WWW.ARTONEARTH.COM finally launched!

janekbass · #1 05-10-2009, 12:37 AM

Hi guys,

I've been working on a project called art on earth for the past two years with three norwegian design, marketing and musical geniuses!

We finally launched the first beta version of the site last month and things have been going really well with it.

I would really appreciate people taking a look at it and getting any feedback I/we possibly can from you guys so we can improve it and make it the most seamless experience for both artists and customers.

I have just released several concerts on the site from my April European tour, and plan to record all shows from now on and make them available for download so that anyone who was at the show can take that show home with them if they dug it, and anyone who couldn't make the show can still check it out.

the site is at www.artonearth.com

Easy,

Janek

Phil Smith · #2 05-10-2009, 08:19 AM

Requires Flash 10, wheareas every other site on the web doesn't.

Forcemaster · #3 05-10-2009, 09:11 AM

Just downloaded the first night of the European tour that I was at.

First time it didn't download, second time worked like a charm.

I think it's a good site but there's a few bugs need to be ironed out, also I think most people would appreciate a progress bar for the tunes they download.

As an artist I think it's an absolutely stunning idea, but as an end user there's a few kinks that need to be duly ironed out.

Mike McGibney · #4 05-10-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forcemaster

I think it's a good site but there's a few bugs need to be ironed out, also I think most people would appreciate a progress bar for the tunes they download.
.

Agreed re. progress bar. It also feels sometimes a little cumbersome to use. But I hope it takes off.

Accepting payment via paypal would be of huge benefit, in my opinion.

janekbass · #5 05-10-2009, 04:31 PM

Progress bar is definitely top of the list right now for new features, so I'll announce it as soon as it's in there, should take too long to do.

As for paying with paypal.....

The entire system is integrated with more than just being a basic store where you buy and sell music. This is not a personal bootleg store on a personal website, this is a machine that automatically takes care of publishing, copywright, royalties, and ISRC codes for every song that is uploaded to the server. And to make separate payment options would make no sense at all. The artist selling their music on the site gets paid via the automated system once every three months, and the system has to calculate all the money that needs to be paid to ASCAP/PRS/BMI/CSAC?Harry Fox etc etc, and therefor needs to be integrated into the system, and not be run by an external third party. It's the same concept as iTunes in that sense for the customer.

I would be interested to hear why people would prefer to pay via paypal though....? as far as I can make out you're still using a debit or credit card to do that are you not?

Let me know.

Easy,

Janek

Sorax · #6 05-10-2009, 06:23 PM

Agreed on the progress bar point. Other than that it seems to run pretty well. It's definitely not the most system intensive site on the web (I think facebook takes that cake). I haven't had any problems so far with payment, that all runs pretty smoothly in my experience. Dig the site, looking forward to seeing it develop.

tplyons · #7 05-10-2009, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janekbass

Progress bar is definitely top of the list right now for new features, so I'll announce it as soon as it's in there, should take too long to do.

As for paying with paypal.....

The entire system is integrated with more than just being a basic store where you buy and sell music. This is not a personal bootleg store on a personal website, this is a machine that automatically takes care of publishing, copywright, royalties, and ISRC codes for every song that is uploaded to the server. And to make separate payment options would make no sense at all. The artist selling their music on the site gets paid via the automated system once every three months, and the system has to calculate all the money that needs to be paid to ASCAP/PRS/BMI/CSAC?Harry Fox etc etc, and therefor needs to be integrated into the system, and not be run by an external third party. It's the same concept as iTunes in that sense for the customer.

I would be interested to hear why people would prefer to pay via paypal though....? as far as I can make out you're still using a debit or credit card to do that are you not?

Let me know.

Easy,

Janek

Maybe a way to prepay via Paypal would be good. Paying on a song-by-song basis via Paypal would be kinda rough.

I like it... seems familiar. Haven't downloaded anything cause I'm unsure of exchange rates. Is there a way to have multiple currencies available?

Sorax · #8 05-10-2009, 08:24 PM

If you go to www.xe.com you can do an online conversion with current rates.

janekbass · #9 05-10-2009, 09:26 PM

xe.com is the best!! that's exactly what I was going to suggest. I use them all the time.

But I still don't see what advantage there is to paying with paypal.... it's a third party company that will cost way more than a standard credit/debit card company system will.

Easy,

Janek

tplyons · #10 05-11-2009, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janekbass

xe.com is the best!! that's exactly what I was going to suggest. I use them all the time.

But I still don't see what advantage there is to paying with paypal.... it's a third party company that will cost way more than a standard credit/debit card company system will.

Easy,

Janek

As far as using xe.com, I don't have a problem with this... but at the same time, I think it would be much easier for a customer to make a purchase on the site if they didn't have to translate currencies on their own. If there's a way to have multiple currencies available in the store, that would be great, if not, no big deal either.

As far as Paypal, with all the fees, it's really not worth it. I personally would leave it out unless there's a lot of customers begging for it.

adri24an · #11 05-11-2009, 07:13 AM

another thing that could be great is that you hadn't to login each time you visit the web page. i mean, now, when you visit the site, you can login and see all your music... but if you close the browser the session is closed too. so if you enter in the website 10 minutes later, you will have to re-login again... it would be easily fixed with cookies i think!

Phil Smith · #12 05-11-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janekbass

xe.com is the best!! that's exactly what I was going to suggest. I use them all the time.

But I still don't see what advantage there is to paying with paypal.... it's a third party company that will cost way more than a standard credit/debit card company system will.

