"OK, so what's it all about"?

The VENUE is a fast-growing independent music portal, run by Visionradio limited.
We offer Artists an internet promotion and sales platform with NO UP-FRONT CHARGES.

In a nutshell the deal is:

	We (Visionradio) promote you (the Artist) on the internet through the site (www.thevenuesite.com)
	We offer sample clips (60 seconds or so) as mp3 downloads for people to check out your music
	If they like it they go through to the online CD store and buy the CD (Single, EP, Album...)

The Plan:

By representing a range of artists together in one place we offer value to new distribution channels where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Without going overboard, we are looking to have a strong enough line-up of artists to clinch appropriate deals with distribution routes for the benefit of all.  We make our cut by taking a commission on any sales or deals we help achieve for our artists, so there is no initial outlay or risk for artists attaching themselves to the VENUE.

It's as simple as that, but there are a bunch of other questions (FAQ) and points -
these are indexed below, please click on the appropriate link:

What are the New Channels to market?
What's in it for the VENUE and Visionradio?
What percentage commissions do you take?
How do we know how much you've sold?
What other services do you offer?
Can you help us with recording material?
CDs and downloads, what is the mix?
What are you looking for from Artists?
 

 
New Channels to market                                                               back to top

Japan:

As a business we are currently working on a number of different activities with Japan's leading mobile phone operator - NTT DoCoMo.  They currently offer a music download service, and have some 44 million subscribers in Japan.  Furthermore Japan is in general a good market for Western music, and the opportunity to extend to live tour dates in Japan is very real.

Global:

1. Microsoft Media Center:

Through the work of one of our partner organisations, the VENUE will be a part of the new Microsoft Media Center launch.  For more on this product, check out http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/. It will be up to us working together, but now is one fantastic opportunity to ride the crest of the wave.

2. Korea Telecom:

In recent weeks we have been in increasing dialogue with Korea Telecom concerning broadband distribution in Korea, which is the most advanced broadband country in the world.

UK:

1. The Application Home Initiative:

The UK government is supporting various activities in developing new ways to extend services into the home.  Visionradio is associated with the Application Home Initiative, which will be trialling various different methods for delivering and distributing content and services to and within the home.  The VENUE will be the sole music offering initially.

2. BT Dotmusic:

This one is up to all of us - we have links with Ben, the head of music at BT, and he is keeping an eye on the progress of this site.  So, if we can put together a convincing enough proposition...

3. ntl:

Currently ntl have the largest population of broadband users in the UK and we are exploring the possibilities of working with them in a number of ways.

 
What's in it for the VENUE and Visionradio?                       back to top

The VENUE is a music portal site run by Visionradio limited, and it is targeted to earn an income for Visionradio ltd through commissions on sales on behalf of the artists represented on the site.

These sales initially are set to be around music CDs, and extending onto other items like band merchandise - T-shirts, mugs, cigarette lighters etc..
Following on from that we are targeting music downloads, and arranging gigs and tours.  More on this as it develops.

 
How do we know how much you've sold?                         back to top

When the orders are received via our online store, we are notified by email.  We then forward the details to you for you to send the CD / merchandise directly on to the customer.

This way you get both the contact details of the customer for your fan base as well as track how many items have been sold through our store.

Of course a different system will be employed once we start on sales of downloads...

 
What percentage commissions do you take?                     back to top

On sales from the Store our standard commission is 15% of the net proceeds after costs (costs principally being the credit card merchant transaction fee plus any other tangible costs incurred in processing the order).

This means 85% of the net proceeds go through directly to the Artists and their associates.

In the case of sales of Video material which Visionradio has produced, the commissions are on a sliding scale:

	Description	Visionradio commission	Artist commission
	Where no contribution has been made to the costs of production	75%	25%
	Where production costs have been part paid	60 - 40%	40 - 60%
	Where production costs have been paid in full	25%	75%

As with all things in life, commission levels are negotiable dependent on volume.

Visionradio and the VENUE reserve the right to negotiate new commission levels in completing successful agreement with any of our prospective new channels to market.

Lastly, where Visionradio is involved in any other artist revenue generation, including gigs, tours, publishing, recording or distribution deals, commission will be by negotiation, but typically of the order of 10 - 20%

  
What other services do you offer?                                        back to top

All the services we are currently offering or planning to offer are listed below.

Service		Available	Link
	Promotional web presence	Yes	N/A
	Web landing page (if required) or link to artist site	Yes
	Online credit card store facility for CDs and merchandise	Yes	here
	New Channels to market	Q1 2004	here
	Access to 200+ gigging venues in the UK	Q1 2004
	Facility to create and offer download music clips	Yes	here
	Video filming, encoding and editing facilities	Yes	here
	Recording facilities available (Demo purposes)	Yes	here
	Intro to professional Recording facilities	Yes
	Intro service to top UK record producers	Q1 2004

 
Can you help us with recording material?                          back to top

We have connections with a number of recording facilities, offering a variety of solutions to suit different budgets.

Working directly in association with Roland UK and bleach records, we have access to a demo recording facility centred around the superb Roland VS-2480CD desk.
Please note: availability and pricing on recording services will ultimately be

 
CDs and downloads, what is the mix?                                 back to top

At this moment, the VENUE strategy is to keep it simple - download clips for sampling, CDs for selling.

The suggested method is to offer short clips (20 to 60 seconds, that kind of thing) to allow customers to download and sample music easily.  If they like what they hear, then they can move on to the online store and order a CD.

This can be a CD single, an EP, and Album etc., whatever you like.  Customers can pay by credit/debit card - our store goes through the secure Worldpay system.

It is planned to offer chargeable downloads in the near future once all the key ingredients are in place.  We reckon it'll probably be in Japan where we start to deploy downloads first...

  
What are you looking for from Artists?                               back to top

Willingness, motivation and drive:
First and foremost are artists and musicians who have a strong motivation and drive, and are prepared to help us help you.  The whole project has been launched by the Visionradio team through their love of music, and the belief that there is a mass of talent which the current industry won't promote.

We want to be different, and we want to enable new music to reach a new audience.  The basic tools are in place, the initial connections established, the rest of it is up to you and us working together.

Communication:
An absolute key facet of this is that you are prepared to be in dialogue with us - we need to be able to communicate effectively with you, by phone and email.
We have found with some artists we just cannot make contact with them - if this is you, sorry, we can't help you.

Content:
We have to have access to content to which the Artist can allocate us distribution rights.  We do not ask for this to be on an exclusive basis, but without material for our new market channels to offer their consumers, we have no proposition to offer them in turn.

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