Steal this website
Building Watt and why it matters
About a week ago we launched Watt, a new publication from CASH Music that asks and answers questions about music, industry, and the role of art in our world. It took a lot of work to build, with my partner Maggie Vail learning the role of publisher as we go. You should read her welcome message to see more of her vision.
The short version is that too many stories go untold. Artist experiences matter and deserve a home. Music is deeply impactful in our world and we need a place to talk about that influence.
The music industry is a complicated business, and finding a career path as an artist is more complicated than following a few simple steps.
Watt exists as an open, nonprofit resource for musicians and anyone who wants to learn more about how this industry works. We wanted to create something trusted and comprehensive. The mission of CASH Music is to help find sustainable career options for musicians. Where our tools provide opportunity, Watt provides knowledge and access to experience.
As a nonprofit that doesn’t charge for any of our work we’re committed to a neutral stance in Watt. We’re not selling anything, there’s no profit motive, and no ads. We just want to put a spotlight on what’s working, how it works, and even when it doesn’t. We see this as a vital resource for artists, and one that has to be free and open for anyone.
Why open? What does that even mean?
Open means Watt articles can be read by anyone, shared, and even used by others. We feel that education and learning are vital components of what we do, and that means making sure as many people as possible have access to the writing on Watt. So at the bottom of every article you’ll see a Creative Commons license.
We’ve asked everyone contributing to Watt to share their work with a CC licence—CC-BY by default. This means the writing can be reused elsewhere by simply crediting the author and the source. We’ve also made sure authors retain copyright to their work so they retain as much control as possible. So far all of Watt is shared under a CC-BY license, but other Creative Commons licenses are available and we support them all.
Open content means we can get these stories to more people, faster than if we were focused on click-through rates or driving traffic only to our site.
Okay, but how is this different from a blog?
We’ve gone beyond just making all the writing open. We’ve embraced the idea of being an open resource. Watt should be accessible however you want it. We’re providing an RSS feed (summary only…full feed coming soon!) The code powering Watt is available in a github repo. And the whole thing is one big JSON API.
What does making it an API mean? It means that it’s readable by computers as easily as people. It means that other websites can connect to Watt and use what they like. You’re reading an article on Watt? Add “.json” to the end of the URL and now your computer BFF can read it too:
Neat right?
Well that same “.json” trick works on every page. Want to get a feed from a specific tag page? Hit up the impact tag or maybe the Watt tag. You want everything instead? Yeah we got everything. Just want to see what Henry Rollins, Jean Grae, or Astra Taylor have to say? Just add that “.json” to an author page.
Everything is in a simple format. We’re still working on proper documentation but if you’re looking to use our JSON you should be able to sort it out. There’s just one more link you’ll need:
We’ve built a quick license endpoint so you can find more details about the license listed with each piece, complete with descriptions and links.
Steal this website? Nah. just use it. We’ll share.
Our goal is to spread knowledge. We want these pieces to be read and shared. There needs to be more clear and simple writing about the music industry because it’s confusing enough without “experts” shouting their opinions at you dressed as facts. There are too many people peddling simple answers when we really need simple talk about why the answers are so complicated.
Visit watt.cashmusic.org. Subscribe to the RSS. Build Watt into your own website with our APIs. We don’t care how you do it, but we hope you read Watt and share it with the people around you.
