WHAT IS WHOLEWORLDBAND?
WHOLEWORLDBAND is a platform where anyone can earn money by recording their own music, or adding to someone else's in sound and vision.
It's a new music platform and one antidote to the current state of the recording industry. It's based around an advanced audio - visual recording tool that captures lightning in a bottle...the lightning being you. Imagine a 24/7 song writing/recording session plus cameras, with some big name artists and lots of new ones, where anyone can drop in and re-jig the building blocks of the session or take it somewhere new by adding their own talent, (or total lack of it) and you'll get a sense of what
WHOLEWORLDBAND is about.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
You film yourself performing your own music or adding to someone else's on the WHOLEWORLDBAND menu and combine it with other peoples' performances to create a custom line up of musicians.
CAN I START MY OWN SESSION?
Yes you can and it's called 'seeding'. You can perform your own music or music that already exists and, if your performance is engaging enough, other WHOLEWORLDBAND users will add to it.
IS IT JUST FOR THE PUBLIC OR ARE THERE ANY WELL-KNOWN ARTISTS ON IT?
Both - WHOLEWORLDBAND invites you to play with well-known bands and artists as well as lots of emerging talent. In other words you can play with anyone, anywhere, or substitute yourself for any member of a band who is on the platform.
DO I HAVE TO BE A REALLY GOOD SINGER OR MUSICIAN?
No, expertise isn't everything. You can sing, play, dance or do anything you like as long as it's interesting, imaginative or entertaining.
DO I JUST JAM OR WILL THE MUSIC HAVE A STRUCTURE?
Either - The music on WHOLEWORLDBAND will cover a multitude of genres and whoever 'seeds' it can use video notes or text to guide contributors towards elements they think might work best. So...jamming might work for some things, not for others. In the end, though, it's up to you.
HOW LONG CAN A RECORDING BE?
Currently the limit is 20 min. We may review this once the platform is fully operational.
CAN I MIX THE AUDIO?
Yes - There will be a simple audio mixer on the platform to give you basic control of your audio mix. We are developing more advanced mixing tools and these will be available at a later date.
DO RECORDINGS EVER GET FINISHED?
Yes & No!
YES - Whoever 'seeds' a recording will have the opportunity to mix and combine what they consider to be the best videos together as their ultimate video mosaics.
NO - This doesn't prevent other users continuing to make their own versions. We look forward to hundreds of versions of the same pieces of music.
HOW DO I EARN MONEY?
Two ways - You 'seed' a new recording or contribute to existing ones.
If you 'seed' a new recording the amount you earn will depend on how much you charge and how many people pay to join your recording session.
If you contribute to a recording the amount you earn will depend on how much the 'seed' artist is offering to share, and how often other users add your performance to their video mosaics.
If all you do is assemble video mosaics from existing videos in our library you don't earn anything.
FAQ:
WHO OWNS THE RIGHTS TO SEED VIDEOS?
You do - WHOLEWORLDBAND will not own the rights to any 'seed' content on the platform.
'You' also refers to record labels, publishers, management etc. Anyone, in fact, who owns the rights to the music being uploaded.
We've done some serious homework with industry experts and copyrights lawyers to ensure that WHOLEWORLDBAND protects the rights of 'seed' and contributing artists and offers a secure and advantageous environment for their work. More than anything we see ourselves as a service designed to oil the creative wheels of a changing record industry.
WHO OWNS THE RIGHTS TO CONTRIBUTION VIDEOS?
WHOLEWORLDBAND does. Why? What WHOLEWORLDBAND is doing has never been done before, and the legal procedures and mechanisms governing copyright within this context are highly complex. To ensure the system works transparently for everyone, WHOLEWORLDBAND will own the rights to contribution videos, but 100% of the revenue earned on the platform, from the contribution videos, will be paid to the contributors.
WHAT HAPPENS IF AN ARTIST WANTS TO TAKE MY CONTRIBUTION OFF PLATFORM AND USE IT IN A FINISHED RECORD OR VIDEO?
We won't have a mechanism to support this in our initial release but we'll be aiming to add it during our first year in the marketplace. Once active it will become part of the terms and conditions that govern 'seed' artists' recording sessions.
It will set out how much artists/rights owners are prepared to share with contributors if their performances are used off platform in any product released to the public.
It will also set out what session fee a 'seed' artist is offering for the same eventuality.
HOW CAN I TRUST WHAT I'M PAID ON WHOLEWORLDBAND?
We are committed to having a transparent, ethical and accountable platform which will be audited twice a year by one of the big global independent auditors.
WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR WHOLEWORLDBAND?
Music engages people in a way that no other medium can, add yourself into the mix and the experience becomes truly potent. We also believe that talent should be rewarded with more than just 'likes'. Buying a recording session with great artists, both known and unknown, gives everyone in the community a unique opportunity wherever they are, to earn money from their own work and help music and musicians to flourish.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A MOSAIC?
With a reasonable WI-FI, 3G/4G or broadband connection it takes, on average, between one and a half to three minutes.
IS IT ONLY FOR APPLE DEVICES?
Initially, yes...because currently Apple provide the best functionality for music-based products. In the future we hope to bring the platform to all popular mobile, games and desktop systems.
WHEN WILL WHOLEWORLDBAND BE AVAILABLE?
Summer 2013.