Today I bring you the interview I had the pleasure to conduct with Chris from Jazz Cypher, the social network for jazz lovers and performers reviewed last week on MusicKO.

So, what goes into creating a social networking site for musicians? Read on to find out…

Chris (Jazz Cypher's Founder)

Full Name: Chris
Age: 33
Website: Jazz Cypher
Position: Founder

PART I

THE WEBSITE

Tell us a little about your website. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

My father is a jazz pianist, and I am in the technology field, So together we decided to build a site aimed to fuse together Jazz Music with a fully scoped social networking platform.

Registered member can create profiles, and create posts, join groups, or simply use the site as an interactive rolodex to find and contact new jazz musicians in the area. It provides musicians and jazz enthusiasts a unique networking gateway at their fingertips.

What was the original launch date?

July ‘11

What has been the response so far?

Great – although we need to kick promotion into high gear.

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

Chat and possibly, Vendor Partnerships.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?  

Exposure. For instance, unknown artists can sign on to jazzcypher for free, and then create a music or video playlist of their work. And then use the networking features we provide to get their names out without being overshadowed.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

Focus on “changing the game”. Take your original concept, then aim to re-direct that to the masses in ways never seen before.

Continue to Part 2 of the interview: “Music & You”.