http://www.sing...7678&play=Y

I went over to bix to see if this gal was registered there under the same user name. Luckily she is but no recordings yet, then I found a post from her regarding having a dll problem with the new Recorder. It would be a shame if that problem doesn’t get fixed since she obviously has talent.

http://www.bix.com/entry/3475

http://nicevilb...07/28/ksolocom/

PS you can check out other online singing contests at my website
http://www.free.../singerssoiree/

I’m sure I’m somewhat ignorant of some of the technology costs to do things like hosting the content (or offloading hosting to photobucket) and setting up the interface so that the user’s have an online karaoke machine… and even building the user voting system that sorts through the numerous uploads… but the core functionality of putting up two “objects” and voting between them is free in the open source market.

One of the “pluses” is for any user to set up a competition… so that implies any school can now host an online talent competition. Why use Bix when the computer class could build a site for free?

Overall, it may be a viable market… but I think that knockoffs are going to come fast and cheap.

Graydon
Marlin Creek – Idea Seeds

While we have a world-class engineering team and we are proud of the product we have built, we agree that a great product alone will not lead us to success. The primary reason that we decided to go with an email invite beta rather than an open beta is that customer experience is more than just the product — we need quality content in the system before we invite the masses to our site. We are currently working on a few very targeted marketing programs in music (karaoke and bands) and in comedy. We are also working on a few business development / customer deals of the sort M was suggesting — we will hold off on those until we launch the site to the public.

As Dave noted, our primary focus is to help discover “micro-stars.” It would be great to help discover and develop mega-stars, but current solutions like American Idol do that fairly well. What they don’t do well is allow the aspiring performer who didn’t make the final 12 on American Idol the opportunity to easily create, promote, and seek feedback on their craft (and earn Fortune, not just Fame as M noted in his comment). We have worked to shift the emphasis from video editing skills to the essence of what those post-production efforts are trying to uncover — talent.

For example:

+ We have developed custom recorders for Windows and Macintosh which allow you to easily take control of your computer webcam and microphone to upload content to the site. No separate software application is required. No post-production applications like Final Cut Pro are necessary. Use Bix to record and automatically upload any type of entry from comedy, to music, to beauty.

+ We have licensed music content to provide streaming lyrics and backing tracks so that a user can simply sing into their webcam to easily (and legally) create their own music video. American Idol is a karaoke competition, despite protestations to the contrary from Simon… We are making it easy for anyone to get their 15 minutes.

+ We also support photo upload and audio only entries (for those without a webcam) and we will launch support for other media types in the near future.

+ We allow any user to create any type of competition.

+ We agree with M that Fortune is a part of the story and we will launch a number of initiatives (product and other) to deliver on that requirement.

Thank you again for all of your feedback and interest. The first 10,000 people who request an invite will get one, so please use the product and send us your thoughts at feedback@bix.com.

Best,
Mike

Even in your blog post, your lead in says: “Ever thought you could be a star… or at least the most famous kid in your school, your neighborhood? it’s showtime, folks! Or maybe you could be a producer, eh? run your own talent contest, find the next Kelly Clarkson, they get famous… you get rich?” Your implicit suggestion is that by using Bix, you can become famous in some form or fashion. In that regard, this is a talent showcase.

In the end, Bix is about entertainment. While the human motivation to be found is strong, it doesn’t translate to consumers being entertained by what users create.

My logic is this:
- Bix will need to demonstrate that consumers unrelated to the participants will want to watch these competitions. There may be many high school talent competitions – but do I, as a consumer believe it is worth my time to watch this if I don’t know the participants? Hard to say. Not me personally. If that doesn’t happen, the traffic will not come, and the advertisers certainly won’t either.
- Part of the reason that American Idol, America’s Got Talent, America’s Funniest Home Videos, etc. hit it big is because they produced quality content that was immensely entertaining. That took time and effort.
- I’d also wager that if you broke down YouTube videos served, that most of the content being viewed is content that came from traditional media (i.e. SNL’s Chronicles of Narnia, Napoleon Dynamite, etc.). Again, without those ‘hits’ it’s unclear to me whether YouTube would have hit it big. Now that they have the traffic, what are they doing? Working with traditional media to improve the production value of the content being presented on YouTube…they are increasing the enterainment value associated with their brand…

