Music is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression.
Self-expression that creates ripple effects of change and everlasting impact (no matter how big or small) on those who listen.
My guest today is revolutionizing the music industry with his suite of free online tools to help artists get their music heard by more people, maximize their income potential, and build an engaged fanbase.
Allow me to introduce Founder, Matt Benn…
I’m Matt Benn, the founder of Soundplate. Soundplate is a record label and music technology company. Our tools and tech are used by hundreds of thousands of artists and labels from all over the world. Our main focus right now is Soundplate Clicks, a suite of music marketing tools for artists and labels.
I was always obsessed with music. I started out as a nightclub promoter and music blogger while I was in university.
As the blog got bigger I eventually launched my first small record label. That experience led me to build Soundplate, which started out as another blog and record label. Soundplate had some early success as a label but I quickly learned that going up against much bigger and better-funded labels was tough so we needed to do something differently.
Running a small independent record label is tough and we ran into a lot of problems. We decided to try and solve some of these problems by building our own tech/tools. First, to use internally, and then as they started to work well, we opened them up for other labels and artists to use. The first was our free playlist submission system which helps artists get their music in front of playlist curators, this system has now processed more than 2.7 million songs.
Our main focus is now on Soundplate Clicks, a marketing tool used by thousands of artists to create landing pages for the music.
As a self-funded, independent record label, we truly understand the needs of other labels and artists and have a unique insight into the problems that we are solving. Essentially we are our own first customer! We also give back as much as we can to the independent music community.
Our playlist submission platform is completely free, our cover art generator is free, our music job board is free, we have free plans on Soundplate Clicks and we try to share as much valuable content as we can on our blog.
These free products bring artists and labels to us organically which keeps our marketing costs down and keeps us growing organically.
Everything is going well, we are still a small company but we are profitable and growing. We are currently working on some really cool updates to Soundplate Clicks which will take the platform up another level and help make it an even more helpful tool for artists. The label is also still going well, we release new music almost every week.
Stop reading business books, watching youtube videos, and listening to podcasts, and start making stuff! It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of business content out there and to be distracted from actually doing any business.
The best way to learn is to get stuck in and experiment.
Our website is soundplate.com
Soundplate Clicks, the product I’ve been talking about is at click.soundplate.com
You can listen to the latest releases on our record label here: https://snd.click/spr
You can find me personally on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbenn/
Or follow Soundplate, @soundplate on all the main social networks.
My mother in law loves to sew.
A few years ago she asked me how to set up an online store.
She wanted to sell fancy throw pillows she was making.
I gave her very basic steps. Enough to get started (I don't know much about ecom).
A few weeks later she showed me her site. It
Whatever your 2024 goals, hopes, and dreams are.
I hope you make it.
Everyone wants “yes.”
But they don’t wanna pay the price.
100 Nos is the price of one yes.
You can get as many as yeses as you damn well please as long as you’re willing to pay the price.
I was sad to learn that Charlie Munger died today at age 99.
What a life.
He would likely roll his eyes and argue that none of us should be too surprised, based on the actuarial tables, but we’ve lost one of the 20th century’s greatest investors and businessmen.
Chris and I
