Blog / CASH Music

WebFWD hack day this Saturday

Posted on May 10, 2012 by jessevondoom

I’ve been trying to find time to write all week. Now it’s Thursday, it’s been a crazy week, and we’re pushing full-speed ahead into a working weekend down at Mozilla’s Mountain View office. We don’t talk enough about the help Mozilla’s WebFWD program has brought us, but it’s on full display this weekend in the form of workshops and an open hack-day for all WebFWD projects.

If you’re in the Mountain View area please stop by and say hello, write some code, or just pick our brains. The event link for the hack-day is webfwdopenworkday.eventbrite.com and there will be a lot of great projects on display.

For folks new to CASH Music, Maggie wrote a great intro in the form of a simple Q&A here:

Who are we?
CASH Music is a nonprofit focused on building open source tools for artists and labels. We are made up of musicians, coders, designers, managers, idealists, music lovers, realists, punks, community builders, and a dog or two.

What are we building?
We are building a platform of tools that will allow artists to sell and promote their music while managing and organizing their lives so they can focus on the important things like writing songs and touring. We believe there are as many different solutions as there are artists. So we are making our platform as open and as flexible as possible by doing things like integrating with any and all third party services that artists like to use and by keeping our code open source.

Why are we building it?
The music industry is difficult for even established artists to navigate and is only getting harder as money becomes more scarce. Currently, almost all innovation comes from outside of the music world and is focused more on the listener experience, not what is necessarily best for the artist. We love music more than anything in the world and believe that the creators and performers need to be taken care of first and foremost. We also believe in the power of true direct communication between the artist and their fans and want to help foster and build those relationships. There is a true need for this technology to exist, it’s baffling that it doesn’t already, we need your help to make it a reality.

How can you help?
As a nonprofit we can’t take investments and we personally aren’t independently wealthy so we need volunteers to help us build this. We are looking for more coders, designers, musicians, idealists, etc to join our community and make the platform bigger, better, and stronger. Help us put power and control into the hands of the people that make the music. They’ve made all of our lives richer and better in so many ways. Let’s say thanks.

If you’d like to get involved you can find us at:

info@cashmusic.org
http://github.com/cashmusic
http://twitter.com/cashmusic

So what are we working on this weekend?
Well this week we’ve added secure download (login) and download code elements to the platform, and we’ve been overhauling much of the core as well as improving the admin app — the goal being to make it easier for new developers to get involved. So I’ll be wrapping in more support for mustache templating as well as finalizing element structures so we can nail down developer docs for all of our most common workflow issues.

There are a few free-standing issues that could be hacked on with some immediate gratification by someone newer to the project:

Install / Upgrade
The installer’s good, but could be better. There are nuanced issues with permissions and server set-ups, and we’re still working out kinks in the upgrade process. Both need attention badly but keep getting pushed back for other pressing issues.

Fun with .htaccess
Honestly? I stink with htacces. Don’t trust me with regex either. We use a very small set of mod-rewrite rules to route admin and API requests, but they flake on a small subset of servers. We can tweak/fix fairly reliably on a case-by-case basis, but eliminating the issue altogether would be grand.

Visualization
This is just fun we haven’t been able to have yet. Lots of data, need to find time to play with it in D3…

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New Release

Posted on April 19, 2012 by jessevondoom

Today we (rather unceremoniously) pushed a new version of the platform into official release. Our next release will bring more visible changes but there was enough significant progress that it seemed like a good time to let this out in the wild. While still a “developer preview” release there’s a lot more to play with now, like:

Paid digital downloads: add a paypal account and sell downloads of any single item.
Order history: see all orders that have come in, drilling all the way down to transaction details if need be
Improved MailChimp sync: full two-way sync of mailing lists to/from MailChimp
S3 sync: we changed how you interact with assets, including a new asset browser that will find all of your S3 files and make them available to the platform.
Mozilla Persona (Browser ID) login: Login to the admin app using Mozilla’s secure login system — handy in the event of a lost password or for extra security

You’ll also see a lot of small enhancements to the admin interface. Basically this is a look at what’s coming down the pipeline — we’re working on a more comprehensive commerce solution, many improvements to the admin, and much more focused on making the CASH platform as easy to use as possible.

Oh and a new installer will be finished very soon, and we’re finalizing an upgrade script for anyone using the first release. For new installs just grab the current installer here.

More soon!

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One day left. Thank you!

