Online sheet music store

[Kevin]

Just to bring to your attention that the store is going well and I am now at the point where I would like some help from yourselves.

If this is something that is going to interest you could have you post on this page the kind of things you would like to see in the store.

I will post a link to the store once I feel that it is close to the finished product.

All ideas will be considered.

[mikelyons85]

Hi Kevin,

Obviously a preview of the score, possibly a video of it playing and/or an mp3. Maybe a bit of a screed about how the composition/arrangement came about. Bio-details of the composer/arranger, I would assume each member would have their own page? It might become unwieldy if you go the SE route which is just a huge pile of music, basically, with minimum order imposed on it.

What are you able to do to prevent copyright infringement - both of original works by members and to stop people making pop arrangements without a licence? (That is a whole world of pain, I'm told!)

What would you charge for this service? A % of the selling price? If you could undercut SE or smpPress that would be good! :-D

I would certainly be interested in placing some of my better stuff here.

Great idea.

[Kevin]

Mike,
Thanks for the wish list. The copyright issue would be very difficult to police for a small web site.

I am thinking that it would be a percentage but nothing like the other publishers. Mind you SE are very generous with their 50%

At the moment the pages consist of music listed by instrumentation. Each composer can have his or her own bio page.

Score previews are in place along with mp3’s And I am sure I can add YouTube videos of live performances.

[mikelyons85]

MusicaNeo are more generous - they only take 33% and provide you with a fairly professional-looking page as well!

[Kevin]

Very generous indeed!

[gavbrown]

Kevin, I can only think of the standard things - a way to display scores so that they are not unreadable, mp3s (links ok), and sheet music. I might have more to say once I see the store

[Kevin]

Gavin all those points have been added anyway but thanks for mentioning.

[Deleted]

I'm surprised at what appears to be a general lack of enthusiasm for this concept but I'm with you all the way. You are well on track, have had some good input from Mike, and seem to have all the bases covered. I've no doubt you are putting a lot into this Kevin and it is much appreciated - I don't want to re-cover ground that's already been mentioned but I'm sure you'll get plenty of feedback as the idea progresses.

[Kevin]

I certainly hope that I do Stephen. I will give you all a shout when I will open it to music from the members.

[Joseph]

Just wondering, will this be an actual store? That is, will you be re-selling other published music? For example, will you be re-selling music published by Forton, or K&S, or any other concern? Or will this be all self-published music? Joe

[Kevin]

Joe,

I want to keep it exclusively to pieces not published elsewhere if that is possible.

[Kevin]

If this interests you please register at the top of the page as I will be contacting those members shortly with details of the store.

[gavbrown]

Hi Kevin,
A couple of observations in random order. 1) I went right to the keyboards section. - if I click to see the sheet music, it covers up the play button and I have to dismiss the sheet music, click play, and then re-open the sheet music. Would rather open the sheet music and then decide if I want to click play. 2) The volume was quite low. I realize it's got a "p" marking, but I would have liked to hear it at a slightly elevated volume. BTW, this is my favorite of your pieces which I have heard. It's lovely. 3) Once I hit play, it looped back and kept playing the piece. Would rather it stopped after 1 play and let me decide if I want to play it again. 4) The site graphical appearance is very nice. I like the dark background, it sets the mood well. Font choices and colors are clean and attractive. Overall, very elegant. 5) site behavior: liked how the left hand menu stays in position as you scroll the page, helps anchor the experience of using the site. I noticed that when you click on a major section, it opens up the various instruments within that section. I clicked the title of the major section again, would have expected that would close the sub-section, but it did not, and there doesn't seem to be a way to do it without exiting the site and returning. 6) The major sections are not in alphabetical order. 7) The subsections are not in alphabetical order. 8) You use the word "Music" in a lot of the titles. I think that is implied and could be reduced out - "Woodwind Music" could be changed to "Woodwinds" etc. Same with the subsections. 9) "Contact" information - the number one complaint users have about websites is difficulty in finding contact information (I was a webmaster for 15 years). Suggest a link to this page be featured on the first page and on the footer of every page. You might consider mentioning on the Contact page a turnaround time for a response. Likely to draw in more visitors if they have some idea when to look for a reply. 10) Monetary - I see you take payment in pounds. How would that work if an American such as myself got a sale? 11) Composers. I saw your bio. It's pretty long, if you intend to have other composers contribute a bio, suggest you ask them to submit a two-four sentence version that can be linked to a longer page, then you can fit any number of bios on the page without it getting too long. 12) Overall, this looks really good! Thanks for asking for our feedback on it!
Gav

