Launched my first side project: a weekly newsletter to discover new music
Hey guys,
I've been reading Indie Hackers' forum and interviews for a couple of months and today I'm quite excited to finally make my first post on the forum!
I recently launched a side project and I'm keen to get some advice/feedback from you guys.
It's called lbld (http://lbld.it) and the idea is that every week I pick a small record label and I send a newsletter with a playlist including 20 tracks from that label. I'm basically trying to bring together people that are looking for new music on one side and small labels that release great music on the other side.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the concept/design and any advices/questions if you have a moment to check it here: http://lbld.it
PS. if you like listening to music while working on your projects, feel free to sign up or follow the playlist on Spotify - you'll get a new playlist with 20 tracks every Wednesday morning ;)
Nice idea! My thoughts:
Two questions:
Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!
I like your idea of including genre and similar artists - definitely something I'll look into. And you're right, there are too many links on the page and I need to put the focus on the newsletter subscription.
To answer your questions, I went for Wednesday because it's the middle of the week and thought people still have work to do but want a bit of distraction. Friday is usually when all new songs are released so quite a busy day in terms of discovering new music!
As for finding an audience - there are similar services (more or less) that have decent audience sizes which I'm targeting and I'm also hoping for support from the labels I'm featuring on the newsletter.
This is awesome! I definitely want to get this somewhere during the work week.
One thing I'd like to mention is that not everyone has access to Spotify. I'm from Romania and we don't have it here. Is open.spotify.com different? If you run into issues, Google Music is more widely available.
Thanks for your comment.
That's a good point - I did think about creating playlists on Soundcloud as well as on Spotify but it's quite a bit of work and I first wanted to check if there was an interest so I launched it with Spotify only.
I'm not very familiar with Google Music - can you create your own playlists on there and share them with people?
I don't sign up for much stuff but I've just signed up to this. This is a great idea. The landing page is just fine for what stage you're currently at, it's simple, clean and to the point with just enough information.
The only improvement suggestion I have at this stage is to make a bigger deal out of the subscription box as it's a bit low key right no. Afterall, that is the source of your conversions. Maybe A/B test this with what you have now?
Last thing, I don't love the URL - it's short but it's not easy to remember. This is probably a minor point at this stage as most people bookmark / use history but still feedback non-the-less.
Congrats, I could see this growing into something much bigger. This could be really great.
Thank you so much for signing up and for your feedback!
I am working on the subscription box to make it more prominent so hopefully I'll be able to launch it soon. I take your point about the URL - I'll keep this in mind.
I love the idea, however I found the page to be too sparse in telling the visitor what the function of the site actually is. I think it should prominently declare that its purpose is to help the visitor discover new music. Few people have time to chase down new music these days, so we all need this type of service.
I have done the same thing a few times, where I've spent so much time thinking about the site that I'm building that I lose touch with what is going through the mind of a first time visitor.
Thanks for the feedback! I agree I need to find a way to tell people what the website is about. I might add more info just above the signup form.
Love the idea, not just some random collection of songs, but focusing on a label each week, is good for listeners and perhaps musicians looking for a new (or their first) label.
It's a very competitive industry, but if you have good taste in music (more if lot of other people share your taste in music) you can definitely still succeed.
Also would be a good idea to make sure to keep an public archive of your weekly posts (will be good for SEO and give a way for people to find your service based on music they might be searching for).
Thanks for taking the time to check it and glad you like the concept!
Yeah, I'll definitely be archiving the playlists on Spotify for people to go back to previous episodes and I'm working on creating an Archive section on the website too.
Subscribed! Good stuff on the first playlist 👍
Thanks! Glad you liked the playlist!
I love the concept! I love discovering new music and have thought it would be fun to build something for music discovery. However, I get stuck because I can't think of a new and interesting angle. I really like how you focus on 1 indie label each week. It's cool to be able to hear the types of music that label records. Love that's it's connected to a Spotify playlist too :)
One feature suggestion, add a little bio with history and photos of the studio. Huckberry started their curated clothing website with an email newsletter where they wrote backstory about who makes the products they curated. They've grown a huge audience now. I read it even when I'm not in the market for new clothes.
Thanks for your feedback Tyler. Appreciate you taking the time to check it.
This is definitely in my plan to include a bit more info/bio about each label in the long term. I have spent a lot of time (too much) on developing the idea so I had to focus on the main features to finally launch it and see what response I'd get.
For example, I'd love to get the labels involved and maybe get an interview with the founder of each label explaining the story behind it.
I agree with Tyler here. I think the "Support the Studio" section can be removed in lieu of a small snippet of background on the studio/label. Telling a story, especially while young, can really help spark the emotional connection you're trying to build with your audience.
Great concept!
Totally agree with you! I think this "support the label" section will go away from next week. Glad you like the concept!
Hey, you can try the design feedback service: https://www.basil.chat/
They can help to get feedback on the design
Just came to say that the playlist is amazing. Gj!
Thanks!
Hi, just want you to know that your idea is awesome!
Especially due to the reason that you let newcomers artists achieve a new audience.
Just one thing (I think its already mentioned above), keep an archive of older playlists.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much! Glad you like the idea!
Yes, I'll definitely be archiving playlists for people to get back to them.
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Thanks for signing up! Hope you liked the playlist!
And thanks for sharing the link to your website, I didn't know something like this already existed. I've actually been working on a very similar idea which I'm hoping to build soon!
Looking at your website it feels like most of the tracks posted are from established/mainstream artists. It might be better to focus on smaller artists that will be more keen to use such service to reach more people and bring their fans to it too - just a thought!
I haven't really built this project with the aim of monetising it. The main motivations were to develop my coding skills/add a new project to my portfolio and create a community of people I can share music I love with. But if I ever monetise it I think it will be through donations (Patreon) or sponsorships.