, money, and aggravation.
There are a few other sites and companies that kind of work to do similar things. Do you see those companies as competition? How do you plan on setting yourself apart from them? There are definitely good companies in the space, 100%; there are a couple who we have on our radar. I don't really see them as competitors over partners. What we're doing is if you were to combine a LinkedIn, QuickBooks, FanBridge, Sonicbids, Yelp, and all of your awesome consultants in the industry, we're working to aggregate all of that into a single platform that's transparent while using a secure online and mobile platform. The thing I see as mainly separating ourselves from the rest is that we're based around the music entrepreneur, that is, the individual using the account. All these “individuals" then create groups and invite their colleagues to participate. It's less so much signing up as a band; it's more signing up as you as a person, and from there you can build your own personal music space and manage it henceforth. That's one of our main differences.
On top of that, all of our third party affiliates' resources will be available to members. With our tour routing software, for example, not only can you tour the areas that work for you and your budget, you can also select routes from maps and geo-based analytics and it will pull up your different intermediaries and support systems like hotels and restaurants, where a lot of it has user generated reviews, integrated email messaging, social media and profiles, all that type of stuff, all built into the system and on your mobile platform, as well as direct to fan merchandising. All those other systems don't have that, we're going have it and it's going to be a lot easier for bands.
Basically, we're going to make it so easy for bands and music entrepreneurs to use that they end up seeing the benefits of actually being a diligent manager of their own career. No one likes to balance checkbooks or keep track of Excel sheets, but we're going to make it so easy that it becomes a natural piece and a valuable tool for them to be able to continue to build a sustainable career for themselves.
How would all these different players utilize Indie Ambassador? What will keep everyone connected? When we decided to dive full force into this system, we were acting as a management & artist development company. So for us, we envisioned the interface as having a list of all our clients so we can go in and out of each account and keep an ideal tally of everything that's happening with each one of our clients. So too is the mentality of Indie Ambassador.
Indie labels need to keep track of their assets: money is going in and out, tour budgets have to be balanced, mechanical royalties need to be split, pay is going this way and that. Producers are a big part of the system; they can manage their recording schedules and projects, release dates, royalties, and a lot more. They're a big part of the system. Booking agents will able to video-conference with the bands while routing so they're going to be able to really communicate and have that open line of communication while everything goes on. When the tour manager is on the road with the band and they are running low on t-shirts or sold out of CD's, he could go onto his computer or iPhone and order those and they'll get drop shipped to the nearest location on their tour.
In terms of the individual, the managers starting out, the management companies, the agencies, the labels, these guys are all going to be able to be a part of it and we welcome that. They are also going to be able to come aboard and offer up their services at a discount to Indie Ambassador members to help build a better environment for the independent movement, essentially.
I think another type of thing that we are going to be doing in the future is allow keyhole access to certain entities who are going to want to see who the top touring, revenue generating, or fan heavy bands are in the independent space. We're going to want to be able to promote those artists and help them make the connections needed to grow to the next level.
Indie Ambassador plans to launch into Private Beta later this year. If you would like a Pre-Beta account, click here.
