Before I present what we need, I am going to do something I don't normally do and that is give some personal information. In this view of Music Eternal, me (Draven), and what has happened this past year you will see where we are at. You will also get a glimpse into the vision of Music Eternal, the reason we need help at this point, and how your help will have a lasting impact for the music world, Music Eternal, and even you.
The Vision
There are a select few that know that the concept of Music Eternal was developed almost 8 years ago. It was originally under a different name,
but the ideology was the same. To help a field that I love (music) with the skills I have as a programmer, marketer, researcher, and as a member
of the music community. It was in this ideal that all my skills could be unified so that I could do some good in filling gaps that I have seen
form over the past 15 years. How did I see these gaps? I used to work as a concert promoter in 1999 and 2000 and have worked for the past 15 years
in the back end helping labels and distributors on various projects that dealt with research. When I was considering what to do as my next
job
I discovered that the music world had regressed in some areas. This is partially due to the Internet, to specialization of professions in some, and
just the change in the dynamics in how some things are now done in comparison to before 2000. In truth, it is much harder for all that are involved in
the music world and those DJs, label owners, and musicians I have known prior were the deciding factor in what to do. I also spoke with a few select family
members to see if my heart was in the right place and I wasn't doing something in vain. What it came down to what was one musician had told me on the phone:
"If you are going to aim, aim for the stars." Music Eternal was my vision to draw all the parts of the music family together and let this company be the
resource they could rely on, the foundation that would never waver, and the glue to help hold everyone together. The music world is a family, hence why I
call those on Music Eternal the Music Eternal family. We all strive to help each other and never screw each other over. In the end, the foundation of
the music world and industry is the musicians and their fans. The rest of us are the gears and pullies that help keep this machine in motion. Without the
musicians and fans though, there is nothing. This site is Phase One of my plans to lay down the support to those that are my friends, family, and heros
in the music world. They are the inspiration that I have always had and I never want to see them go quietly into the night.
Music Eternal Now And The Future:
Now many have asked where is the money in all of this work? Why work 100+ hours a week for something I offer to the music world for free. This is where the
ideology, the creativity, and the determination come into play. Today, many companies strive to get a head at any expense. I disagree with this view as it
is a standard that has only been around for the past few decades and wasn't the standard when commerce was established post-industrialization. The original
standard was to strive to be there for the customer and make them happy. As the customer gains something in your efforts you will in turn be rewarded.
That standard is how we have set up Music Eternal. The music world pays nothing as we use the marketing infrastructure we have put into place to have advertising
on the site. Many will say that this is a waste of time as there is no money in it. Like everything it depends on how it is done. Currently we only have a staff
of marketers that work in conjunction with me. Between them and my efforts we are generating over 200% what the expenses are. Once the site has a stronger
hold it will lead to hiring people to start a carreer with Music Eternal, providing new resources for the music world, and moving into Phase Two. I will not go into
what Phase Two is, except that it will be focusing on aspects of the physical marketing, tours, and merchandising that will maximize support for the musicians,
DJs, and labels to make these much more affordable and possible for them.
The Situation:
If the circumstances were normal I would not be asking for help. The site has met the first milestone in being self-sustaining, but there are other factors in this
that have forced me to extend my hand in asking for help. The reason is a bit lengthly in explaining, but in this you will see how things have come about
and the situation, before we present the solution.
The past 14 months have been brutal on me personally. All of this is the fallout of three situations that shook my personal foundation in a 5 month period. In July, my mom, Norma "Zia" Taylor, was hit with a massive stroke. This was one that should have not survived, but somehow managed to get through. I was the one that found her, that dealt with all the issues, and was there for her in ICU, the rehab, and each step to where she is today. She lost two-thirds of her brain in this stroke as it has made communication impossible and has taken away her use of her right side of her body. This and the second situation happened in at the same time. I will not explain what this second situation was except that it was as hard as the stroke, but in a different aspect. Some wounds take more time to heal and I will explain on that one when I feel more comfortable in expressing.
Both of these shook my world enough that I stopped on Music Eternal. Both were emotional challenges in me and to be honest, were changes I didn't want to fully accept. As I dealt with these issues I had supportive people, but one was there more than others. I think he knew that I was one with a weeping heart and that my dream was dimmed by the losses that were hitting my world. That person was Ric Laciak of RAS DVA Records. He was there despite the pain he endured and listened to me, gave me good advice, and was the one that I leaned on when my world was crumbling around me. He was also someone that showed me that Music Eternal is more than just a dream I had, it was now a dream shared.
What Ric presented was that I had a good idea, but when the DJs, the labels, the musicians, and all others joined that this Music Eternal family was now vested in seeing it succeed. Its success would only happen if it was doing what it was meant to do, in helping others. That aspect made Music Eternal something that in some respects that belonged to all the Music Eternal family, and if I that I had to get back up and get things back in motion. If not for me, then for the others out there that hope and have faith that this dream of mine that can help their dreams. After four months, I got back into getting things going on Music Eternal, but it was at this time that Ric passed away. We never met, but he helped with his words and views more than I think he may have realized. In his passing, I have made new friends, but I also lost someone that saw the dream that I have in this without me ever having to explain what it was. He was the kindred spirit that I forever am grateful for knowing.
Now the problem in addition to the personal chaos was undoing 4+ months of downtime. For a website this is the same as putting a shotgun to your head and unloading both barrels. So I did what I always did, hit this as hard as I could. The good news is that over the past 9 months I have surpassed where Music Eternal was. I do all the graphics, coding, making graphical videos, write the content, do the interviews, and push all of this through 31 social networks. This past summer my system crashed hard. It was an impressive system, but anything running at 100% for 20 hours a day will break down. I jury rigged it and got it off the ground, but this past month it crashed in a fashion where the system failures are global. It fought the good fight, but the truth in reality is that nothing can survive with a massive level of abuse and/or work. It was doing the work of 3 servers and now there is a need to replace this system so that I can do 100% of what I am able to do. This also leads to the other factor. After working 6 years of 60 to 120 hour weeks is taking its toll on me. I know that I can't continue at this pace for an extended period of time. So I need to bring others in that can help with doing specialized work.
As I had mentioned, the site hit the first milestone. I have three milestones in this: 1) make the site self-sustaining, 2) make it where the site can hire others, 3) make it where the site can push the business into Phase Two of the company. Right now it is progressing to the second milestone, but the rate it is doing it versus the hardware issues and my physical limitations make it where I need to ask for help.
The Solution:
I was lucky in getting some financial help this week that helped expand the marketing. This made it possible to establish the site further in Europe, South America, and Russia.
It also made it possible to being the expansion of the marketing into China. The results have exceeded my expectations and I know this is translating to good results to those
involved with the site. The site has been exploding with requests for new members, traffic, and in the advertising. This has shown me that this needs a further push and what
would normally take years can take months. This will lead to jobs for others, much more in the support aspect for the music world, and were those that help
can be immortalized on Music Eternal as either a Contributor or an Investor. These will be people that will be given the praise they deserve for helping
keep Music Eternal and the dream it represents alive and moving forward.
To date we have had investors that wanted to contribute to the site (three of them were labels). However, they wanted partial ownership and utilize what is here to further their labels. This would mean that Music Eternal would no longer be here for everyone and is not the ideology that I had envisioned. Thus, I am asking each of you to help with this. I am going to either have this ship heading to the calm seas or I am going down with it. It is a dream I believe is worth living and dying for. I hope that others will feel the same and show it when it matters most on our Kickstarter account below.