[Kevin]

Gavin
Thanks for the feedback I shall look into them later today. Just got up !!😀

[Kevin]

Gavin,

1. Not a lot I can do here I am afraid.
2. Volume is okay when I open playback files not sure why yours would be quiet. Have you tried other scores?
3. I asked about this as I was not happy with it but was told there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. I will continue to hassle them about it!
4. Thanks
5.I will look into this.
6. They are in score order.
7. Again score order.
8. Removed the word music.
9. I will add further links.
10. I will ask about this when they open.
11.Good idea! I will sort that.
12. Thanks again.

[mikelyons85]

Hi Kevin,

I was just about to put a list but then realised it is almost identical to Gavin's. I, too, like the dark background. These days I find that much easier to read than black on white.

I assume, from an earlier comment, that you would want exclusive contracts with composers? I'm not sure how good an idea that is. It might be OK for competition entries, but I know people struggle to get their stuff out to a wide audience - I certainly do - so anything which restricts that might be off-putting.

Another thought. Would there be a twitter button and/or Facebook button on each music page and on the composer's main page it could sit alongside the contact link. example Just a thought.

I'm just amazed by your dedication and hard work. Thank you so much.

[Kevin]

I am okay if it is a self published piece Mike but we could be rattling cages if you have a piece published by a major player and then want it on my site.

I am sure I can add a twitter and facebook link certainly on the composers main page. I think it might be a bit much on each piece!

Kevin

[Kevin]

added links to the contact page everywhere!

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2018 7:54:50 GMT mikelyons85 said:

I'm just amazed by your dedication and hard work. Thank you so much.

Exactly. I sincerely feel we are not thanking you even nearly enough for everything you have been and are doing, Kevin.

The music store is already now great. Thank you ever so much for that, too.

[gavbrown]

Thanks Kevin and looking good!

[Deleted]

Thanks for your email Kevin. Yes, I would be interested but does that mean I couldn't use Amazon or Score Exchange? I am currently getting a few sales via Amazon/Createspace and would like that to continue. Are we talking compositions or arrangements? Printed or electronic? In principle I like the idea. Score Exchange's latest marketing ideas are totally useless. I look forward to seeing your online store.
Lisa

[Deleted]

Hi Persimew, I think this is the website with Kevin's music store - www.lkrsheetmusic.com - and it looks good.

[Kevin]

Feb 5, 2018 12:58:25 GMT @persimew said:

Thanks for your email Kevin. Yes, I would be interested but does that mean I couldn't use Amazon or Score Exchange? I am currently getting a few sales via Amazon/Createspace and would like that to continue. Are we talking compositions or arrangements? Printed or electronic? In principle I like the idea. Score Exchange's latest marketing ideas are totally useless. I look forward to seeing your online store.
Lisa

I only have a problem if your piece is contracted to another publisher, not self published.

Compositions and copyright free arrangements are okay.

Electronic in any format

[paoloeriani]

Hi Kevin, I'm interested in publishing my music with you new store. Will I send them using the link in the store?
Thanks and best wishes, Paolo. -

[Kevin]

No, just register your interest and I will be contacting people with details later.

[paoloeriani]

Do you mean that question up above? I have already done it.

[Kevin]

Thanks for that. I noticed you had.

[gavbrown]

...and next you know mikelyons85 had written a sonata based on said imagery...

[Kevin]

Thank you to the ten people that have registered an interest. It is now closed. I shall be contacting you shortly.

[jeffreyt]

I would be interested