Each week Topspin’s CEO, Ian Rogers, and VP of Product and Marketing, Bob Moczydlowsky (Bob Moz), have been doing live webcasts with interactive chat for current and prospective Topspin users. Usually it is the ‘Ian and Bob Show’, but they often have guest hosts or others making quick appearances. It is a great way to get to virtually meet the Topspin team , hear the latest news and announcements from the management team, and be able to ask questions directly via the chat.
Friday May 27, 2011 11a PT
Broadcasting from a secret remote Topspin location
Ian Rogers (C.E.O.), Andrew Mains (V.P., Artist and Label Relations and Services), and Jason Spitz (Director, Marketing). With special guest Alessandro Cortini (SONOIO).
Watch the webcast via the archive.
News & Announcements
International Fulfillment
Topspin used to have the option to have a different fulfiller in each continent. While this was good for shipments, it was not in terms customer service or inventory management. It was just plain confusing for fans.
For the future, Topspin is setting up centralized control of worldwide fulfillment. So Topspin handles the customer service and the inventory management, but contracts with warehouses where appropriate. Being used by Paul McCartney now. This solution lives within the fulfillment business, not the software app. But also can be controlled by your own fulfillment vendor, provided they manage the multiple shipping locations properly. Bottom line is it is not going to be handled within the software.
Guest Topspin Employee – Andrew Mains
Andrew is Vice-President, Artist and Label Relations and Services. Oversees the professional services department of Topspin. Prior to Topspin, Andrew worked at Interscope for nine years in many areas, including “new media” efforts.
Product Development
Topspin/Facebook Store Launched This Week
It was a total ground-up re-write. The whole purchase flow stays within Facebook. For Topspin users it is really simple to set-up. If you watch the video within the app, and you already have your Topspin Spinshop configured, you can set it up in less than 5 minutes w/in Facebook. More details about the Topspin Facebook Store can be found via this blog post.
New Streaming Players Launched This Week
Much more streamlined and a lot better looking. The sharing buttons are in a better location. The call-to-action button is bigger, and in a better location. They are HTML5, not solely Flash-based. So they work on “i” devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). Skinning functionality is coming in the next few weeks. When the video or audio plays, it provides a clean look without the buttons or controls. More details on the updated streaming player and other features released at the same time are detailed in this blog post by Jason Spitz.
Fan/Email Section Revisions, Progress?
Still currently being worked on, no target completion dates, yet.
Artist Spotlights and Features
Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole
Mountain Apple Company and their artist, the late Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole were featured in the first edition of the Topspin Artist Spotlight blog post.
Special Artist Guest: SONOIO
Alessandro Cortini who works under the moniker, SONOIO, stopped by the Topspin office and was interviewed by Ian. He has a new album, out now. Ian and Alessandro were discussing the bounds of the “album” package should really be what is comfortable for the artist, not what is dictated by the industry. This was a topic recently discussed by Bob Lefsetz. Be it 4 songs, 8 songs, or 15 songs, or more. He sells more digital tracks from his own web site than he does via iTunes.
Topspin Community Q&A
Q: Is there a way to add a free offer to the Topspin Facebook tab, without adding it to the Spinshop store?
A: No, there is not. But you can create a separate tab. For more info, check out this post in the Topspin Community Forum.
Q: How about setting up Topspin to recommend other services, like audio engineers.
A: Really out-of-scope for the Topspin platform. But a great idea, in general.
Q: How do you set-up gated fan-club access for external features, like Tiny Chat?
A: Ask in the Forums. Also, Bob Moz mentioned they’ll try to work on a detailed guide on how to do it.
Submit Your Questions for Next Week’s Webcast
Topspin encourages us to submit questions, in advance, whether or not you can attend the web cast, live. You can submit your questions via this Topspin Community Forum Topic.
Webcast Archives
Each week Topspin archives these webcasts on their site. You can check them out here.
Music Geek Services is an artist services company based in Chicago and Nashville. Headed by brothers Jay and Chandler Coyle, Music Geek Services is a Topspin-Certified Marketer that specializes in helping artists achieve deeper connections with their fans through digital media. We provide a full suite of artist services including web development and design, Topspin platform consulting and execution, social media consulting, project management, and full-service artist management.
We have worked with Sloan, Barenaked Ladies, The Zambonis, The Odds, The Movings Label, Walter & Wendell, Dick Prall, Mike Evin, Dolly Varden, Steve Dawson, The Carter Administration, Broken: a Musical, and Callann Lane.
