Boyd Martin & Dave Kahl Two musicians launch MyGigNet.com (My case for hope in the music industry)

by Boyd Martin

My 56th birthday marked my 44th year performing as a professional musician. Though I've been kicked, burned, beaten and slammed by the music "business," my hope for it was never really destroyed.

Many of you may remember back to the late '80s when I published the monthly rag, The Portland Live Music Guide. Although I was a competitor for the same advertising dollars as Ms. Carter was with Positively Entertainment, we maintained a friendly exchange of information and resources. The music scene in Portland was booming and a lot of things were happening nationally for its musicians. It was a simpler time.

After realizing The Guide was starting to complicate my musical progress due to its demands, I ceased publication in 1992 and went to work for Maggie White's weekly, The Downtowner, as the music editor, a much less demanding job.

When I discovered the Internet in late 1994, I was wide-eyed and breathless about the incredible potential it represented for changing everything. Infatuated with the idea of being able to share information anytime with anyone anywhere, I posted the databases I had developed from The Guide and from my contacts book for The Downtowner. I soon obtained the domain name of IndieAvenue.com.

The Dot-com Bubble

IndieAvenue became a popular resource for Northwest-musician early adopters of the web. I expanded the scope of the site to include Oregon and Washington and, at its peak, IndieAvenue listed over 5,000 musicians, 1200 music venues and festivals and a complete media database. The enterprising DIY band or musician could more easily book and promote gigs; and music aficionados could more easily find their favorite live music in the region.

By Y2K, I was knee-deep in website development, not making a dime and $4K in the red. The web at the time seemed somehow immune to conventional ideas about revenue models. Most big internet companies up until that time were not making any money either, but that didn't seem to stop venture capitalists, who seemed perfectly happy to throw millions at any kind of idea for a website, even without a revenue model.

Then I got my phone call. It seems a group of Internet entrepreneurs had spotted IndieAvenue, and wanted to discuss "acquisition options" with me for an online entertainment-booking project. I ended up in a giant lawyers' office overlooking Pioneer Square, gazing out across a huge mahogany table, surrounded by glass walls and several three-piece suits. By the end of the meeting, I'd been hired as VP of Database Development at $72K a year and a future so bright I had to wear shades.

Then the bubble burst. Eight months after that phone call, I was the last one standing, paid not one penny. I authored at least a dozen rewrites of full-blown business plans for investors who were dropping like flies in a DDT factory.

Needless to say, I was a wreck and so was pretty much everything else. With the subsequent economic recession following the "internet tech bubble," gigs dried up, my truck broke down and so did my relationships. Then came 9-11.

Post- 9-11

I remember I had just gotten a little bit of a roll going with the Kid Lopez Band, where I could actually see some light at the end of the tunnel. The following weekend after 9-11, the venue we were playing was literally empty. No one was there except the bartender, a hapless waitress and us. We figured it was just because everyone was home watching terrorism TV, but it ended up being much deeper than that.

After a few months of this, we began to conclude that the terrorists had truly won. The club scene was practically toxic. I can't tell you how many live music venues in the Northwest came and went between Sept. 11, 2001, and the next three years, but it was a LOT. And our part of the country was actually doing quite well, as I found out on a couple of U.S. tours with Terry Evans.

Since those dark days, the music scene has seemed to crawl back, but venue attendance is still down on average to this day, and people don't seem to want to stay out as late, or as long.

Nonetheless, I think the arts, particularly music, can be somewhat recession proof; people want to listen to it when they're up and when they're down. For the professional musician, the trick is being able to find when and where people do want to listen to music and then getting in there and providing it. For the music lover, the trick is the same: Where is stuff I like and when can I get it?

The Internet, in 2008, has answered both of those questions with "right here and right now," much to the chagrin of the music business establishment. In fact, I think it's safe to say that nothing is the same as it was 10 years ago in the music business, or even last month. Things are moving so fast, it is nearly impossible to keep up with all the online options, twists and turns for both musicians and music lovers.

MyGigNet

Then I got my other phone call. This one was from Dave Kahl, long-time Portland bassist and local music ambassador. We sat down outside of the Candlelight Bar downtown on a sunny day and he proceeded to blow my mind with some ideas he'd been working on for several years. I was amazed at how we seemed to be sharing the same mind in several ways about how the Internet could be applied to making music.

