Wax MP3: A New Project from Lucas Gonze
Presently, it only pulls Creative Commons music from Magnatune, but I have a feeling
other providers will follow. Here's what Lucas had to say from an
email I sent him:
And notice the similarity to Linux, which has parts that are free and parts that generate revenues; Wax MP3 helps you use free listens to get fans to accept a call to action.
The call to action doesn't have to be monetary. It might be friending the band on Myspace, joining the mailing list, or clicking through to a bio. The important thing is harnessing the listens you give away to drive your business goals, as it's standard to use Creative Commons as part of an overall digital strategy, yet bands and labels aren't reaping as much as they could from it. They could be getting more plays, more stickiness, longer sessions, and more click throughs from plays into the rest of what they offer.
Is the aim of Wax MP3 to be a browser based player?
That's right. It's a zero-install, zero-click, no-sign-in experience. It's not competing with iTunes, Windows Media Player, VLC, or Songbird. But it does have a lot in common with music blogs, podcasts, and webcasts.
What's next for Wax MP3?
I'm working on a series of semi-customized players for specific content providers. The codebase is becoming more pluggable as it matures, and I'm accumulating a set of plugins to use as the need arises.
On your site, you say "We build web music players for business." What does that mean?
I work with companies that are hosting free streams in order to drive
business goals. If there's a band that's all about their live show,
they should be using streams to funnel listeners to ticket sales or
the mailing list. Or if they're about pre-orders for the CD, that's
what the stream should be pushing.
That's the business significance of Magnatune. They're very relaxed
about free streams, but they also have clear business requirements
that the listening experience is driving listeners towards.
And notice the similarity to Linux, which has parts that are free and parts that generate revenues; Wax MP3 helps you use free listens to get fans to accept a call to action.
The call to action doesn't have to be monetary. It might be friending the band on Myspace, joining the mailing list, or clicking through to a bio. The important thing is harnessing the listens you give away to drive your business goals, as it's standard to use Creative Commons as part of an overall digital strategy, yet bands and labels aren't reaping as much as they could from it. They could be getting more plays, more stickiness, longer sessions, and more click throughs from plays into the rest of what they offer.
Is the aim of Wax MP3 to be a browser based player?
That's right. It's a zero-install, zero-click, no-sign-in experience. It's not competing with iTunes, Windows Media Player, VLC, or Songbird. But it does have a lot in common with music blogs, podcasts, and webcasts.
What's next for Wax MP3?
I'm working on a series of semi-customized players for specific content providers. The codebase is becoming more pluggable as it matures, and I'm accumulating a set of plugins to use as the need arises.
To see/listen Wax MP3 in action, go here.
