Potentially Kickstart Your Career

Honestly, the first time I heard about Kickstarter was when a campaign was started to fund the now-in-production Veronica Mars movie. A Facebook friend and former professor of mine also helped run a succesful Kickstarter campaign for her husband’s band to produce a vinyl album. The idea of Kickstarter really intrigues me, that random people can go on and fund a project for you that you are unable to fund yourself. It’s very telling of how many people would actually pay money because of the quality of your work, not because they know you personally.

 

Several months ago I funded a campaign run by the country band Lonestar on a rival website Pledge Music. They were releasing a CD after reuniting with their original lead singer Richie McDonald. A portion of pledge money would go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and each increment of money pledged would  give the donor a different gift. I pledged an amount that I am not willing to divulge publicly, but I was supposed to receive a copy of their new CD and a phone call from the band by September 2013. The goal was reached and money was taken out of my bank account in June 2013. I could have waited until September from June without a problem, and I did. It is now March 2014 and I have received the CD, but not the phone call. It has made me think twice about donating to another campaign.

As I perused the Kickstarter website, I found that I could search projects by category, location, popularity or “Staff Picks.” Of course I went directly for the music projects, starting in my current city, Tucson, Arizona, then internationally. One project that really stuck out to me was by a woman named Kat Robichaud. If anyone watches The Voice, they recognize Kat from Team Cee Lo last season who made it to the top 10. I knew she was never going to win, but I was rooting for her anyway because I love her sound and her awesome personality. By the time I saw this project it had already far surpassed its goal and as of this post donors had pledged more than double its $20,000 goal. I’m happy for Kat and also happy that I wasn’t one of those people.

If I were to create a Kickstarter campaign, I know exactly what I would do and it would also have something to do with music. Almost two years ago to the day, I wrote a song about living with a physical disability that started as a class project for my undergraduate music class at the University of Arizona. My uncle, who had been writing songs for 40 years on an amateur level, helped me fine tune it, record it and send it into a songwriting competition. He passed away about a week after the song was submitted, which he sang. If I could raise money to pay for the studio time and have a professional recording of it that could get noticed by a major record label, that would be a dream. I may not need Kickstarter though because after I copyrighted the song, an independent label in Hollywood heard about it and they are recording a version to put on one of their compilation CDs. Getting that letter was one of the greatest days of my life and I know my uncle would’ve been proud of me. Maybe a future Kickstarter campaign would help me record a full CD of songs, but that would require me to write more songs.

Overall, I have never used Kickstarter, but if used properly could be a great tool for funding projects that have no other way of being funded. I hope those that have used or will use Kickstarter in the future have a better experience than I had with Pledge Music. The trepidations I have are that the money won’t go to the right people or that the donors will not receive their gifts, which so far has happened to me. But I’m sure that only happens occasionally and it just happened to me because things always happen to me. For now it has my stamp of approval, happy funding everyone!

 

Songkick Is Your Go-to Concert App

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me personally or has been consistently reading this blog that I LOVE music. So when I had to download a brand new app for my iPhone, which I rarely do, I knew it had to have something to do with music. Enter Songkick, an app that helps you find concerts in your area or plan for that upcoming vacation. One of the immediate perks to this app is that it’s free and recommended in the App Store. The other major perks are that is uses the GPS in your phone to track concerts in your area and uses your iTunes Music Library to figure out the shows you really want to see.

When you first open the app it has a pink screen with a guy singing. I’m not a huge fan of the color pink, but even I have to admit that this graphic is cool and the color suits the app. There’s something about the graphics on the iPhone screen as well that enhance this look, because the website doesn’t look nearly as good. It asks you to agree to let the app use your location and music library to suggest shows for you, which I happily did. It also asks whether you want to receive push notifications for upcoming shows. I’m always reluctant to allow push notifications on any app and wind up turning them off if they annoy me. Out of about 40 apps on the phone, most of which I downloaded myself, I get push notifications from three of them. I also figure I can turn them on in the future for this app if I wanted to, so I opted out this time.

On the main page it gives you options to search concerts by date, location or artist, if they are in your music library, or an overall search function to look for someone not currently in your music library. I’m very picky with concerts, so this search option would not do much good for me because I have to love the artist or band to see them. If I love the artist or band, chances are there’s a bunch of songs by them in iTunes already. The app also gives you a calendar so you can remind yourself of an upcoming concert. Again, if I spent the money for tickets to a concert, chances are I will be anxious for at least a week in advance, so the calendar won’t be much help to me. There will be others though who need the calendar function much more than I do, so it can come in handy.

