New Local Music Sharing Site Places In Top 30 At Extreme Tech Challenge
From Facebook to Pinterest to Spotify, it seems everywhere in today's world, it's all about your social profile. In the world of music sharing, a new site is emerging out of our own city of Ann Arbor. David "Stock" Baird and his team have developed a new kind of music sharing, and he says, "Music discovery has never been done this way."
David, born and raised in Michigan, has been working in the music industry for most of his adult life. He decided that he wanted to "Make it easy and fun for people to share their photos with music and help artists and bands get discovered in a new way."
...And that's exactly what he's done with his new social network, Selocial. David goes on to say, "We like to say it's like Instagram meets Spotify/Pandora with on-the-fly news."
Basically, Selocial will allow users to create a playlist based off a picture they've uploaded to the site. The photo acts as the playlist's name, so to speak. Users can add up to 15 minutes or more of music to their "Selomix," and create as many playlists as they'd like. Selocial works with SoundCloud, so all of the music users can choose comes from SoundCloud, and once a playlist is perfected, they can click to share instantly to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Most recently, David was invited to present Selocial at the Extreme Tech Challenge, an innovation competition that gives brilliant new entrepreneurs a chance to be recognized and attract investment from leading tech luminaries. As it turns out, Selocial placed in the Top 30, out of thousands of entries. Not too shabby for a newly emerging music-sharing site!
We were able to catch up with David, to talk more about Selocial, his plans for it, and all about the Extreme Tech Challenge!
Read about it here…
So David, tell us about yourself.
My name is David "Stock" Baird. I was born in Pontiac, lived in the UK for 10 years, and now live in Ann Arbor. I am a songwriter/producer with credits in the film White Chicks starring the Wayans Brothers, the Showtime Network hit show House of Lies, and an upcoming Independent film (to be named). I have been CEO/Co-Founder of Selocial.com for the last year and half.
What is Selocial? Tell us all about it!
Selocial is a new social network based on photos, music, and news. Anyone can use Selocial, and it is free to use. We see a lot of people making mixtape moments, dedications, and workout mixes, music selfies, etc. With Valentine's Day coming up, we expect to see a lot of love Selomixes. We also see a lot of artists and bands using Selocial who already may have their music on SoundCloud (we use their API for music content) and want to increase their visual presence via a completely new kind of audience. What is interesting with Selocial is that you are actually bound to discover music either through photos or by making a Selomix (a visual playlist of up to 15 minutes or more combining music with a photo) and using your photo as a base for a reference point. Either way, music discovery has never been done this way.
The main feature is being able to add music to your photo as fast as an Instagram filter. We also display small nuggets of information and news every time someone listens to a song on Selocial. Our filtration and elimination process ensures that users are provided solely with information relevant to the songs to which they are listening.
Other features include commenting, notifications, radio-like continuous play between photos and songs, and easy-to-use Flip Card actions on each Selomix. We also provide Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter sharing at the touch of an icon. This sharing brings the photo, title, and description into those social networks. Since we are also optimized for mobile and tablet use, Selomixes open and play within the Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest apps.
Where did the idea for Selocial come from?
I wanted to promote and encourage artist discovery as I was an artist/producer myself while living in London. I realized how hard it is to get recognized in a sea of talent. We (my partner and I) then evolved the idea to connecting the bands and their fans, and our team contributed to the creation of a time-based platform as opposed to a set number of songs attached to a photo.
Tell us about your all-star team. Who worked with you on Selocial?
We have had a rock-star team help develop this. They are all partners within the business. The core development team consists of Christopher Smith (Ann Arbor, MI), Joe Vaillancourt (Rochester, MN), and Mark Kopulos (Boston, MA). Other contributors to our success include Nate Chase (New York, NY) and of course my Co-Founder, who I am not at liberty to name at this point. I can say this person came from a background of C-level positions within Silicon Valley. Our patent work is done through John Chiatalas (Ann Arbor, MI).
