Why BitCritic Is Valuable

• People LOVE to ‘play critic’. Other apps/services like Twitter or Instagram allow us to tap into our inner photographer or minutia broadcaster microblogger. Everyone likes to be a critic, just look at this screenshot from my favorite music forum:

(click to enlarge)

The above image shows users creating their own top list as inspired by Pitchfork’s Top albums of the 2000s. Interestingly, Pitchfork has dabbled very lightly with similar data collection taking a survey of their readership called the People’s List, where you can see album rankings broken down by age group and geographic location. For whatever reason, this list was a one-time thing, and is exactly what music fans are demanding to  contribute towards and a resource for every album will disrupt the industry.

• Consequently, what we’ve got for music review is lacking width and depth. A few big names can’t come close to reviewing the 75,000 albums released annually.

 

•  The biggest music junkies LOVE having detailed and quantified data. On independent music forums, I’ve seen users keeping their lists and ratings in Excel spreadsheets. An intuitive web platform like BitCritic will harvest all this valuable data while keeping a location for easy user access.

Here’s a thread where users argued over the bests songs on Radiohead’s OK Computer:

• The data itself is valuable. Highly specific (0.0-10.0) scale means more targeted  advertising. A Wu-Tang Clan fan vs. a Kenny Chesney fan might draw different sponsors.

• Licensing like the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer as additional revenue streamRotten Tomatoes was trusted by Steve Jobs for use on the Apple TV. BitCritic could similarly be licensed to iTunes, Sonos, Spotify, Grooveshark, Pandora, Last.fm, and HypeMachine.

• The BitCritic formula could be applied to other types of media like creative writing, art, and film. Pitchfork Media is already expanding into film critique withThe Dissolve.

About BitCritic

What is BitCritic?

BitCritic meshes the power of an online community with the prominence of professional  critics to create a more comprehensive and democratic tastemaker guide to music.

Think: Rotten Tomatoes crossed with Pitchfork Media.

         +          

Want to know what album you should start with to get into the Flaming Lips? Or do you have a passion for something more esoteric, like the latest album from ambient deep house artist Nicolas Jaar?

BitCritic allows you see what the music community is saying, without dredging through obscure blogs.

How? 

• BitCritic is the first music site to weigh Pro-Am reviews side by side.

• MORE perspectives and MORE music coverage via crowdsourcing. Pro critics can’t review the 75,000 albums released annually, tapping into younger crowds and wider genres.

• Incentivizes an amateur community; best reviews get upvoted to most visibility

• Top secret recipe for the BitCritic Overall Weighted Score, weighing publications, prominent amateurs, and the masses

• Users can manipulate the data

(the above photo pictorially represents different weight to Pitchfork, Anthony Fantano’s famous blog The Needle Drop, and Scaruffi–independent music reviewers )

BitCritic users can tailor which reviewers–professional or amateur–that they want to constitute their “My Critics” weighted score.

• Recommendations  + data analysis
  •“BitCritics with similar taste to you gave this 8.7/10” or Netflix style: “You gave Nevermind by Nirvana a 9.3 ; you should check out Wavves’ “Afraid of Heights”

• Streamlined SEO for general music queries. Googling “best Frank Sinatra songs” yields results that thousands of Sinatra fans–amateur and pro–have judged with weight given to more experienced/upvoted users.

Still don’t quite get it? Watch this HD video: BitCritic explained

By showing the Pros and the Joes side by side, BitCritic will be the only resource needed for music talk and discovery. 

Some wireframes: 

Older mock-up:

Let’s change the culture together.

Take a look at 

Want to invest in BitCritic?

Want more information?

Please contact Nick Pappageorge via email:  npappageorge at gee mail.