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Musicians spend a lot of time looking for collaborations in analog (i.e. the newspaper).

But, besides taking too much time, it can be impossible to find just the right people to collaborate with. CollabMachine is trying to solve that problem with a platform that connects musicians and makes it easy to collaborate online.

Check out our Q&A with CollabMachine below:

1) What’s your startup called?

We are CollabMachine – the world’s first social music collaboration platform.

2) What’s your big idea?

CollabMachine provides a way for musicians from around the world to create music online as a community. Our site is the first of its kind and we’re really excited about bringing this innovation to the music scene.

Currently, musicians spend hours looking through classified ads looking for other players with whom to collaborate and create songs. We felt that this process can be taken online where collaborative projects can be found much more quickly and easily. The most innovative aspect of the project is centered on the Musefeed, which delivers projects instantly that pertinent to a musician’s particular abilities and preferences.

So, for example, a jazz guitarist will receive instant updates on jazz collabs that need a guitar part. This means less time spent looking for projects and more time spent actually making music. Additionally, each member can customize the Musefeed and get tailored updates based on date, genre, instruments needed, etc.

As for the actual production of each collab, we felt that the best way for musicians to record their music is on their own computers with their preferred workflow. We did not want to impede on the recording process with our site so we allow for the recording to occur offline before it is uploaded to the collab. This also solves the problem of latency, which could otherwise impede the recording process due to interruptions or slowdowns in internet connectivity.

3) What’s the story behind your idea?

As musicians growing up in the busy city of New York, we thought that finding others to play with would be easy. However, we soon became involved in the long and tedious process of finding other like-minded musicians, scheduling jam sessions, sitting in traffic, and often failing to find that perfect musical chemistry.

We realized that finding musicians for collaboration was a problem faced by thousands of players like us around the world. That’s when we decided to create CollabMachine.

With CollabMachine, songs can be created track-by-track online in a community-based environment where other musicians can provide feedback on individual tracks (such as the drum or guitar track). They can also help the collab creator by voting on the optimal combination of tracks to create a complete song. This is especially useful when, let’s say, two guitarists submit guitar solos for the same part of a song.

Allowing community interaction in this manner is a new way to approach music creation. It’s a really fun way to participate and get more involved in the creative process!

Aside from being a great collaborative tool, CollabMachine is also a great way for artists to get more involved with their fans! Imagine the band Metallica uploading their newest unfinished song and encouraging fans to contribute a ripping guitar solo. Imagine Eminem releasing a beat and calling on rappers from all over the world to add their hottest verses. This would be a completely new way for musicians to connect with their fans. If only this existed while we were aspiring musicians in college!

4) Who are the founders?

The founders of CollabMachine are Alexander Efros and Dan Lipchanskiy. Alex and Dan are successful entrepreneurs with a couple of successful businesses under their belts in the financial industry as well as the rapidly growing electronic cigarette industry.

5) Where are you located?

CollabMachine is based in downtown Los Angeles.

6) What’s the startup scene like there?

Being in the middle of the mecca of entertainment – Los Angeles, we believe that this is a perfect environment to grow CollabMachine. Being close to San Francisco and the Bay Area is also a tremendous help as it provides access to incredible creative minds in the tech industry. It’s also where many of the greatest startup projects thrive.

7) What milestones have you reached?

We’ve already finished all of the necessary design work for the website. This includes the layouts for all of the main pages of the site. We’ve also recruited a few very important sponsors for our project. Earnie Ball, Esoteric Guitars, Rock N Roll Industries Magazine, and there should be a few more coming. Our latest milestone is the launch of our Indiegogo campaign.

We have decided to reward our contributors with exciting perks and a whole lot of music-related gear, apparel, and accessories to raise the capital necessary to fund the programming and production of CollabMachine. Contributors can receive everything from guitar strings and magazine subscriptions to having your name featured in a song recorded by us, Alex and Dan! We really want to get people involved and have fun while we raise the necessary capital to bring the world’s first social music collaboration platform to life.

8) What are your next milestones?

The next milestones include assembling the technical team to assist with the coding and implementation of CollabMachine. All of the technology that we need already exists. Now it’s a matter of combining these technologies in an innovative way to make CollabMachine a reality.