Posted on March 8, 2012 by jessevondoom

Just over a day left in the Kickstarter and we’ve shown all our cards. No more announcements, no more surprises, just a day left to spread the word, try to push as hard as we can, and maybe a minute to feel a little relief before hustling through SXSW next week and putting our heads down to work harder than ever before.

It’s an amazing thing that’s happened, and I can’t/won’t stop saying thank you.

Thank you.

The truth of the matter is that we’ve been operating basically unfunded since day 1. For those who don’t know, nonprofits can’t take investments. Starting an organization of any kind is hard. Starting a nonprofit is fucking hard. So far we’ve funded this thing through side jobs, working nights and weekends, and getting voluntary contributions from artists and labels that we’ve worked with. Personally, it’s been a struggle — but one I believe in with all my heart. Help has come from musicians, from our board, but this is the first time that we’ve seen major public support and it’s amazing. Thank you.

We never said it but this campaign was a make-or-break moment for us, and you’ve made it in a big way. Even once fees have been deducted this Kickstarter campaign represents more funding than we’ve had in the history of CASH Music, combined. In an industry where startups compete with seven and eight-figure budgets we’re going to use this to build something that can change the world. And when I said “we” it doesn’t mean a handful of people anymore — it’s all the artists and labels who have helped us, it means our board, and it means the almost-1100 backers on Kickstarter. Never before have I been so thrilled to be just a small voice in a larger chorus. Thank you.

(Except for fifth grade chorus. We sang MJ’s “Man In The Mirror” and I was painfully shy. I pretty much just mouthed the words while the rest of the chorus sang. Sorry, Michael. I just couldn’t. I was so shy.)

And there’s one thank you that needs to be said. Thank you to Maggie Vail for turning this all around. She’ll be modest, but that’s bullshit. About six months ago Maggie moved from the board into a day-to-day role, splitting the Executive Director duties with me. It changed everything — she’s focussed the platform and refined the message to a point where more people can understand what we’re trying to do. Without her we couldn’t have turned this corner, and she makes a difference every day. Thank you.

So to all the artists who have helped, the labels, the publicists, my family, and now the supporters on Kickstarter: Thank you!

We’ve got just over a day before the Kickstarter campaign ends. Let’s finish strong:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cashmusic/cash-music-platform

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We have a lot of people to thank. And a lot of rocks.

Posted on March 7, 2012 by maggievail

We are now counting down hours instead of days on our Kickstarter campaign. It’s been incredible so far and we can’t wait to see how the last 48 hours go. Currently, we are 176% funded, that’s truly inspiring and well beyond what we imagined would happen. The response as been overwhelming from all corners of the globe and all aspects of the equation – labels, artists, fans, open source believers, etc.

My favorite stat of all though is that we have over 1000 backers. More than 1000 people believe in this idea and see the need for it to happen! Jesse, the board, and I don’t take that lightly and we welcome you all aboard to the CASH family. Right now it’s a bunch of rainbows, dogs, fantastic bands, big dreams, the girls von Doom, lots of rocks, and a whole lot of ambition (we are nothing if not ambitious over here). Those of us involved in CASH truly want to change this industry for the better and we definitely need your help to do this. In the coming weeks there will be roadmaps, documentation, and more communication from us than ever before. We hope that those of you who have donated remain involved and help us make this better than we could have even dreamt.

We have many, many people to thank for getting us where we are. Artists, labels, developers, friends, family, and you. Honestly, thank you.

Below is the full list of artists that will appear on our thank you compilation – available to anyone who donates $10 or more. Don’t miss out on the comp as it won’t be available ever again after Friday. There’s unreleased tracks from Elliott Smith, Deerhunter, Throwing Muses, Zoë Keating, The Night Marchers, The Cribs, and more.

