$VNUE: SWEET DD>>>> tedpeele Member Level F
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tedpeele Member Level Friday, 05/03/19 10:53:46 AM
Re: Stock_Barber post# 640 0
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1940
of 1942
Summary of the FB Live Video:
The video, created on May 1 (Wed) can be found here.
This is a great video for understanding the magnitude of what VNUE is doing. Every shareholder or potential shareholder should listen to the whole thing, but if you don't have much time - go to the end and listen to his message to shareholders in the last few minutes. The CEO seems like a great guy - very down to earth, smart, and driven.
Summary, including many direct quotes:
"fast forward to the spring of 2016 we started having serious conversations and I saw the vehicle of VNUE as an opportunity to pull everything I've worked on over the gazillion years in my career into one place to really make it valuable":
*took over as CEO
*brought in incredible seasoned veterans --
..Tony Montana (musician (bass player with Slash among others, writer, and founded Disc Factory).
..Jeff Zakim - was head of digital at EMI and BlueNote.
..Lou Mann - GM of Capitol Records, Pres of House of Blue Media Properties..did some of the first digitial stuff ever -- w Duran Duran..vast experience.
..(later introduction)Jock Weaver - took Hard Rock Cafe public both in US and London at the same time - grew rev from 1 location to $200m/yr. Then started TBA which grow to several thousand live events a year. Jock is helping shape the strategy for institutional funding.
..Jim King founder of Co-Rights, was CTO of BMI (major music rights company) for 5 years..ie think possible licensing by the big boys!
*addressing filings, redoing some audits, housecleaning..
*signed strategic agreements for recording artists(2016)
*2017, analyze the tech..found Set.Fm - exactly what they were looking for for the smooth immediate download onto mobile phones, and also allows DO IT YOURSELF artists to do the same - a huge opportunity.
*Acquired Set.FM, did first engagement with Rob Thomas in Jan 2018. Worked brilliantly..30% conversion (ie 30% of people the audience bought the product - DOUBLE the tradition rate!).
*Concurrently was examining the music licensing end of the industry, and the problems it has -- NO MECHANISM that works well, as it depends on inaccurate algorithms that estimate which artists are played -- a blanket license -- which shorts musicians and overcharges venues. No reliable method to track the songs being played!
*Filed some patents to identify the music being played properly...then he met Eron Bucciarelli - former drummer for Hawthorne Heights who had been cheated out of royalties, and had formed Soundstr to address the problem. Just what is needed to address the huge problem -- $700m to $1B in the US alone. Probably 85% done, and they have started to roll out a few of them (boxes that solve the problem for venues and artists) already.
*The box sits in the venue, listens, records, and summarizes all the needed statistics for the venue owner.
*PRO MUSIC RIGHTS - just signed a deal a month ago. Same philosophy. PMR will REQUIRE a Soundstr unit in every licensee that signs with them. THIS IS MONUMENTAL!.
*I've done this on a shoestring budget..hopefully at some point will have the momentum to get the funding they need
More specifics about the business:
Consumer Side
*DiscLive - create physical CDs (looks like retail CDs with the jacket writeups, etc..) to buy upon walking out of a Live event of the concert that just happened. These are Limited Edition collectors items. (Remember the Rob Thomas event - 30% conversion vs traditional 15%. Artists like more sales!).
*Set.FM - digital side -- mobile app, buy live concert event, download, put on Itunes or other music player folder. This isn't a plugin to a soundboard. They put a mix and master on the music ON THE FLY to give a high quality output of the sound in your ears, which is a big differentiation and a big barrier to entry for other companies that try to enter this space. Their long experience in navigating the many moving parts is another barrier to entry. This is why they achieve higher conversion rates.
*There are a lot of things that we're going to do with the Set.FM platform in the coming months and year that we think are pretty exciting...I can't really go into all that but it's going to take it up more of a notch...(any ideas out there as to what that might be?)
*we think the recording side of the business is a big opportunity globally. It's a business that scales..much like a McDonalds franchise.
Rights side
*Really exciting from a number of perspectives..One is especially with our partnership with Pro Music Rights we want to reshape the way the business is being done. It's going to take some time, won't be easy...It's a matter of ..kicking tail, and I know we can do that.
*Soundstr has a very unique niche. Not just brick and mortar establishments, it can be used in radio, streaming services - which we are going to build a module to address that...we are going to be able to address it ALL. And that's the goal.
*There are a few services that track radio but not to the granular level that it needs to be tracked, so that in a very complicated world you know exactly how much percentage of a song could be controlled by one or more PROs (anyone here know more about what that is?), and that's what we aim to do.
From a PRO perspective, its going to be as easy as a report that we hand to them so they know who to pay the royalties to...our goal is to automate the payment.
One of the goals it to reduce the cost the venues have to pay for this licensing. So it's a win win for everyone.
*Only about 20-30% of the businesses that should be licensed are actually licensed. We think that if we get the model right, it will encourage more to license due to the lower cost (which the artists and PROs will both like, of course).
*The Soundstr devices have a beacon in them which can be used by the venues to advertise out through wifi--ie offer discounts, coupons etc...to help offset costs.
*re the stock..on the OTC..what's going to happen is..goal is Nasdaq for it to hit true valuation...right now probably a good time to scoop it(shares) up..for those that bought earlier and watched the price slip, I wouldn't worry about that..this is a marathon..we are in this for the long haul. We want to grow organically.
*I wish I had bought stock in Apple in 1991..you never know when you find a shining gem, but the gem is usually dictated by the people behind the company, and I can tell you that the people behind this company genuinely want this to happen..the reason ALL of us are doing this is because it is time to change the status quo, and that's what we are going to do.
Marrying the tech:
*At some point they want to marry the Soundstr Set.FM technology...so that as songs are being recorded live they are licensed on the fly..there is no reason that can't be done..it will streamline the way all this is done.
*he has loved the 3 years he has been doing this..'not my first rodeo with a public company'..that was Immediatek which Mark Cuban bought. I knew what I was getting into when I became a CEO of a public company again...the upside is you can build real value and build real wealth for those who put their faith in you.
*We are ticking off our tour with Rob Thomas at the end of the month. THis is the first major tour we've done with Vnue...large venues from 3-7,000 seats
*We've signed 12 artists in this space in the last 14 months
Q&A
Q - when do you expect revenue?
A. 2016-17 were just getting started. 2018 was better. 2019 should be much much better...at least low 7 figures is what I'm thinking...again is a gestimate at this point..based on tried and true models.
Q - likes your passion (comment)
A. I've been kind of doing the same thing for 17 years, only this time I'm pulling all of the separate columns into one vehicle and ..together with those around me..we are going to do amazing things...the first startup Voyance was pretty cool..but this by far is the biggest technology opportunity..the biggest market opportunity..I cannot begin to tell you that this is by far the best team I've ever had..
Q - do you have financing lined up
A we are always in financing mode. - we are looking on a larger round ($1.5m range) of private funding. which is not that much much money because we think we can cash flow fairly quickly But then we want to do a much larger round in the $10 million range which will allow us to effectively ..knock it out of the park and scale the business more rapidly. We've tried to be fairly selective about the capital we take for the company...that's part of the strategy..so the share price more correctly reflects the true value of the company.
"At some point there's going to be a moment in which it just is going to explode."
I agree.