The components of the ideal Hub for real people
A place for people to hang out (or musicians, in our case)
I mentioned in the last post that I will build a platform for musicians, with the end goal to progressively change habits. The right way to describe it is probably ‘a Hub’. But, since it’s essentially a platform, a medium, an enabler via which you can achieve things, I will be using words like ‘hub’, ‘platform’, ‘network’ while unfolding my thoughts.
What components should comprise a strong independent platform?
This could be used as a roadmap for musicians to create their own community, for entrepreneurs to create a service that solves a real need, or for a non-profit to re-arrange how value is distributed in the world.
If you have your own examples to share, please do it in the side notes.
Vision
A goal that will make users stay on the platform and engage with it in a long-term fashion.
(My goal is to cultivate the culture of musicpreneurship.)
Self-sustainability
Without financial robustness and market value, every service and brand dies. In the digital world, the fewer the mediators, the better. A strong and simple-to-execute-and-understand business model has to be in place.
(As for me: self-funded effort by the musicians; small, one-time signup fee goes to self-sustain the network.)
Well-balanced audience
You need a diversity of users to make the network interesting and engaging, like a simulation of real life. Who you target to have on board is big part of success.
(3 levels: experts/academics/bloggers, musicpreneurs/music thinkers, casual musicians.)
Relevant content
Each platform has content to support its existence and keep the users engaged. Initially the administrator creates content to bring traction; incentivizing user-generated content is a smart strategy for the future.
(Experts/music thinkers will contribute regularly with content about the culture, relevant articles from external sources can be shared after some minor curation, and regular users can document their thoughts, contributing with content as well.)
Habits
With so much noise and shorter attention spans, only platforms that become part of the daily routine can survive. ‘Just another network/service’ might get traction in the early stages, but will be ignored later.
(That’s a big question. How you create a habit, so musicians can crave for music knowledge and come back daily, is the question to be answered. Discussions will be held around the social objects created by users, but that’s not enough.)
Scalability
Unless you’re openly anti-social, even niche platforms need scalability. This way the value of the platform increases. The users are the asset, the platform is merely an enabler.
(Initiate free Darker Music Talks around the world, to begin with. This way each country will have their own Hub around a mutual cause.)
Unique Value Proposition
Simply put, ‘what makes you different from everybody else?’ In the digital world, I’d say the answer can be either 1) a unique need you solve, or 2) your brand’s personality (this goes for musicians).
(3 things that will make the Hub stand out: you’ll be part of a vision, it will become the ultimate Q&A place and the #OpenCoffee culture I’ll cultivate.)
Kill the noise within
Important lesson by Sangeet Paul Choudary: an effective platform matches users, content and needs. Mechanisms like curation, discovery and personalization need to be established to kill the noise within the platform. Musicians can get creative here.
(Still sceptical on this. It will be taken care of during the design process.)
So, what is your experience on platforms?
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Thanks a lot to:
The following people read early versions of this article and offered generously their feedback and corrections:
I’m Tommy Darker, the writing alter ego of an imaginative independent musician. I started ‘Think Beyond The Band’ because I feel proud of what I’ve accomplished so far and I like helping other fellow musicians that struggle with the same problems.