9) Where can people find out more?

Our website, www.collabmachine.com, is a great source for information regarding our project. Our indiegogo campaign just launched and can be found here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/collabmachine-the-social-music-collaboration-platform/x/6683673.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about a startup that is innovating the booking industry. Today we’re featuring another music industry startup called featuring.me.

There’s no doubt that musicians–and artists across all disciplines–can often struggle to make money on their art. As great as the Internet is, it has also paved the way for expectations of free music, videos, and articles. However, if we continue to not pay artists for their art, we’ll soon find that we have no art to consume.

That’s why startups like featuring.me are great news. Maybe they’ll work. Maybe they won’t. But, eventually we’ll find a model that allows to creators to make art without always sacrificing those little comforts, like food and shelter.

Check out our Q&A with featuring.me below:

What is your startup called?

Featuring.Me

What does your company do?

Featuring.Me is a new online platform for interactive, customizable and adaptive music. At its most basic, fans can customize elements of their favorite artists music. Lyrics, melodies, stories, solos etc.; whatever means the most to them. Fully realized, Featuring.Me represents an entirely new art form – a paradigm shift that will change the way we create, experience, enjoy and think of music.

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds?

Featuring.Me is co-founded by Gregory Green and Felix Sedal. Greg has extensive experience in business, marketing and IT, and is a guru of “getting things done”. Felix is an independent musician and producer who moonlights as a medical doctor.

What’s the story of the idea? Where did it come from?

Featuring.Me was created after Felix and Greg serendipitously found themselves living together in Melbourne, Australia. Felix was in the midst of an artistic odyssey, exploring the notion of creating music that exists in a multitude of forms. Greg was completing his MBA at the University of Melbourne, studying the emerging wave of mass customization, and looking out for the right idea to nourish his entrepreneurial ambitions. One night, over a few drinks, Felix and Greg exchanged their respective visions of the future of art and business. From this, Featuring.Me was born.

Where are you based, and what’s the startup scene like there?

We were founded in Melbourne, Australia, and are now considering where the US home should be, either Nashville or Austin. Both would be fine choices, the hardest part is choosing! Both have great things going for them. With Nashville, there’s a great convergence of entrepreneurs, investors and visionaries, all happening within a relaxed and down-to-earth culture. Austin is the weird little city that is easy to love, has the creativity and technology that we are looking to foster. So is it to be Music City, USA or the Live Music Capital of the US? Watch this space for more!

What problem do you solve?

Featuring.Me is a vision of a sustainable music ecosystem and economy. It seeks to further the artistic relevance of music (to fans and artists alike) whilst creating viable new financial opportunities for all players in the industry. The problems we solve are myriad; how to offer extra value to consumers whilst ensuring that artists are paid fairly for their work, how to engage the growing number of fans looking for deeper involvement and interaction with the music and art they love, how to evolve the musical art form and business model in a way which is positive for all parts of the industry, how to allow artists to retain control of their vision within the emerging paradigm of mass collaboration, and how to create a true model of mass customization in music.

Why now?

The technology is ready, artists are ready, and fans are ready. The music industry could do with a revitalization of the value of music. An alternative to the commoditization of music as a meaningful art form. Now is the perfect time for our platform where an artists fans are able to more deeply engage with the artists they love and the artists can better sustain themselves by spending more time on what they are good at, creating music.

What are some of the milestones your startup has already reached?

The platform is up and working, with a number of patents around the technology. We are taking in revenue and onboarding artists. We are currently private beta testing the fourth iteration of Featuring.Me with select artists and their fans. There is a growing core team of eight people working on the project, partnerships with several production houses and independent record labels, numerous artist signed on as supporters and content creators, and an increasing network of supporters within the music and business communities, in both Nashville and Austin.

What are your next milestones?

Always getting the next artist, the next studio or the next label on board! We are considering funding options, self funding has its benefits, as does finding good capital partners. Our aim is for a broader invite only beta launch of the platform mid next year, with a preview showing at South By South West in March.

Where can people find out more? Any social media links you want to share?

http://about.featuring.me or @featuringmeteam

CollabMachine Helps Musicians Find Collaborators Online

Featuring.me: Because Musicians Need To Make Money, Too