Assignment 4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

Assignment 4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an unfulfilled market in the field of music production, specifically the opportunity for the everyday middle-class music enthusiast to make their own high quality songs.  When I was just starting to make music and learning to produce, there were no comprehensive services such as this one to help me realize my goals of learning to create a unique song step by step.  Hyperspeed HomeStudio can serve this market and fill their needs.

Time in a professional music studio and music software is very expensive (with prices often ranging between $100 - $1000+ for software and $100 - $500 per studio hour), making it inaccessible to the typical middle-class consumer.  This has created a large unfulfilled market of people who want to record some unique songs or even a full album, but do not have the knowledge and/or cannot afford to do so.

People outside of the professional music industry will find it difficult to record any type of media.  There are many components and aspects that go into a single song, and most people don’t know where to start.  Also, many producers and songwriters are hunting for the most valuable thing in the music industry, exposure.  HomeStudio creates a mutually beneficial relationship between client and creator.  HomeStudio allows creators to showcase their skills and talents while delivering a high-quality personalized song to the client.

This need has always existed.  Music is an integral part of our daily lives, and many people are not content with just listening to it.  Many people would like to create their own songs but lack the expertise and resources.  HomeStudio solves both these problems by providing access to industry professionals at a relatively low price point.

To meet this need now, a lot of people just turn to their lossy local devices such as a computer or a phone to record, or simply just don’t record anything at all.  Microphones in these commonly used local devices are of very poor quality, and the end result will not sound good or professional at all. 

After performing some research into the market, I discovered there is a competing service called SongFinch that currently tries to serve this market and handle this need.  However, the work on the song gets outsourced to their in-house producers and songwriters.  Clients determine the general mood of their track but are not involved with the actual process and subsequent recording, someone else does all that for them.  For a company prizing the idea of creating something unique and personalized for clients, the clients are not very involved with “their own” product. 

Hyperspeed HomeStudio is the superior option due to its interactivity and full involvement of the customer in their project.  Essentially, the service offers the opportunity to create unique personalized recordings as well as the equivalent of a full master class in home music recording for a very cheap price.  Customers will get access to amazing producers, songwriters and engineers as well as the necessary equipment in their own homes to use at their convenience.

This is a unique service and I am around 70% sure this opportunity not only exists, but that there is a reasonably sized market for it.

           The prototypical customer would be the middle-class person who is interested in learning to make music and the whole artistic creation process as a whole.  This would include those interesting in gaining a better understanding of the fundamental individual components that make up music as a whole.

Interview Questions

1.        Have you ever wanted to make music or record a song?

2.        Is there a specific time where you wanted to record but couldn’t?

3.        How long have you wanted to make music?

4.        What inspired you to first want to make music?

5.        If you are, how are you currently recording music?

6.        Would this service solve your problem and provide good value?

Interview 1: Nick – College friend who wants to pursue a career in audio engineering

1.        Yes, I have.

2.        Yes, when I was younger and just starting out, I didn’t have the equipment that I have now.  Over a few years, I was able to slowly buy what I needed to record myself and my music.

3.        Since around 2^nd grade, so maybe around 11 years.  Music is my passion and has been for a long time.  I want to work in music production as a career, specifically audio engineering.

4.        I’ve always loved music.  I listen to a lot of it and it was such a big part of my life even at such a young age, I knew I had to learn how to make my own.

5.        I record my music in my bedroom with a mic, audio interface, Ableton, two small speakers, and my laptop.

6.        If I didn’t have the equipment already, and you could give me a whole standard quality studio to use as I please for $150 per day, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.  Normally, professional studio time is around $100 an hour.  $150 a day with a producer and a songwriter is a great deal.  I would still buy it since I’ve always wanted to work with producers and audio engineers. 

Reflection: Through this interview, I gained knowledge on a better way to structure my business idea

Since Nick has most of the equipment he needs, but would still buy the service for the opportunity to work with others in the music industry (producers and audio engineers), I would offer that service on its own.  This would surprisingly allow me to access a new untapped market that Nick represents, someone who already has the equipment, but wants to further explore music by working with others.

