#mamusicind MED7201 Week 4: Cultural Enterprise Idea

Patchwork B Brief:

Generate an idea for a new business opportunity that you could pursue which must have a clear cultural aspect to it.

DISCLAIMER: Before anybody goes crazy in the comments field, I would just like to point out that the ideas and thoughts in this post are all THEORETICAL and part of my MA degree. I would appreciate you giving me feedback and help, but in a constructive way if possible.

My cultural enterprise idea is called Jazzgirl.

It would form part of the Jazzman Records umbrella, acting as a label as well as a digital content producer and distributor through a mobile and tablet app by the same name. (For more information about Jazzman Records and why I consider it to be a cultural enterprise, please refer to my post about Cultural Entrepreneurship)

The focus of the music released on the label and shared through the app would be in line with what Jazzman Records already specialise in, so Jazz, Funk, Soul, Jukebox R&B, but it would focus exclusively on female artists within those genres, digging even deeper in the musical archives, but potentially also embrace new acts sometime in the future if it kicks off.

The releases on the label would be collectors items, limited edition 7 inch vinyl with a digital equivalent available.

The app would work like a mash-up of a magazine,  music history resource and music plus video player. It would include extensive liner notes, pictures, audio clips and video clips where possible, as well as options of buying the music and exploring more music from the artists featured, either on the Jazzgirl label, Jazzman & sister labels, or other labels out there.

Since there isn’t a label out there that focuses solely on female artists within this niche category of music and format, the aim is to appeal to an already existing Jazzman customers base through the high quality music & product that we’re releases, but at the same time, bridge the gap between the old and the new, appealing to a slightly younger and more tech savvy generation through the app.

Jazzgirl would initially be funded through Jazzman Records, paying for the design and build of the app, as well as the first 2-3 releases on the label. However, the aim would be to turn around enough money for it to be a self-efficient business and not reliable on any further funding from Jazzman Records.

This would hopefully be achieved by not only the physical releases of records, but also through the app that would be free to download but have extra premium content available for paying monthly customers.

The idea for the Jazzgirl app has stemmed from an upcoming Spiritual Jazz project by Black Classical and it is a very similar concept to the recent Blue Note app that has been released for iPad.



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