An important area before developing a new product is to research the market for similar products and perform a comparison among such products. Developers tend to have the notion that their product is unique however more often than not there is a product out there that shares some similarities with theirs. Research and analysis can be advantageous in many ways. It can provide valuable information about rival products such as their target audience or marketing strategy. It helps to identify strengths and weaknesses of exiting products as well as to identify shortcomings in your product. It also helps to recognize key feature(s) that are needed by end-users that are not yet available or poorly implemented. Additionally, it can help to pinpoint your target audience(s) and determine your principal market. It may be a niche market or a larger audience. These are important factors for several reasons. Firstly, it helps to differentiate your product from the competition. Secondly, understanding and satisfying the end-user’s needs makes the product more likely to succeed. Lastly, clearly identifying your target audiences and markets help to focus all your effort on those areas and not waste valuable resources on users that will not utilize your product.
We have identified five existing products that Jamz is likely to compete with and have provided below a brief summary of their main features. This information will be valuable to us as we continue to develop our online social music collaboration site.
findmysong.com
findmysong is a music collaboration in the cloud website. It allows users to create music projects of which others can audition for based on the type of skills wanted such as, drummers or guitar players. Persons auditioning can then upload sample audio files or music sheets in the audition section. Users have a detail profile page that includes information such as their skills, music influences and even favorite artistes. The service is completely free and ownership belongs completely to the end-user(s) creating a song or project. It also has links to other social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud. The social side of the site is extensive. There are activity feeds, feature projects, popular project and users can comment and appreciate (like) posts. It provides a good platform to search for and meet musicians. The site does not provide features to have real-time collaboration in creating a song and the projects published are only audio files.
procollabs.com
procollabs is an online music collaboration service for musicians. The site allows users to record their song, upload it and then invited users can work on it.
The site boasts an online community that has experience and talented musicians. The website offers a 14-day trial with limited features such as 50 MB online storage. There is an annual artist membership program that costs $15 and includes features such as 1GB storage, links to social media, music collaboration tools and the option to start a band (iBand) on the site. On the social side, there are personalize profile pages, live chat and forums. An interesting feature of the site is its registration process. It involves a manual verification where users upload their songs or audio files. Someone then listens to it and later determines whether or not your application is approved. The site also offers protection in terms of audio watermarking as well as uses creative commons licenses. There is no feature to record the song online or for musicians to work online together in real-time. Only audio files are published.
splice.com
splice is a website for music creation, collaboration and sharing. The website has unique features such as version controls, timelines and backups on projects. It also provides unlimited storage. Splice offers a desktop application that allows users to create and work on music. The creation is then uploaded to their website and users can collaborate with each other by downloading the audio and make changes using the desktop application. Splice also offers a huge library of audio samples that can be used by members. However, there is only a 14-day day trial after which users have to pay. There are also a wide range of plug-ins, paid and free versions, to work on audio files such as synthesizers and equalizers. An SDK is also available for plug-in manufacturers. The site offers online tutorials and courses to help users learn the basics such as sound designs and mixing. With respect to the social side of the website, there are user profiles, online community for users to publish their songs and blogs. Splice is meant for professional musicians and causal users can find it challenging to use the site and its products.
kompoz.com
kompoz allows musicians from around the world to collaborate. The site essentially crowdsource songs. A registered user is able to upload a recorded song to the site and then invites other users to participate. Participants can then extend the song by adding new instruments, beats or melodies. The site gives users a personal workspace where they can upload their song and work with other community members or form a private group. The site allows users to create a profile page to showcase their work and talents. The site also allows users to create agreements and licenses for songs. Users can sell their music on Soundblend, a music store dedicated to crowdsourced music. It also has a community section where users can interact and post their songs. There are also various groups that users can join, for example Bass players or Guitar players. There is an extensive search available that allows users to find a specific area to work on or to invite someone. kompoz.com offers free membership with limited features. They have 3 additional membership plans: plus, premier and pro. Each offering additional features. There is no real-time collaboration and songs are created using external applications and then uploaded onto the site.
jamly.co
jamly facilitates online collaboration among musicians. The site is simple and approaches online collaboration differently from the others. Users can upload a song or record a song on the site using a webcam and microphone. Others can then join the session by recording their part. At the end, it is all combined into a single compilation, usually a video of each participants playing their respective part. The user profile is however limited and users can interact primarily via chat. The activity feeds are basically the sessions being created. User can leave comments on each session page as well as like a session. The recording of each user playing their instrument happens independently of each other. The site does not provide information on licenses. It allows anyone to join free of charge and registration is straightforward.
Some key features are summarized in the table below.