Easy,

Janek

It's a means of reducing the risk to the buyer on the internet i.e. their credit/debit card isn't (as) exposed to the internet.

janekbass · #13 05-11-2009, 01:25 PM

you mean if a customer were to use paypal their information wouldn't be exposed?

well here's the thing we came across..... Paypal is way too expensive for everyone involved and we wouldn't be able to deliver such high profit margins to the artists by incorporating multiple payment clients. We have an incredibly reliable and secure payment method, and anyone paying with a credit card is almost always insured by their card issuer.

I just clicked around a few of the online sites offering digital downloads such as Amazon, Napster, Emusic, iTunes etc etc.... and none of them seem to offer anything but credit or debit card payment options.

If you really wanted to pay using paypal, then I would suggest getting the paypay debit card which is free of charge. Then you can use that for any purchase you like via your paypal account.

And we are going to have multiple currencies available for sure once we're out of the beta testing stages in a couple of months. Our main issue is funding, and every tiny thing that goes into the site such as a progress bar, or multiple currencies, or even a simple pop up currency converter, costs more money than you can imagine. Having already invested several 100's of 1000's of euros into the project we have to take each new add-on one step at a time and get funding to make each thing happen and run smoothly.

I really appreciate you feedback on all of this. It's exactly what we need to make this site run better than any of the others out there.

if anyone has their own music that they want to make available for download via Art On Earth, I can send out some invites to the site to be one of the pilot artists, and you can check out the artist perspective of the back end of the site.

Easy,

Janek

adammazza · #14 05-11-2009, 02:37 PM

As previously mentioned people like PayPal for the security it offers. Basically there is minimal risk to the buyer. The sites you mention are well established sites, people, right or wrong have come to trust them.

I know that if I am purchasing something online from a merchant I haven't dealt with prior I am cautious about providing my CC number. I am much more likely to go with a merchant that uses Paypal, Google Payments, etc.

Also, I'm lazy

. I don't need to go digging in my wallet for my CC card, I can just log into Paypal and make a payment. I don't think I'm the only one that has made too many impulse purchases this way.

I'm not sure of the laws in Norway, but in the US you usually need to have periodic audits performed if you accept Visa/Mastercard (PCI compliance). The cost of this may be greater than the cost of the PayPal surcharge.

The site looks great btw. I think I've asked you this in the past; Any plans to offer high fidelity tracks?

Adam

Phil Smith · #15 05-12-2009, 12:10 AM

If you're selling it's all about reducing the barrier to making the sale. The types of payment you accept to how many clicks it takes to finalize the deal all effect how many sales you ultimately get.

The only way you can factor in whether or not PayPal is worth it is by figuring out how many sales you lose and this is something you need to be concerned about when you're small. For perspective, newegg.com takes paypal and they do a ton of business. Sometimes you have to give up a little to get a little more.

mrufino1 · #16 05-14-2009, 09:22 PM

Check out the Paypal plugin, it can generate credit card numbers so you can use paypal for sites that only take credit cards. You can generate a one time use card, or create a number that lasts as long as you want. Pretty cool, I use it for amazon to pay with paypal.

Ale · #17 05-15-2009, 08:53 AM

Very cool Janek, i will definetly get some live sets.

Illbay · #18 05-15-2009, 08:55 AM

Don't worry about the Flash 10 thing. Most browsers will offer to install the update.

bass349 · #19 05-20-2009, 10:07 AM

Love it. Great idea and i really do hope it takes off.

All i had to comment on as far as improvements would be being able to sign in from different regions / currencies as mentioned above. I always feel a little unsafe/unsure/hesitant when i'm buying in a foreign currency (i live in australia). Also, not sure if it applies, but i think my credit card charges a fee for buying internationally (percentage based from memory, i could be wrong, it's been a while)?? If that's the case, then that's the only reason i would jump on the paypal bandwagon.

I'm definitely interested from an artists point of view. I have some stuff i recorded recently with a jazz trio for ABC radio broadcast, i'd be interested in putting them up, as well as a soul/pop record that i'm writing for at the moment, with planned release later this year. Out of interest, how would i go about getting myself or friends signed up? Should i send recordings through to you or someone else so we can be invited by an artist?

Cheers Janek, and good luck with this, i dig the concept

Andy.

janekbass · #20 05-20-2009, 11:03 AM

Andy,

thanks for the feedback. We are running over what it would take to have multiple currencies on the site right now, and trying to weigh them against cost effectiveness for all the back end programming that would have to take place over many months. One option is looking like having an automatic currency converter so that people anywhere in the world can understand how much they're spending without having to look at any external sites themselves. That means that the front end looks like a multi currency application, with the back end still running in Euros, making all the wire transfers to the artists a lot easier. The money will still all be coming from one central payment location to pay the artists so accepting money in all different currencies, then changing it into Euros, then changing it back into whatever currency the artist is getting paid in....... kind of kills a profit margin for everyone involved.

We're going to look into multiple methods of payment too so the buyer doesn't get charged any extra when purchasing something in a foreign currency. That isn't too common with any credit cards in the US as far as I'm aware, I'm looking into it for countries across the world right now.

As far as becoming an artist goes I can send you an invite if you're interested.

To cover server space and running costs we charge each artist a small fee for storage space which is 10 Euros (about 17 australia dollars) for 1GB of space, and 17 Euros (about 30 australian dollars) for 2GB of space per year. You can set your own price point for what you're selling, and you'll make a clean 80% profit on what you sell, and receive a wire transfer directly to a bank account of your choice every three months.

drop me a line at mail@janekgwizdala.com if you're interested and I can put you in touch with the administrators and get you rolling with an account.

Easy,

Janek