Music site thinking global
By Christopher Adams
An Auckland
social media specialist is eyeing global expansion for his newly launched,
web-based "music discovery service".
Anthony Gardiner's 25
Most Played, which came out of software testing a few weeks ago, amalgamates
members' 25 most played lists from Apple iTunes and merges that information
with Facebook data to create customised music charts for various groups of
people.
It shows, for example, the most played songs of website
members who have also "liked" the nzherald.co.nz Facebook page.
That list includes
tracks by punk group NOFX and hip hop artist Public Enemy, but as 25 Most
Played only has 120 members so far it will probably take some time before it
can be relied upon as a barometer for the musical preferences of nzherald.co.nz
Facebook fans.
Users can also
display their personal most played lists on the website.
Songs can be
purchased from iTunes via 25 Most Played, which takes a 5 per cent cut on those
sales.
Gardiner, a social media strategist at communications agency
OMD, has funded the start-up on his own, but said he was looking to bring
investors on board before expanding the business internationally, including to
the United States
- the world's biggest iTunes market.
"There's 130
million iTunes transactions done every month [globally] so if we can get 1 per
cent of that market ... I'd be smiling a lot more."
Gardiner said iTunes'
own 25 most played lists gave a real insight into people's personalities.
"In social media
there's a lot of claimed behaviour versus actual behaviour," he said.
Gardiner said
Facebook users tended to "like" things that expressed an image of how
they wanted to be viewed by others.
"Your 25 most
played songs is something you cannot lie about - it's a really interesting
insight," he said.
Gardiner said he
initially wanted to set up a system he and his friends could use to share their
top played lists, but the project has since expanded into a business.
"Currently it's
just making a handful of dollars every month, which I think is not too bad for
a start-up with 120 users."
He said that in its
next phase 25 Most Played would allow users to "check in" to venues
such as bars and cafes.
"When you check
in, that venue's computer will know everybody's favourite music and will be
able to automatically play music tailored for the people who are there,"
Gardiner said.
"When we get to
that point it will be a subscription service that the venues pay for - that's
the eventual [business] model."
He admitted that some
people might be self-conscious about publicly sharing their musical
preferences.
"One of my
friends is a DJ on a very popular radio station with a certain image - I won't
name any names - and he said it was a great service but there was no way he
would join because he's actually a Katy Perry fan and doesn't want anybody to
know," he said. "There will be a certain segment of people who won't
join up because they're embarrassed about what they listen to."