Hi TheSingleton- we have taken on your advice and reduced the amounts- we have also contacted the Dash core team and have escrow through them as you suggested. Have done quite a lot of work on the milestones - we look forward to hopefully being able to report back with exciting developments against the milestones you'll notice above. Dash will be the preferred payment mechanism. We will also promote Dash - one of the key things is that association with the artists would normally cost a significant amount and be quite difficult to negotiate. Through the Chant system by default Dash is linked. Please see further text describing the initiative below. This goes into some more detail regarding talent.
This is a new way of delivering music changing the fan from a passive recipient of music to a direct participant. This project is co-founded with Youth- Martin Glover- bass player killing joke- Producer Pink Floyd- Through the founder Daniel Morrell's work and Youth we have access to the Global artists and environmental communities. Have a look at the Chant Forest PDF above. We decided to go the cool credible route first. However, two years of artist interaction has delivered a strong pipeline. Major talent has seen they have a new instrument to play with- the audience. They love the creativity of this- their managers and Rights-Holders ( Record companies and Publishers ) also like being paid upfront avoiding piracy and low paying premium streaming services. Usually, a project like this will fail because the Publisher says no- uniquely we are not asking for royalty- we are merely a retail outlet that pays the publisher upfront. Steven Budd is the chairman of the music managers forum who is on our advisory board. He has taken this out too many artists managers. We have a commitment from a number of superstar acts. Because the mainstream and superstar talent is pipeline confidential it is difficult to post. If you would give me an email I would be happy to pop over Pipeline offline? The Thomas Newman- original producer of Tubular Bells- remix with Irish children is likely to be a big hit. Cold Cut the Orb and the egg has music ready and are small enough to not put off other major talents at the get-go.
The artist community can be a cynical lot-a-bit like football teams with sharp elbows- they are liking the grassroots evolution of an art project. Major talent are looking for cool things that they feel proud to be associated with.
If a Superstar act kick Chant off other artists might not feel they owned the initiative and could be put off. It's got to come from the bottom up in order to gain mass acceptance from talent. This is the reason for the Chant live show to test the concept. We have our own band that has done 23 gigs and performed at major festivals. This is created a cool and credible movement that other artists wish to join. Proof of this is through the roster of talent that has already participated is the band Chant live. - Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd, Micheal Jackson, Madonna) Youth (Killing Joke, The Orb, U2, Pink Floyd) Dave Barbarossa (Adam and The Ants, Bow Wow) John Moss (Culture Club, Clash, The Damned) Matt Black (Coldcut) Ned Scott/ Math Scots ( The Egg) Jack Jones ( Trampoline)
Martin (Youth) Glover - is Chant co-founder, award-winning music producer ( Lifetime Achievement Award, Music Producers Guild, MPG). Youth has worked with Pink Floyd, The Verve, Paul McCartney, The Orb etc. He is a bass player and founding member of Killing Joke. Youth is a band member of the Firemen with Paul McCartney.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(musician)
The first band to test the app will be the Chant live band- we move from the existing analog collection of voices through microphones, to the digital format using the Chant app. We test this mechanism on ourselves. We then have 10 small to medium size acts that have already created or are creating music for us who will be the first releases. Following this, we moved to the pipeline of mainstream and superstar acts. Standing on the shoulders of these giants we can create a global community quickly. Some have found bases up in the tens of millions.
For example, Lady Gaga has 32 million Twitter followers- Katy Perry has 60 million..... When artists such as this asked their fans to do things they tend to participate.
We have an art aspect to the project. When Chant Live Gigs we create land art or graffiti. This is creating a great vibe around the music artist community and the growing movement. The idea is to create a movement rather than just a brand and Art is a good way to achieve this with Dash support. Two years of gigging an analog interaction have been really successful. The audience love to join a show. We are now ready to get going to the next phase. Extensive public relations/ performances/ art exhibitions/ festival interaction/ Live show and touring will be taking place over the coming years to build the movement. Chant Live will be performing at several major art galleries.
The pro-social element is relevant/ everybody is a latent activist and is concerned about the environment. As a byproduct of purchasing your music, you're actively improving your local and global Community.
Market research
Extensive testing has been carried out through the live show. Do audiences like getting their voice in the mix? Absolutely!
Apple iTunes- and the major publishing and record labels- Universal Music Group/ Warners/ Sony have been approached at board level. Their feedback has been positive all of whom are interested in finding ways to help promote the initiative. Apple/ iTunes has offered to feed in on testing for the user journey to the App Store with a view to promotion.
Publishing and Record companies/rights owners see classic track and back catalog as a major sales channel for them through the Chant retail app. The fan will be able to Chant into their favorite classic song of all time. The price point can vary to be competitive with the other online retail outlets.
The management of mainstream and superstar acts have been receptive and can show you this in the pipeline over e-mail. The artists like the financial model as they get paid for their products as opposed to the low-cost streaming services and piracy they suffer from hence the support we're getting from talent. Talent involvement is the real key- the fan is an abbreviation of the word fanatic. The fan band interactive relationship we have created is a powerful marketing tool.
The pro-social element creates long-term communication. Your voice turns into a tree or cleans a river. The fan will be interested in updates on these pro-social spin-offs for years to come so Chant gives the opportunity for a long-term relationship.
The artists have a new instrument to play with 'the audience'. Creatively they can do whatever they wish with these blocks of sound generated by the voices of the audience. The fan loves it as they get to join the band- the environment benefits as money goes to causes that the fans and the band have chosen together. It doesn't matter if the voices given are out of tune as we tune these to the key of the song.
We have tested the concept with brand development companies, public relations firms and marketing agencies, again we continue to receive positive feedback.
It is worth pointing out that all major acts have a pro-social cause they care about. The Chant app is non-competitive as the artist put their own causes through the app amplifying their existing good work. This has been a further good reason for major talent involvement. Over the last two years, most artists that we are approaching are saying they would like to do something with us.
Telecom companies
Telecom companies are interested in sponsorship opportunities. One major Telco has offered to pay £2 per upload of the fan voice into their favorite artist as a gift for customer retention. We have a relationship with the ITU- the international telecom union who will promote Chant to their global members- the telecommunications industry. At present, there are 2.5 billion cell phone connections globally. This will double over the next three years. Utilising the reach of the music and telco industries we access a global audience. Similar social media organizations have achieved this level of penetration.
The United Nations have given us access to 30,000 indigenous youth groups.
The market size
The Live and recorded music industry. The global digital music market is worth $6.7 billion* *IFPI ( International Federation of the Phonographic Industry )
Our target is over 100 million users in year two - the marketing is done by the talent.