The result has become MyGigNet.com. Kahl has assembled a great team to accomplish what I believe will be the equivalent of a Rosetta Stone for the music business. It is what the Internet was designed for and is a project "on the right side of history" for an industry sorely in need of it.

In a sentence, MyGigNet is the new online operating system for musicians and music lovers. If it has anything to do with the performance or enjoyment of music, MyGigNet is its location. In fact, the entire music economy will live at MyGigNet: education, collaboration, performance, music recording and distribution. It represents a "cradle to grave" community approach that goes far beyond standard social networking.

We refer to MyGigNet as a music economy because its focus is not mainly on the end product (as are most musician/music sites are now), but on people creating community. As in a community, its members contribute and are compensated. There have been a few experiments in "revenue-sharing" before on the web, but no attempt so far to do the whole enchilada.

The promise of the web, especially for music types, is to be able to make a living doing the art; and if you are a music consumer, it is to be able to connect to and interact with the best music and musicians in the world. This is the promise MyGigNet is endeavoring to deliver.

Will you join us? Visit the MyGigNet.com forum (follow the link), cruise around and see what we've got cooking.

Latest development from David Kahl: With the latest initiative announced by mayor-elect Sam Adams, the Creative Alliance Network, we find ourselves positioned to be in the right place at the right time. We have been asked to meet with Sam this week to present the case for economic development funding. With the assistance of Rich Layton (transform.com), we have been able to make a compelling argument for prominent placement of MyGigNet in their strategic vision. It appears that we have addressed and answered several of their key concerns and components that are geared toward the economic impact and implication of the arts, locally and regionally. The comprehensive nature of our venture, as well as its unique constructs, bodes well for us. It also helps that the cost of roll out and growth is substantially less than that which has been invested in other, niche oriented, programs.

On another front, the principal of Demographics Now, whose clients include the U.S. Census Bureau, has approached me with a proposition that will deliver the hard statistical data, which will serve multiple immediate and long term purposes. Among the benefits envisioned, we see the ability to deliver specific, qualified data to our members, allowing them to connect to venues, businesses, and individuals that more directly relate to their personal and professional needs, and to refine the results down to a one mile radius. This is more than a mere MapQuest or Yellow Pages service; this includes the ability to break down data by income, interest, activity, and other variables.

Tungle, an online scheduling service, is to offer us availability of an application for immediate, real time confirmation of bookings, including notification of band members.

ProGuitar.com is interested in our routing and delivery proposal to NAMM (the National Association of Music Merchants). They have a unique service, in that their client/community offers online comparisons of musical equipment in written, audio, and video format.

Lastly, we have initiated an online recruiting station. We are seeking programmers, web developers, educators, research, marketing, and business development proficiencies to participate and to contribute to our establishment and growth for in kind consideration.

Thanks for your support.

David Kahl, MyGigNet, Inc.

Update from Dave Kahl:

For some of you, the issues surrounding my meeting with mayor-elect Sam Adams may need clarification. This will serve as a baseline for future funding and development of the MyGigNet program.

Creative Capacity (creativecapacity.org) has launched an initiative to coordinate arts advocacy efforts across the region. Relationships are determined via Creative Advocacy Network (CAN) and/or Cultural Advocacy Coalition (CAC); the first dedicated to organization and funding of the local arts community and the second focused on cultural policy and issues of arts, history, historic preservation, heritage and the humanities. These are connected to the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Phase 1 goals address Infrastructure, Access, and Investment. A Strategic Action Plan will be published in December.

Underlying all of this is an economic strategy that crosses cultural and commercial boundaries. It seems that we have, in our vision, anticipated the needs, interrelationships, and issues that have been identified by our leaders as key to sustainable and principled growth. More so, we are offering the vehicle to codify, organize, and fast track the efforts of the creative community and its advocates, including the financial empowerment of the base -- the working, creative professional. It includes the funding of cultural and educational programs, as well. The implications and applications of our organization and operating system for all of the arts, technological innovation, and commercial enterprise have been acknowledged and understood by the key players involved in this endeavor. This model can then be applied in other regions and localities, another understood implication.

Your support in this mission, active and tacit, are much appreciated. We are close and momentum is accelerating. Thank you,

David Kahl, MyGigNet, Inc.

Connect, Collaborate, Create "Empowerment of Musical Community" ldkkahl2000@yahoo.com