• MJS-PubBusinessPlan

MJS Publishing Business Plan (Draft)

Independent Music Publishers (which may very well turn into a Composer's Co-op)

"The composer's publisher."

Advertising

Clients

• Word of mouth
• By "values" (as indie companies usually work)
• Calls-for-scores
• Advertising (thinking mainly web for now)
• Via professors and school clubs (something of a focus on students and new composers)

Customers

• Word of mouth
• By "values" (as indie companies usually work)
• Web advertising
• Sample packets: direct mail and conventions
  • One or two pages of selected scores
  • Full catalog (for now)
  • Full and partial recordings (direct-mail only?)
• Free sample scores (watermarked or otherwise altered)
  • Composers can volunteer a score for sample-score-dom.
  • Perhaps offer an incentive, like an additional 5% profit?

Money

Pricing

($p * parts_rate) + ($l * length_rate) + ($d * difficulty_rate) = $P # Price of piece is a function of the number of parts, the length of the piece, and the difficulty of the piece

$P * ensemble * (1 - (ensemble / discount)) * tax = $T # Total for purchase is the price of the piece times the ensemble size (copies required) with a discount figured in for bulk purchases (10 copies is 1.5% off the price) times tax (1.xx)

$T * rate + base = $C # Price of a commission is the total for the piece times a rate plus a base price

Assuming:

• parts_rate = .4
• length_rate = .5
• difficulty rate = .3
• ensemble = 32
• discount = 1500
• tax = 1 (look this up)
• rate = 1.5
• base = 60

and given:

• I Live My Life
• $p = 4.5 (rehearsal accomp = .5)
• $l = 3.6
• $d = 3 (out of five)

(4.5 * .4) + (3.6 * .5) + (3 * .3) = 1.80

1.80 * 32 * (1 - (32 / 1500)) * 1 = 54.84

54.84 * 1.5 + 60 = 142.26

Sales

• Check, cashier's check, or money-order.
• Google Checkout (for now) - there's an XML API to integrate cart and processing system into Checkout, just have to learn it. Call it an advantage - working with a trustworthy company.

Client payment

Client gets a percentage of the sales of their scores. 50% to client, 50% minus expenses to MJS Publishing. Monthly or quarterly payments, or when a certain amount is reached (with the option to request a payment). Breakdown of profits included. Commissions are on a commission basis (whaddaya know), with a much smaller percentage going to MJS

Business

Starting up

Costs:

• Printer - Anywhere from $65 - $$$?
• Software - Sibelius 5 and Finale whatever should catch 99.99% of all composers
• Server space/domain name - covered for now, approx $70/year
• Time - development of site and process involved

Mission Statement and Values

"MJS Publishing is dedicated to efficiently mediating the transaction between composer and customer inherent in publishing music. This independently owned company provides a way for up-and-coming composers to have their voices heard, for soloists and ensembles of all sizes to widen their repertoire, and for letting the music speak for itself." Hmm.. needs work.

Values:

• Independent publisher
• Composer-owned
• Personable
• Music-ownership (composer)
• No restrictive contracts
• Open and honest service

Use Case

1. Composer submits score or collection of scores to MJS-Pub for consideration
2. Upon approval, MJS-Pub notifies the composer and begins the editing and conversion (to .sib) process
3. After the editing process, the score is approved with the composer repeating the previous step if needed with the result of the composer becoming the client and the piece or pieces put under contract
4. Details are worked out with the client as to the score's sale (will a print-run be made, will it be one-by-one, or will it be Scorch-printable; will it be available as a free score in part, in whole, or not at all; any special monetary considerations to be made, such as all-profits-to-charity; etc.)
5. The score is 'made live' and any advertising campaign begins (free score, catalog sample, front-page on site, etc. - of course, some of the onus is on the client with their complimentary copies of the scores and whatnot)
6. The customer finds the score and purchases the necessary number of copies

7. Upon payment received, copies are printed or gathered up and shipped (likely via FedEx)

8. Profits are divided up and disbursed according to contract

Things that need researching

• Sales tax
• Income tax (W-2 - for me and for clients)
• Rights and law

Site

Some sort of framework would be best, I think, and I'm really leaning towards Django again, due to ease of use, though maybe I should work with something faster. Site-design will be standard - clean looking, dark lines on a light background. XHTML and CSS, of course.

Use Cases

(italics represent internal objects, usually used only the first time the object is mentioned)

Client

1. Composer will inquire about a score or collection via e-mail or in person

2. If not already, the composer will register as a client

3. Score will be submitted as a score object (marked in_review) in some readable format and reviewed

4. The score will be marked accepted or rejected depending on the review and the composer will be notified

5. If not already, the composer will work out a framework contract involving payment, print, and other details, as well as a default per-score contract
6. Accepted scores will be edited (i.e.: put into Sibelius, checked for spelling errors, and whatnot) and returned to the composer for verification (no musical changes should be made, of course, though questions may be asked to clarify)

7. On the composer's approval, the score will be marked edited and a contract will be drawn-up for that score or collection

8. When the contract is made, the score will be marked under_contract and various flags will be set on the contract, such as how printing will work, how profits will work, whether or not it will be used in a catalog or as a sample, advertising strategies, and so on.

9. A final check on both the business and the client side will be made before the score is marked live

10. The score is made live and details are worked out according to contracts involved

11. Should the composer decide to publish elsewhere, the score will be marked out_of_print and will no longer be available except as an archival item; contracts will cease on the item to be replaced with a blanket contract prohibiting MJS to publish, distribute, perform, record, or print the piece again

Customer

1. The customer will find a score that he wants to purchase after searching

2. The score and quantity will be added to the customer's cart, which will be marked active

3. If not signed in, the customer will sign in
4. When the customer is ready to check out, they will set shipping and payment details
5. If credit card payment is used
   1. Customer will interact with Google Checkout via API front-end
   2. When money is received via Google Checkout, a notice will be sent to MJS

   3. The required scores will be printed or collected and shipped via FedEx and the cart marked fulfilled

6. If other payment is used
   1. Customer will send payment form
   2. Money is received and deposited (cleared?)

   3. The required scores will be printed or collected and shipped via FedEx and the cart marked fulfilled

   4. If payment doesn't clear, cart will be marked bounced and action taken

7. If the customer has a problem with the order

   1. The cart will be marked problem

   2. Communication will ensue between customer and MJS in order to rectify the problem

   3. The cart will be marked fulfilled

Commissions

1. A customer will decide to commission a client somehow, outside of MJS

2. A commission will be started and be marked negotiation

3. correspondences between client and customer will be managed until the piece and price is worked out, whereupon the commission will be marked in progress

4. Correspondences may continue while the piece is in-progress.

5. A score will be submitted marked commission_draft that will be viewable only by the composer and customer

6. The above steps may be repeated until both parties are satisfied, when the commission will be marked completed and added to the customer's cart

7. Payment proceeds as above

8. The score may be entered into a sales contract if both composer and customer agree, whereupon it should go through a good portion of the process listed above, with any stipulations for the composer or customer set in the contract