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Name: scoreAscore
Quick Pitch: A crowdsourcing site for original music compositions.
Genius Idea: scoreAscore connects composers with companies seeking music for commercials or other videos.
You don't hear a lot about jobs for composers these days. But Jordan Passman, founder of startup scoreAscore, is trying to change that.
Website scoreAscore connects music composers with producers to create original tunes for commercials and other marketing videos. "For me, music is really, truly the most emotional aspect of marketing," he said.
Passman created the site in 2010 after noticing numerous Craigslist posts for composers. Knowing a number of out-of-work composers, Passman decided to create a platform to connect the two.
Here's how it works. The client creates a free account, posts a description for what they want and their desired pay rate. They can also upload a video clip. The submission goes out to the composers who can create something for the client.
If the client chooses one they like, they pay through the website — if not, the client is not charged.
Right now, there are 175 composers on the site. At first the site only had Grammy Award winners, but now has people who are talented composers but also have day jobs in other fields.
"My whole goal is just to be able to provide a platform where people can earn money from music and that's a hard thing to do today," he says.
Each person who applies to be on the site as a composer must go through a digital audition with Passman who selects them based on production quality "first and foremost." Experience doesn't matter so much as talent, he says.
"Anybody is welcome to sign-up," Passman says. "But in order to be activated, they have to get through an audition."
Clients don't need to know anything about music to use the site. That's why Passman sees the site as a win-win for composers and the companies that hire them.
"For the composers, they wake up everyday with new opportunities," he says. "From the client standpoint, there's no other website that offers custom music and these prices."
You may have seen commercials with melodies commissioned from talented composers via scoreAscore: Brooke Burke for Sketchers, NBC's America's Got Talent promo, the Lord of the Rings – Guardians of Middle Earth video game trailer and many others. You can view some of the commercials on scoreAscore's Tumblr.
Other clients include Disney, Burger King, DirectTV, Crayola, Google, Old Navy, LEGO, Universal, Electronic Arts (EA), CBS, Bravo, Hasbro, the Gates Foundation, College Humor, Funny or Die and more.
"I feel like working with film composers is like working with today's Mozarts," he said, adding that getting them custom gigs is rewarding.
Passman is a one-man-band, running the company's website and a "showcase" Tumblr site. He told a story about random people on Tumblr finding his scoreAscore videos, even without him promoting them, and sharing the videos to hundreds of people. "I think the Tumblr community is sweet," he said.
ScoreAscore is like the music version of Tongal, where companies ask users to create a video idea. Complaints about sites that crowdsource talent are numerous, including that they deprive trained professionals of full time jobs including health insurance and benefits.
In other cases, crowdsourcing has solved problems pondered for many years. Passman says payment offers on his site range from $100-$20,000 per job. He estimates the average pay rate is $500-$1,500.
"A lot of these are one-offs for 30-second commercials or trailers," he said.
Check out this video from scoreAscore (below) and tell us in the comments — would you use scoreAscore for your company or as talent?
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=825782
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
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