Winston Ojeda Jr. has plans for “total world domination.” The president of Musyck.com, a new website promoting itself as the “Fan-Powered Musyck Revolution,” has big hopes for his patent-pending brainchild. He sees it as the site that “will be the place to launch new tracks, albums and artists.”
Sound like world domination? Maybe not, but it does sound like some pretty big plans to save an floundering industry. Record sales have dropped, stores are closing and bands can’t wreck hotel rooms anymore. They’re too busy saving up for gas money. The music business has become an economically crippled system and, though Radiohead may be able to release their albums for free and still make money, most bands are suffering. That’s where Musyck comes in. Or so its creators hope.
At first, Musyck will probably strike you as more of a fun diversion than a legitimate marketing tool. The site works by splitting users into two groups: bands and fans. Bands post songs to their Musyck account and fans listen to these songs and “invest” in the bands that they like. While the Musyck team has been unclear as to the extent of these “investments,” they have made one thing blatantly obvious: this site isn’t just for play, fans will be dishing out dollars. And, if a band they invest in goes somewhere, they stand to make real cash. And how can fans get buzz for their bands? Ojeda says that this information is “top secret,” though it will likely involve “playlists, contests and merchandise.” The site also stresses social networking, as it “includes tools to connect with friends, share playlists and the tracks they are promoting,” while simultaneously “[integrating] with other social networking sites. ” Musyck has already started making moves in this direction, bombarding fans and followers with near-daily status updates on the site’s Twitter account and Facebook fan page.
Through these viral promotion machines, Musyck has marketed itself more as a forum for budding entrepreneurs than for diehard music lovers. The staff has even made the site’s purpose clear by aggressively asking visitors if they are “tired of delivering pizza” in a pop-up message on the home page. However, Ojeda claims that Musyck is intended to be both fun and serious, though he declares that “people who make smart picks can make some serious coin relative to their investments and gain a reputation with the whole community.” While Ojeda seems to accept the site’s dual functions, the reconciliation of this dichotomy is still a glaring dilemma. Can Musyck sustain itself as a fun, musician-focused social networking site with an economic incentive, or will it become all about the money? The prospect of Musyck becoming a web casino for music addicts probably isn’t as odd as it sounds.
Plus, in form as well as in function, Musyck currently seems to be in limbo. The site is about to begin private beta testing and though bands have the option of uploading music, no songs will be available until private prelaunch testing begins. The home page resembles a pop-up ad, complete with ridiculously tacky dancing silhouettes and a link to “Win an 8GB iPod Nano.” According to Ojeda, the site is “submitting additional patents, which precludes any public discussion.” Musyck’s future is undeniably hazy. Even the launch date seems to be a little ambiguous. But while there are numerous obstacles facing the site, Ojeda’s confidence is unwavering when asked about his inspiration. “We’re all lifelong music fanatics,” Ojeda claims. “Everyone wants to be in the music industry. Who needs more inspiration than that?”
