I'm interested in YOU

[James]

The proposition?

I've been in the process of creating something of a business for a while now that I'm looking to tag onto my art pieces as a sort of "brand name" that people can recognize and possibly follow, leading to future purchases.

But here's the deal- the company I have in mind isn't strictly for my work. What this is going to be is an outlet for artists, musicians, actors and designers alike to compile their work for buyers looking for just such an item.

How will this work for the company if everyone is making money off their own items? This is largely based on the people contributing to get their work out there. Clients meet with the artists by observing pieces via the company's gallery and then gets in contact with them through any means to ask for a service. If you want a rough idea of what a cash exchange would encompass it will basically be the base cost minus 10% with the remainder going to the artist themselves. That 10% goes directly towards advertising for the brand (business card, shirts, pins, promotional items) and only that.

"Okay, why not. I'm on board. Where do I come in, Chris?"

Development stages are still going on. It might be ridiculous but right now Myspace is our only host till things can start picking up to a point where I can afford a site of my own (or know someone who can provide a much more visually stimulating host) and even then my ability with HTML to mold the front page to my desired look is limited. Which is why I'm here. I'm hoping there's someone who might be able to work with me in getting this thing off the ground with visuals and/or help with the website that will house the pictures of inventory for purchase.

"So you have absolutely no idea other than a site to get this thing going?"

Untrue! In preparation (and faith that the company will be running next year) I've begun looking in to making arrangements for a booth at next year's Anime Expo here in California that will basically be selling a collection of my work and any promotional things available by then. Not saying that everyone else won't have a hand in this but that's basically the plan at a glance.

"Right. So you've got an idea. What do we look like? Who are we?"




We are Shadow Label. We are art, we are media, we are fashion. A business made for artists by artists for everything from a place to collaborate with others to selling your pieces as an outlet.

[Psyren]

As a unsigned musician this is highly appealing to me. I may be intrested but I need some details on the music side of this.

[Pinky]

We are legion.

Also, that second picture looks like digdug.

[Celena]

That is Dugtrio right? I'm curious about the acting side of this.

[James]

As a unsigned musician this is highly appealing to me. I may be intrested but I need some details on the music side of this.

So far I'm linking up with local bands in the area. Basically the music scene for Shadow Label will be progressing at a small scope at first, such as would be expect; renting out space for a weekend for five-six bands to perform before an audience who pays at the door. I've had a hand in organizing gigs so this isn't new territory for me but chances are it might be outdoor sets alike to how Coachella is done only with a single "stage", standing room only.

That is Dugtrio right? I'm curious about the acting side of this.

Dugtrio is closer together, over-lapping each other. I'm surprised no one had the background from Super Mario pop to mind.

SL's actors are divided into different categories. We already have several talents who work as amateur comedians, another handful of those who do recording work (think "The Lonely Island" group), and lastly there's me doing scripts for reputation, no profit gain.

Now, this section is a little more difficult considering my contacts are limited in this area so the main goal is to get talent discovered, promoted and risen to the ranks of the stars.

There's more in the works but seeing as how this is largely a new venture- things are a bit scarce. I'll be devoting a large portion of my free time to organizing things with local businesses and such to try and find a revenue till these individual sections can begin turning out a profit so it isn't as though I'm expecting something from the artists on board with us.

[Vad]

I'm interested in your website and HTML needs. Storage for high traffic photos and such like you hinted on in your original post would be moderately expensive.

Last time I checked, which was recently, Netfirms Business is like 170 dollars or something for 1 year, with reduced monthly rates going into 2 & 3 years. (I'll get back to you with exact numbers if you'd like)

If you expect a high volume (being large amounts of traffic and image hosting/viewing) you could also purchase a dedicated server for the company. Once the company get's going you can start writing stuff like this off as business expenses.

I don't have a talent you could market XD, but I could help with whoever builds the website or something. Let me know. =D

[James]

That'd be great to get some specifics for cost-wise what it'll be for the coming years. If this is to take off I'd prefer something more sufficient than a profile on Myspace, definitely a more appealing style to potential artists than some hole-in-the-wall gathering.

[Psyren]

Im not a local artist but id love to be somewhere that could host some samples of my stuff to show off. ID even volunteer to help you with the music side of the buissness. I have alot of talent and time spent in promoting music and such.

[Sage]

I'm curious; your phrasing sounds like this is already a fairly large (ie: not run out of someone's basement) operation.

How big is this company already?

And yeah, I might be interested, but I didn't say nothin'.

[James]

Im not a local artist but id love to be somewhere that could host some samples of my stuff to show off. ID even volunteer to help you with the music side of the buissness. I have alot of talent and time spent in promoting music and such.

Oh most definitely. One of the big things about this is I want a site that can provide samples of each artist/musician. Any help at all I can get with the ground work would be massively appreciated as the setup process for all this is incredibly difficult trying to get everything just right.

I'm curious; your phrasing sounds like this is already a fairly large (ie: not run out of someone's basement) operation.

How big is this company already?

And yeah, I might be interested, but I didn't say nothin'.

Didn't mean for it to come off as some huge-scale beast. In reality it's small with verbal contracts between people that they're waiting in the wings for everything to take off and me. My main focus is to get a brand up that others can faithfully stand behind (ergo the asking about the website situation) and from there the sky's the limit.

Guesstimating people in total that would have a hand in the different categories (that I know of) adds to roughly 22-25, that's without getting involved with others who are still on the fence about this.

[Psyren]

Alright im down just let me know what you need from me for the music side of this.

[Vad]

Remind me, Ares, next time I IM you randomly that I need to ask you about the website. XD I'll try to do the same.

[James]

Alright im down just let me know what you need from me for the music side of this.

You got it. I'll send you a message with the specifics once I get everything set in stone so far as the public presentation is concern.

@Vad: Yush. Was going to ask about that last night but it slipped my mind.