You can buy tickets to the concert of your choice through third-party vendors linked on the app. Of the shows I looked at, it will give you options to buy them off StubHub! or TicketsNow among others, but not directly from the venue or the artist’s website. This bothered me slightly because I always try to buy directly from the source instead of buying from a private vendor. I want to see a portion of my money go to the performer, not someone who wants to make a profit from buying and reselling concert tickets. There were also no coupons or reviews that I could find. Maybe those were in the push notifications that I disabled, though I’m not sure. I doubt giving any discounts or coupons would help sales because the app allows you to shop around for the lowest price. Giving reviews directly from the app, either of the app itself or of the venue or artist would definitely improve the influence of Songkick. There might be reviews on StubHub! or TicketsNow, but that only increases the bounce rate of the app and helps those other vendors gain revenue.

Songkick has many advantages that make me want to keep it on my iPhone for at least a little while longer. But, there are many ways that this app could improve if it wants to gain notoriety. Selling tickets directly from the app instead of third-party vendors might require the app to no longer be free to iPhone users, which could hurt it. Reviews are the biggest attribute lacking on this app. As of now, most people know if they want to buy tickets to a certain concert or not. But with reviews on the app, it could help those on the fence make a decision while also keeping them on the app longer. I see a bright future for Songkick and it is one app I will definitely support for the time being.

He Leads A Lonely Second Life

Whoever gets the song reference in this blog post title gets major brownie points and my musical respect. Hint, it was a hit in the early 90’s. But now for the task at hand. Creating a profile and learning the specifications of the virtual role-playing game (RPG) Second Life is not as easy as you might think. Once you’ve downloaded the software, which takes a while even on a new computer, trying to choose your character and clothes, then learning to move and interact with others is only for patient people.

I initially tried to make a character, or avatar as it’s more commonly known in Second Life, that was as close to my physical appearance as possible. After searching I realized that I could not put my avatar in a wheelchair, so I threw the idea of physical appearance out the window. I started with a guy who was tall and thin with dirty blond hair and glasses. He was a little dorky and he fit my looks and personality fairly well. But then I looked at the other choices and I went for a much hotter version of myself that still had some resemblances. This was the avatar I would want to look like in real life. I lost the preppy “college student” clothes that you are given when you start and changed into something I might actually wear. I didn’t change his height or weight, 1) because I didn’t know how and 2) because I liked my guy the way he was. Seeing as how your avatar could be anything from a vampire to a military tank, I experimented with being a blue motorcycle. I felt like I didn’t have enough control over it when I moved, so I switched back to human.

Speaking of moving, that also takes some getting used to. I realized that using the mouse to click to a location was much more tedious than using the up, down, left and right arrows on my keyboard. Being the stubborn person that I am though, I tried to find a different way for my character to move because using the keyboard isn’t natural to me. As you can probably tell, I’m not a “gamer” and don’t have much experience with virtual worlds. I finally gave in though and got used to using my keyboard in order to do most things in Second Life.

Next I tried flying, and it was not fun! There’s a reason why I hate airplanes! Even though a virtual version of myself was the one flying and nothing was going to happen to my physical self, I still felt somewhat nervous being “in the air.” I was in constant fear of falling even though I knew that I was controlling the avatar and I decided whether it stayed in the air or not. At one point I flew near a building and got stuck. Being suspended in the air and floating around in a circle because I was stuck on a building was not a pleasant experience for me. When I finally hit the ground, I hit it hard! My first landing was not a graceful one.  I tried flying again two days later and it got a little better. But if I can avoid it at all costs, I’m certainly going to try.

Teleporting from one place to another is one of the easier aspects to Second Life. Since I am a music person, I tried to go to a club and dance. I ended up at an Irish pub doing The Macarena; I cannot erase that mental image! Dancing in Second Life is more suited for female avatars because some of the dancing mine did was just disturbing. I will no longer be embarrassed by my father dancing at a party after seeing what my avatar did. I’m glad I couldn’t take video of it because that’s something no other person should have to be subjected to.

Finally, I saved communicating with other avatars as the last thing I needed to do, especially after reading about Lesley’s encounter. I wanted to get to another specific club, Black Horse Country, but had some trouble teleporting to it. I asked a beginner if they were familiar with it and how to get there. That person said no, so I thanked them and left before anything else could happen. I had two other instances of “communication” with other avatars. One was when a female avatar tried to dance with me and I walked away, for many different reasons. The other was when an Angel of Death-type avatar came near me with her obnoxiously large black wings and got a little too close for comfort. I didn’t want anybody trying to control my body so I stayed as far away from people as possible. I didn’t accept many gifts unless I knew it was from a reputable source. My entire first, and most likely last, experience with Second Life can be summed up in one word, paranoia.