!!!, Adrian Piper Cover Band, Alexi Murdoch, Amanda Palmer, Andrew Bird, Brendan Benson, Brute Heart, Buke & Gass, Bushwalking, Clogs, Coasting, The Cribs, Damien Jurado, Deep Time (YellowFever), Deerhunter, Diet Cola, Doomsday Student, Doveman, Elliott Smith, Erik Friedlander, Erik Friedlander, Erin McKeowen, Finally Punk, Rebecca Gates, Gold Motel, Grapefruit, Grass Widow, Halo Halo, Hawks, Hungry Ghost, Hurry Up, Hysterics, Ian Axel, Jherek Bischoff, Jonathan Coulton, Kim Boekbinder, Knaves Grave, LAKE, Life Love Misery, Lushlife, Marketa Irglova, Marnie Stern, Maxines, Meanest Man Contest, The Men, The National, Neon Indian, New War, The Night Marchers, The Raincoats, Robinsons, She Makes War, Six Finger Satellite, The Thermals, Throwing Muses, Whore Paint, Woodsy Pride, Xiu Xiu, Young Hines, Zoë Keating

We also have to thank all the labels who have contributed to our reward boxes, donated, or cleared tracks for the comp:
Anchorbrain, ANTI, Army of Bad Luck, Brassland, Dangerbird, Dap-Tone, Dog Daze Tapes, Domino Record Company, Fast Weapons, K Records, Kill Rock Stars, M’Lady, Mom+Pop, Polyvinyl, ReadyMade, Sacred Bones, Sub Pop, Swami, Warp, Western Vinyl, Wichita

Our Kickstarter is going until Friday at 8pm PST and we’d truly love to double our initial goal. If you haven’t yet donated yet we have some amazing gifts plus that aforementioned monster of a comp goes to almost everyone. If you have donated already please tell a friend or two about the campaign. We can build this better, faster, and bigger the more we overfund it.

Let’s send a message. It’s time.

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Thank YOU!

Posted on February 14, 2012 by maggievail

We launched a Kickstarter campaign last Friday to raise funds for the hosted version of our platform. The response from all over the world was incredible and immediate:

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who has pledged support so far. The response to this has been overwhelming and so much more than we expected. We’ve been working at this for almost five years now and to say that it’s been a struggle is putting it lightly. In the last year pieces have finally started coming together in ways that really let us communicate the mission publicly and talk about what it is we’re trying to do.

We agonized over a Kickstarter target, worrying about message, if we could get enough video together, and if we could do a solid preview release in time for the campaign. We chose the lowest of our “high” targets, knowing we could make something happen even on a comparably minimal budget. We begged friends to speak on camera, we asked for donations of music, merch and commitment. It was a lot of work and so many people came together and backed us in support — and this very public showing of support is stunning, and so deeply appreciated.

Within 72 hours of launching our Kickstarter campaign we hit 100% of our $30,000 target. Our first scheduled press release, the one we expected to launch the campaign, went out on time — just minutes before we saw the project become fully funded. We’re looking at our schedule of updates, videos, and announcements; once aimed at finding an audience now aimed at showing that we can all do something truly special together.

So what’s next? With 25 days left what will we do with additional money raised?

If we go over the target it means we’ll have more resources to put towards that goal. This means having a fixed and stable budget for the first time, the ability to focus on support as well as code and infrastructure, and more focused heads-down time spent building new enhancements and functionality. We’ll be able to do more and do it faster.

Building a nonprofit from the ground up is a really hard thing to do. Investment and traditional start-up seed money aren’t options as there’s no ownership, no dividends. Open-source based nonprofit approval is a multi-year effort, which has made our pending 501(c)(3) status a challenge to nonprofit funding sources like grants and big public fundraisers. So this Kickstarter campaign is the first funding of this scale we’ve ever seen. The power of a group of people coming together to make something happen is humbling, and we’re already seeing the difference it can make to a small organization like ours. Kickstarter gathering so many people to help make this platform reality is wonderful.

So with 25 days left we’re going to push as hard as we can. We’ll be announcing the tracklisting for the comp soon, showing the finished t-shirt designs, and pushing out new platform demos. Right now we have a chance to bring this organization to the next level and launch a new kind of product. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you, and we can only get further with your continued help spreading the word.

So from the most sincere corner of our hearts, thank you. And we promise that comp will be amazing.

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Step-by-step setup for a simple site

Posted on February 9, 2012 by jessevondoom

Installing and using the CASH platform is still a little more technical than we’d like. That said, it’s not beyond your reach — whoever you are — and we’re working to make it easier.

We thought we’d run through the process of setting up a simple site and grab more screenshots than you can shake a stick at. Seriously…just try shaking a stick at all these screenshots. The result is four short guides that will help you set up a one-page site with email collection and a news feed powered by a Tumblr account. It’s easy to follow, and should take no more than an hour including installation.

The tutorial includes a small template so you’ll see the results of your efforts right away, and none of the guides has more than five steps so you can take snack breaks.

Here they are:

Enjoy!

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