How has the turnout for Selocial been so far?
Selocial is still in Beta and has seen an increase from 60 beta testers to just under 1200 testers. We are very happy with the app's direction. In fact, we just introduced our first Content Channel which we are very excited about. We have started working with Extreme Tech Challenge and have essentially become a Tastemaker, placing music to their photos in order to capture the spirit of their photos in a way that Facebook and other similar social networking, music, and photo sites and apps cannot. This helps pave the way for other companies and events that need this kind of Tastemaking service to utilize our platform.
Compare Selocial to other music sharing services, like Spotify and SoundCloud…
Selocial carves out its own lane between those giants. We give our users a completely different social and discovery experience. Selocial also features a Patent Pending on-the-fly news and information component, differentiating us yet again from our competitors. By offering Selomix open sharing, we allow the user to instantaneously bring in a photo from anywhere and attach music without uploading or downloading. Our unique visual experience distances us from the homogenous competition. SoundCloud is actually a fantastic database of music and I think our amazing product engages fans in an Instagram-Pinterest-y way which helps promote their song offerings further.
What makes Selocial unique?
Our multi-faceted platform, Patent Pending technology, dynamic team, vision and potential combine to secure Selocial's unique niche in this space. Our people, product, and process are unrivaled and unmatched.
Tell us all about the Extreme Tech Challenge!
Extreme Tech Challenge provides an unparalleled amount of opportunity for entrepreneurs and companies like us who are serious about innovation. The founders of MaiTai, the Extreme Tech Challenge Team, and Richard Branson created a world-class forum that I think is unmatched in the tech industry.
We knew we were in the top few hundred entries, but when I received an invite to present at CES from Kym McNicholas, I immediately rearranged my plans. My fiancé and I were in London at the time visiting my children for the holidays. Thankfully, the presentation wasn't until the 6th, and we were scheduled to be with them until the 3rd. Upon hearing the exciting news, I immediately adjusted my travel itinerary for my trip to Las Vegas instead of Detroit after dropping them off. So on the 5th, I flew to Vegas from London to present Selocial for the first time on the Monster Product stage. We were happy to finish within the Top 30 (and proudly noted that there weren't any Social Networking platforms among the Top 10).
You even got to present Selocial on the Monster Product Stage, tell us about that!
We had some technical difficulties because I didn't bring the right HDMI cable! But I didn't know, so I gave my presentation by turning my Lenovo into a tablet and presented from there. Former NFL player and new friend Copeland Bryan hosted the event along with Kym McNicholas. I was asked a few questions and before I knew it, it was over.
You mentioned there would be a new Content Channel for Selocial of the Extreme Tech Challenge?
Well, Extreme Tech Challenge was gracious enough to give us their photos, and Christopher from our team didn't waste any time in working with me to create a completely new kind of Content Channel for them so that they can share the spirit of their event in a unique and different way with music. We essentially became a Tastemaker for them and placed music to some of their best photos from their event. You can access their photos and story here. In order to use the comment features within Selocial, you need to be signed up or logged in. Otherwise you can listen and share their Selomixes without being logged in. We encourage people to sign up so that they can use all the features within the site.
Where do you see Selocial in 5 years?
In 5 years, not only do we want to be an influential voice within the music industry between fans and artists, but also to be a Tastemaker for exclusive events who would like us to add magic to their photos via music. We also plan to have a downloadable app and messaging services coming soon, and we will focus on hyper-growth strategies, strategic partnerships, and continued development to make our site attractive and exciting.
So, why should users choose Selocial?
We connect your life to music, friends, and news all through one mix. You can't get that unique experience anywhere else. We have the evolution of the playlist. We call it the Selomix.
Anything else you'd like to add?
We encourage anyone and everyone to check out Selocial, because life is worth a listen!
There you go! To find out more about Selocial, or to make your own account, click here!
