How do you use musicTRAY
musicTRAY™ is a platform-as-a-service that includes infrastructure. This means it’s a set of components that you put into another piece of software or app that gives that app certain capabilities. Those capabilities enable the app to do certain things that are provided as services. musicTRAY™ itself is not an app, like an itunes or pandora. However an iTunes or Pandora may be built with musicTRAY™. It is often best to understand all this by using an example.
The core of musicTRAY™ is <code>. musicTRAY ™ <code> is the application tool kit. Registered developers use <code> to build musicTRAY powered apps. <code> is a set of libraries and tools that programmers use to build a piece of software. If you are a programmer then you register to become a developer and use <code> to build your app.
Most people aren’t programmers and what they need is an app, a solution to a particular problem that musicTRAY™ technology can solve. The major feature of musicTRAY™ is that it is built with a new patent-pending technology that provides a reliable and secure access to a repository of data (cloud). This can solve lots of music industry problems. According to many sources over 90% of all internet music is pirated. However there is no other way to promote music effectively than to let people listen to it and that means giving it away. What if you could let people listen without actually giving away the music? That is the problem musicTRAY solves.
The way this works is artists would like to get exposure for their music. They would like to find a new audience. Apps build audiences around an experience. In exchange for providing them with exposure some artists will let you use their music in your app. Of course the artist and the app are often the same because you can promote your own content and take advantage of platform. There are many uses for the technology and you are limited only by your imagination.
One example of where musicTRAY technology is invaluable is what we call Venue Apps. Let’s say you have a venue called Joe’s Soul Palace and you feature artists that play Psychedelic Soul music. Now building an app is expensive, you have to find the people, you have to come up with the idea and then there is the really expensive part: the server side with IT support, bandwith, updates, etc. All of which moves you away from running Joe’s Soul Palace. After all you are in the music business not the technology business.
Enter a musicTRAY Developer, who using musicTRAY <code> can develop an app for you very quickly and inexpensively. The server side is included therefore you don’t need to worry about servers, bandwith, IT people etc. Because musicTRAY is so flexible and powerful you are able to build not just any app but an innovative, beautiful and best in breed app. This app can feature all the Artists that are appearing at Joe’s Back Room. There is nothing for them to do but download a free publisher and upload their music. It’s that simple. Patrons can listen to the artists that are going to be performing there. The Artists are able to capture their audience, build on that relationship, and do so without giving away their music, which usually means it gets pirated. Fans can connect with the music they love in ways they never have before. Your musicTRAY powered app allows you to promote specials, shows, events and attract more patrons to Joe’s Soul Palace. Now a Joe’s Soul Palace App beats spending money on blanket advertising, hoping for a 2% return. You can do all this without ever thinking about a server, or bandwith etc. And where do you find developers? There are ads on many musictray sites, there is a showcase on musictray.me and there is a list on developer.musictray.org.
The model the platform uses is one you are already familiar with: think electricity bill. When you want electricity you don’t go out and build a power plant, power stations, then run electrical lines to your house, all that just to power a light bulb. Of course not, you go to the store, get a light bulb, put it in and flip a switch. This is a metered model. Electricity comes with the infrastructure and platform as a service. You only pay for the electricity you use. musicTRAY is the same metered model. musicTRAY powers secure music appliances. You only pay for what you use. The cost is very affordable, we built the model so that, like electricity, it is accessible to everyone. It cost less than a cup of coffee.
In many cases Artists, who want control of their music and a way to promote their music, will pay the metered rate and so keep complete control of their music. This means as a developer all you have to do is build an audience for them. This means you just cut your operating costs, bandwidth/servers/etc by 80% and you got a fresh source for royalty free quality content. In our example where you are Joe of Joe’s Soul Palace, you just expanded your venue. For instance, you can use your app to find new Psychedelic Soul artists and invite them to play at your venue. You can sponsor your Artists and make that a benefit of playing at Joe’s Soul Palace. The combinations are endless.
There is no one “way” to use musicTRAY™. All of this is made possible because musicTRAY™ technology. musicTRAY is the Power Plant and Power Station and the cable to the house. It’s the platform and all the infrastructure you need. All you have to do is come up with the appliance to plug in. There is an ecology of appliance makers already forming, which means all you have to do is buy the light bulb.