Selling Myself as a Critic

This week’s assignment is particularly fun one for me. I get to step back into the mind of what I always saw myself doing, which is being a music critic. Here is what my email to Entertainment Weekly would look like if I were trying to sell myself and my brand to them, with the additional skills of “social media expert” added to the mix.

Dear Dalton Ross,

My name is Steven Schiraldi and I am about to explain to you why I am not only a perfect candidate to work for your publication, but also why I will be the best music critic your website has ever seen. In short, I am an obsessed music aficionado who will put my heart and soul into everything that I listen to and write and will bring even more notoriety to your already acclaimed website. I am also extremely honest and would write reviews similar to this video.

Why I am qualified

First, I have a Bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Arizona, which at the time of my acceptance in 2008 had one of the highest-rated student newspapers in the country. I propelled that diploma into an acceptance in the University of Florida’s online Master’s in Social Media program, which I will complete in 2015. With my journalistic skills and my branding skills, I will help grow this magazine into a readership that rivals the New York Times.

Now, you’re probably wondering about my music skills. I’ve been involved in school chorus since the fourth grade, wrote several music criticism pieces for my middle and high school newspapers and maintained a blog (which you can read here) over the course of a semester in which I did weekly reviews of ethnic artists. If you ask any one of my friends or family members, they will tell you that I am a music expert and they know that being a critic is what I am meant to do for a living.

My History With Music

As stated before, I’ve been singing since about age 10, but my love for music came much earlier. A few years earlier I remember listening to music with my sister. Being the teenager she was at the time, she told me that if I didn’t know the words to a song I shouldn’t sing it. And from that moment on I said, in the immortal words of Barney Stinson, “challenge accepted!” In order to sing, I learned the words to every song I possibly could. To this day still see jaws drop when strangers realize that I know the words to almost every song. My memory about musicical facts and lyrics is similar to this video of Ian Terry listing every Big Brother contestant ever, in order of elimination.

I have seen almost every episode of American Idol there is. If you ask me who was eliminated on a certain week of any season, I could answer you. But in 2005, the glorious Carrie Underwood came into my life. My fandom didn’t just stop when she won the show. I own all four of her albums and I either bought them or had them bought for me on the day they were released (of which I can name all four release dates). But one of those release dates stands out to me. I was in the hospital on November 15, 2005, the day she was set to release her debut album Some Hearts. In agony on a hospital bed, with another surgery looming (I was at number 32 in my lifetme at 15 years old), I made my father go out and buy Some Hearts that day, which he did gladly. I have seen her in concert three times in three different states and as I was writing this email, had to stop so I could watch her sing the Sunday Night Football theme again. When a contestant on Big Brother was listening to Blown Away this past season on headphones, I could tell the song from even the faintest sound through my television. Have I officially scared you yet? Since EW didn’t start Idolatry until after Carrie’s season, here is one of my favorite videos you’ve done post-Carrie, which also embodies my personality as a critic.

Music has also been a medium of healing for me. “Jesus Take The Wheel” was on repeat during that hospital stay and still makes me cry every now and then. But no (published) song is more special to me than Lonestar’s “Mountains.” That song gave me the courage to get out of my wheelchair and perform it standing up at my high school talent show. It is still one of the proudest moments of my life. I even got the nerve to co-write my own song with my uncle, who sadly passed away on November 15th of last year, and submit it to a national songwriting competition. Music motivates me and I know it needs to always be in my life no matter what.

Social Media and Closing

I know social media is the future of journalism and this magazine. I have learned more about social media in my time with the program than I did in my previous five years of experience dealing with it. I believe hiring me, as a social media expert and music expert, will give you back some of the credibility Michael Ausiello took with him to TVLine. My social media presence, specifically on Twitter and Google+ has tripled since enrolling in my master’s program. I think I would bring a healthy new audience if you hired me. And if you need any more proof of my skills and credibility, please see my Pinterest board, which proves my excellent taste in music. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Steven Schiraldi

Blogging Your Way to Success

This week’s posting is all about blogs. It is important for a blog to not only be eye-catching, but also gives information that you would not be able to find anywhere else. I will be analyzing five blogs for their ability to capture the reader’s attention and represent the brand in a positive light.

