On November 14, 2009 I participated in the Pitch George competition hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the George Washington University School of Business.
I had to prepare a business proposal for the competition.
I wanted to create a music distribution community with all content licensed during an open license framework. It would be a ‘hybrid organization’ as defined by Lawrence Lessig, which supports read-only and read-write culture. The online community would consist of open source software and free content.
Artists interests first bypassing old record industry model of hegemonic record labels. Creating a new means of music distribution, which benefits the artist directly with 100% of donations going to the artist. Create a relationship between the artist and listener. Not only a more democratic means of consuming, but creating a sense of participation. The creation and support of a community comes first.
Profits would consist primarily of advertising from artists on the homepage, artist pages and forum, but not on the policy pages or official blog.
Create a bond of trust with the artist through the presentation of a viable organization and a solid set of principles/goals. Importance of a donation system. Intentions for future profits, dependent upon initial success.