My recommendations to the Bix team, for what it’s worth:
- Make sure you focus on producing quality content at the same time that you allow users to create their own competitions
- Don’t fall in love with the idea that ‘if you build it they will come’
- To increase production value, work with sponsors to co-brand competitions with prizes, etc. to create an incentive for passionate users to want to participate. For example, the best ‘Pimped Out’ Toyota competition, sponsored by Toyota and Pimp My Ride, for example (thanks Josh for the 4×4 contest idea – I agree), with the prize being a new car and a feature on Pimp My Ride
- Get iPod to sponsor a ‘Make your iPod commercial’ competition
- Identify open verticals – i.e. stay away from music given that MySpace has you covered there

Best of luck…

You are 100% right when you said, this is and will not become the next american idol of online contest, however it can possibly become the next american idol within smaller niche’s and communities.

For example,
They can easily have a contest running for the best 4×4 off road truck,
- Think of the viral marketing, gorilla marketing & niche marketing that can be done in that small arena (Websites, Bulettin Boards, Niche Sites, etc)

Take that as an example of potential success within a small niche, if sucessful, that will snowball in to a handful of other small interest markets.

Bix has the right idea, its going to come down to proper marketing, proper partnerships potentially b/w sponsors & advertisers for related branding & its going to come down to the UI.

Im currently working on some of the same stuff with LiveDigital.com

While this market may seem saturated, there is always room to “explode” within certian verticals..

however, that doesn’t diminish my enthusiasm one bit… in fact, the reason i agreed to become an advisor is because i found the concept fascinating & the business opportunity seemed like a good one.

(thanks to jeremy pepper for the Ms. Manners disclosure tip

- dave mcclure

on myspace indie bands want to get their views and listens up to get a major lable deal so in the music space bix only works if there is a reward no reward no fun

Bix isn’t trying to find the best talent in the country — they’re trying to find the best talent in your neighborhood (or your church, your school, your office, etc).

have you ever considered how many local beauty pageants, high-school talent shows, cheerleader tryouts, photography contests, or any other “middle-down-to-the-tail of the long tail” local contests there are?

whether or not the production value sucks or is just ok, there are PUH-LENTY of folks out there who want to see their kids, their sister, or themselves do well… even if the pond is a small one. and yes, they’ll pay to play, or pay to win as the case may be.

beyond that, i’m sure there WILL be the 1% of content that really is worth watching… so i think your negativism / skepticism is quite unfounded & narrow-minded.

it’s showtime, folks!

Bix, kSolo and the rest of these ‘talent showcase’ sites, may (if they are really, really lucky) end up having one of their participants ‘discovered’ by the likes of a Carson Daly or reach a level of fame like William Hung. Of course, for that to happen, the law of large numbers comes into play. How many millions of viewers were introduced to William Hung because they were watching the Idol competition? How many millions of unique users posted to YouTube before Brooke Brodack was discovered? At least kSolo has 70+ million uniques to work with.

In my view, the bottom line is this. Without quality content, whether content provided by traditional media, or a well produced show like American Idol, you won’t get the users. No users, no virtuous cycle of content creation. No content or users, no advertisers. What then, Bix? Will you be an online ‘competition engine’ for traditional media companies? Sorry, Fox already bought kSolo. Next idea.

And speaking of YouTube, why exactly can’t they do this? I certainly hope that Bix hasn’t drank the Kool-Aid to believe that their technology gives them an advantage…

Ah, the folly of Web 2.0. My bet – Bix will be like William Hung – a side show that fades from our collective consciousness after the season ends, or at least until the venture money runs dry.

We are conducting an invite-only beta right now — we will absolutely pull the registration requirement down for viewers once we have finished our beta test.

Take care,
Mike