Interview 2: Deacon – College friend and roommate who wants to record a single

1.        Yeah.

2.        Yeah, I wrote On This Deac a while back ago and we’re only recording it now since you have the mic and all the stuff to do it.

3.        Well, I just recently started getting into music and rapping, so probably a few months or so.  I listen to a lot of music but just have never made any of my own until now.

4.        When you made the beat for On This Deac a few months ago, I just got inspired and started freestyling on it.  That’s probably my favorite beat of yours, it goes hard.

5.        I didn’t used to record anything but now that you have the stuff, we just use that.

6.        If I didn’t live with you, I’d buy the service because I’ve seen how all of the things work together and I would like to find out more and learn how to make music myself.  It’d be pretty cool to work with music pros too.

Reflection: Through this interview, I gained an understanding of the intended typical customer’s experience with using our product.  Ideally, someone like Deacon would have the equipment mailed to them and then sit with a producer to come up with a beat that inspires them to hop on the microphone.  Then a songwriter would help fine tune your initial ideas and concept, and an audio engineer would come in and combine and clean up the sound.  Right now, I’ve been playing all these roles, so it would be very interesting to see how different people and their unique ideas could help further the customer process.  There was a large gap for me between the time I started making beats and the time I actually started recording.  This service would eliminate that delay and allow people to learn to express themselves through music whenever they choose.

Interview 3: Avery – Friend who is a casual consumer of music and is learning to play the drums

1.        Yes.

2.        Yeah, I have a keyboard and my dad’s drum set but I don’t have a microphone.  I just play the instruments for fun.  I’ve wanted to actually record the songs I’ve written for a while now but can’t yet.

3.        My parents put me in piano lessons when I was young, probably around when I was 7.  I love playing the piano and I know how to play some of my favorite video game theme songs and some pop songs.

4.        The piano lessons were probably the biggest inspiration.  I played the recorder in 3^rd grade though and I liked it.

5.        In my bedroom mostly through my phone or laptop microphone right now, but it doesn’t sound very good.  I want to get a better one.

6.        Yes it would.  It’s a little expensive for me right now, but having a studio and people to collaborate with would be great.

Reflection: Through this interview, I gained knowledge into the mind of a casual instrument player.  Since Avery has the instruments he needs and enjoys making songs recreationally, this service suits his needs.  There are a lot of people that play an instrument (piano, guitar, drums, etc.) for fun but don’t have recording equipment.  This service is perfect for Avery’s demographic.  He brings up a key issue as well, the service is seen to be expensive by prospective customers.  I can’t do anything about that though, my service is the cheapest suitable alternative to professional studio recording.

Surprisingly, a lot of the basic idea is still there.  It seems as though there is a solid demand for it, and the price point looks to be affordable to consumers in my target market.  Many consumers are currently using a worse option to fill their needs, there is an opportunity for me to solve the problem more efficiently.

Yes, given this new illuminating feedback I’ve gotten, I have decided to make changes to my business plan that I feel will allow me to focus on customer needs in a deeper way.  Instead of offering one straight package, I decided to split it into components.  The customer can choose specifically what items they need (for those who already have some equipment), and also work with the company professionals separately if they so choose. I feel like getting feedback from potential customers has allowed me to better identify their needs and how better to solve them.

I feel the ‘everything in moderation’ principle would apply here.  Entrepreneurs should definitely adapt their strategy and opportunities using customer feedback.  Customers are necessary and crucial to an entrepreneurial venture.  Utilizing feedback from target markets is essential to success, adapting your product to customers would provide better results for everyone involved.  However, this should be balanced with a degree of rigidity in your original plan.  If your plan is revolutionary and innovative, feedback should be used as a tool to refine it instead of a guide to change everything.  Due to factors such as these, a mix of both adaptation and staying true to your vision would be beneficial.