3 Questions with…Armine from Viinyl

A few weeks ago, board member Tiffany Hardin forwarded along an email about innovative music tech companies as determined by Midem (including Next Big Sound who was interviewed last year).  I went through the list and I was curious to find out more about Viinyl, so I hit up founder Armine Saidi.

With Viinyl, the concept is simple.  1 SONG.  1 SITE.  1 URL.  But to find out more, I asked Armine a few questions.  Here’s what he said:

1a.  Does Viinyl fill a void in the music industry?

Viinyl’s key contribution to the music industry is that it restores the spirit of how music was enjoyed in the days when you had the lyrics, artwork and vibe of the artist at your fingertips while placing a wide palette of interactive marketing and branding tools at the artist’s disposal. Viinyl is the music-lover’s digital LP and the Industry’s portal to its fans. We have added multiple dimensions to the generic mp3/play-list format to help the music industry brand, promote and monetize music while enhancing the fans’ music experience.

The music industry today is driven by the success of the single. In this spirit, we developed viinyl in order to empower artists and music professionals to control the branding, on-line presence and music distribution of their music by offering one URL for each single. It is very quick and easy to distribute music on viinyl, eradicating the need for expensive third-person programming. Viinyl helps not only reach today’s tech-savvy consumers more efficiently but does this through a highly entertaining yet cost-effective and simple medium. We provide the tools and expertise that can help turn listeners into loyal paying fans.

1b.  Why go for Viinyl instead of Bandzoogle?

We believe that when leveraged properly, the two can create stronger results in tandem.

Numerous companies offer similar band-based website creation services as Bandzzogle. Unlike those, our focus is to create an online presence for the most important element of the music industry: the song/single.

We believe in the power of first impressions and that viinyl’s key strength lies in the fact that it is the first place of contact between fans and the single. Artists can create as many song sites as they want without the use of a third-person programmer and then tap into the intuitive promotional and tracking tools to conduct targeted campaigns across multiple channels.

Complementary services such as Bandzoogle could be compared in terms of being part of the various online resources chosen by the artist to further drive traffic to enhance the artist/fan relationship.

2a.  How does pricing work and how did you determine that?

At present we are in BETA mode, but are planning to implement a pricing structure by May 2011. It will be based on the Freemium model. Basic and limited features will be free and we will offer a premium and a label version that will be available on a monthly subscription basis. We expect the fees to be reasonably priced and will offer a tailor- made service to clients with specific needs.

2b.  Had you thought of a free version with ads?  Why or why not?

We explored the possibility of providing a free version with ads, however after our initial surveys, we opted against it. Our research showed that viinyl provides an innovative angle with much added value that clients are happy to pay for. We think that placing advertising on our site would detract from the purpose of offering a memorable music experience.

3.  What sort of goals/plans do you have for Viinyl over the course of 2011?

We have only just begun our mission to transform every single into a viinyl site. We’re presently focusing on growing the BETA user base to ensure that our site is stable and that it reflects the pulse of today’s artists and music professionals.

We are so pleased with the phenomenal response that we have received from artists, industry players and fans alike. We receive large amounts of beta requests daily and the word has already spread across the web or more precisely: the globe. It’s been particularly fun to see how fast our brand name “viinyl” has been adopted by artists and is now being used as a term, i.e. “listen to my viinyl” or “i like this viinyl”.

We have received great media coverage and have been chosen as one of the ” Best of 2010: The Most Interesting and Innovative Music Start-up”. We’re also the first and only Canadian company ever to participate at the 2011 MIDEMNet Labs pitch sessions in Cannes (one out of 10 companies chosen).

We are excited about our opportunities as pioneers in this field and look forward to the future.

Please check out Viinyl and if you like what you see, ask for BETA test for your band or client.

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