Mafia Wars Blog

• According to this week’s lecture, the Mafia Wars blog seems to be a recreational blog. Given that there’s no advertising and they produce content somewhat sporadically (they try to make a post every day, but don’t always succeed), recreational is the best category of blogs that it fits into.
• The purpose of this blog is to provide insight to new updates within the Zynga game Mafia Wars that the game itself might not be able to provide.
• What makes this blog unique is that it gives in-depth descriptions for how to succed in the game.
• I think this blog reflects the Mafia Wars brand in a good light, but it could be improved. The images in the posts are direct screenshots from the game, so it is unmistakeable that this blog is about the game. The information that it provides about the game is sufficient enough where fans can see it as a reliable resource if they need help navigating the game. According to Brand Telling, telling your brand story and having employees be able to tell the same story is a great way to earn trust from fans. The fact that they sign each post with “The Mafia Wars Team” lets me know that there are several people who can represent the brand the way that it’s supposed to be represented. The one thing I would suggest to this blog is to have the Mafia Wars logo at the top so that fans can instantly see it and know this blog is legitimate.
• The blog is first on Google when someome types in Mafia Wars blog, there is a direct link to the blog from their official website and there are links from the blog to all of their social media accounts.
• This blog meets all the criteria of a successful blog in that they publish often, have links to their social media accounts, make original content that can be shared easily and they keep all the information up to date.
• The only thing missing from this blog is advertisers. I believe Zynga could advertise some of their other games on this blog.

Taste of Country

• Taste of Country would be best characterized as a news blog. Several authors post multiple times a day.
• Its purpose is to provide the latest updates, including new song/album releases, on the biggest country music stars.
• What makes them unique is that they look like an official website instead of a blog.
• In this case, the brand they are reflecting is country music in general. They are providing the good and bad in the country music world and doing it in an unbiased way, like a real news organization. I would say they are representing country music very well.
• This blog is not high on Google unless you know what you’re searching for. They do however have links to their Twitter and Facebook and those pages have a link back to their website. They also have links sometimes on CMT and GAC, though not always. That is where I first heard about this blog and I now check it regularly.
• This blog is successful for many reasons. They update several times a day, they link to their social accounts, conduct exclusive interviews in their posts, have social share buttons and have been producing regular content for several years. Supermedia also suggests that a blog should have a niche and Taste of Country certainly has that.
• There’s nothing missing from this blog except for maybe a personal feel to it. There’s no person that’s the face of the blog.
• McDonalds and Julep are advertisers on this blog.

Metsblog

• Metsblog is a group blog, where all of the contributors write for their own respective blogs.
• Its purpose is to bring fans the latest news and rumors about the New York Mets.
• What makes them unique is the variety of content, including game recaps, injury updates, trade rumors, podcasts and team interviews.
• I believe they reflect the Mets brand very well. They give fans what they want and influence them to come back to the blog, which helps the Mets retain a loyal fanbase.
• If a person were to type in Mets into Google, Metsblog appears near the bottom of the first page. There’s a link to it from the Mets official website. There are several links to their social accounts from their blog and back to their blog from their social accounts.
• This blog is successful because it is updated several times a day, has links to all of their social accounts, have exclusive podcasts only posted on the blog, have social share buttons and have the longevity to help their reputation. They also have a niche that Supermedia is looking for.
• The only thing I would like to see from this blog that is not there is a separation of posts based on category so I can find things easier.
• The blog is sponsored by Verizon and has advertisements from Citibank, Pepsi and SNY.

Huffington Post

• Huffington Post is a news blog because there are dozens of authors, each with a specified role of coverage.
• The purpose of this blog is to bring the audience news on various subjects from all over the world.
• What makes them unique is that they mix content between straight news stories and opinion pieces.
• How people perceive the content they read on Huffington Post is a direct reflection of editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington. According AICPA, Huffington, when building her brand did everything correct on her list except possibly the most important thing; become an expert. There are several errors in the content of the Huffington Post, which reflects poorly on Arianna.
• Huffington Post is one of the most well known online publications in the world. They have links to their social accounts and social share buttons. It appears at the top of a Google search. Most of the articles that appear in the news feed of AOL are from the Huffington Post, making it easily accessible.
• They publish multiple times a day, provide their social accounts to connect to, produce exclusive interviews and seem dedicated to their work.
• There is nothing missing from this blog.
• The advertisements on this blog change every day.

Geek Eccentric

• Geek Eccentric is a recreational blog because is focuses on a niche of sci-fi and anime content and it produces it sporadically.
• The purpose of this blog is to provide “geeks” with content they want to read.
• What makes them unique is the type of content they produce.
• This blog reflects the brand, which in this case is the genre of entertainment, very well. They cover a wide variety of topics, showing that geeks come in many different ways.
• It is at the top of the Google page if you know exactly what you’re looking for, but otherwise it is hard to find. It has links to social accounts and social share buttons.
• They try to publish daily, provide social accounts and is the only blog I’ve seen that has their Twitter feed on the blog.
• There are no advertisements and there seems to be a lot of white space.
• They could approach Marvel or DC Comics to advertise on their blog.