dub city sound

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Table of Contents Mission Statement Executive Summary Overview Company Description Products & Services Market Opportunity Market Research Market Segmentation Strategic Relationships Intellectual Property Management Summary Management Team Organization Structure Personnel Plan Strategy and Implementation Summary Goals & Objectives Marketing Strategy SWOT Analysis Financial Plan Important Assumptions Break-Even Analysis Projected Profit & Loss Projected Cash Flow Projected Balance Sheet Business Ratios

1.0

Mission Statement

Our mission is to share knowledge and love of music, through live events, creative remixing, and social networking. Our vision is to integrate traditional methods of DJ entertainment with technologies that exist on the web, offering a more customized and interactive solution for our fans. By promoting creativity and innovation, we will communicate an unparalleled audio experience and strive towards the utmost level of professionalism.

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3.1

Executive Summary Overview

Company Description

Dub City Sound, LLC will serve as the collective business entity of its limited partners, Dane Shoemaker and Jon Taylor. The company will provide a service to its clients and customers, engaging in the following activities, where profit will be derived through: 1) 2) 3) DJ Entertainment for all types of events Producing remixes for bands, musicians, and record labels Advertising and Promotions on its company website and self-funded events

In the primary stages of the firm, the following duties and departmental tasks will be assigned to both parties in this manner: Dane Shoemaker will oversee all business operations, including graphic design elements, disc-jockey, remix producer, and manager of marketing campaigns and financial/virtual assets. Jon Taylor will oversee all technical and professional aspects of the company, including webmaster of the website, disc-jockey, producer, and technical research & development.

Dub City Sound will employ a lean small business model of the 21st Century, utilizing a multitude of digital networking applications and music production software from companies such as Google, Apple, Wordpress, Adobe, Ableton, Serato, Traktor, and Microsoft. We will

utilize mobile app-friendly, open-source software in order to maximize our communication efforts, both internally and externally. The company will utilize its ever-increasing efficiency to acquire data, process and analyze this data, and its ability to communicate this information to its members, customer base, as well as its virtual and real fans. The members will be able to collaborate efficiently on projects through Google Apps, share files through its self-sustained FTP server, communicate via iPhone, and gain instantaneous feedback on projects through comments, likes, retweets, e-mails, and requests. Dub City Sound will be able to tailor its clients musical needs based on analytics derived from social networking websites (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud), in addition to data mined from the company website (www.dubcitysound.com). Our goal as a company is to share the immense wealth of music available on the internet -and beyond - to the Greater Philadelphia Area, in a centralized and cohesive location (unfiltered, unbiased, and trusted by the people) and to build a devoted following of fans that can relate to the overall concept and brand.

3.2

Products & Services

Dub City Sound will provide the following profitable services to its target market: 1) Live DJ Entertainment We will engage in a traditional method of disc jockey entertainment, playing music that is both appropriate for the atmosphere and mood of the event, and the demographic of the customer. We will operate in an efficient and professional manner, constantly striving for prompt arrival, faster set-up times, a more customized music play-list, and greater interactivity from the crowd. Customers and fans will also be able to see music that is being played - in real time - via social networking feeds or a specific rss feed on the website. 2) Advertising We will generate profit from advertising on our website. This will be the least profitable sector of the company, however it is worth mentioning when traffic starts to increase and prices can be raised. We also see potential in offering promotions, both visual and audible, for local businesses during DCS Creative Live Events. This could serve as a large portion of profits if clients see value in this particular type of advertising. 3) Merchandising We will generate profit from t-shirts and selling music on our website. We will contract artists to design custom dub city sound apparel, as well as offer promotional periods where they exhibit there designs. Dub City Sound will provide the following services, although initially will not derive any profit from its activities:

1) DCS Creative Live Events On occassion, Dub City Sound will produce special live events, exhibiting the full repetoire of musical abilities. This will likely involve multiple musicians, including DJs, live instruments, also product promotions from local and regional businesses. A portion of the proceeds will benefit a local or regional charity. 2) Independent Remixes Part of our belief in sharing knowledge in music, a section of our website will be devoted to profiling a local band or musician. Customers and fans will be able to listen to a Dub City Sound remix from the band or musician, as well as read a brief biography and a few pictures. This is all part of building a community in the local music scene. This exposure will also help to promote both Dub City Sound, Philadelphia and its surrounding area, and the profiled musician or band. 3) Dubcast Dubcast will provide a free internet-streaming platform for musicians, bands, speakers, djs - whomever has the urge to spread their sound on the internet- through Icecast internet streaming. We will take submissions from musical entities in the area who wish to have their sound broadcasted on the internet, and they can then spread it, copy it, however they choose. In exchange we maintain the right to ownership of the recording itself and will remain as freely distributable content throughout dubcitysound.com and its affiliates.

3.3

Market Opportunity

As of December 1, 2010, the broad market recession in the United States has left many companies with a decrease in cash flow and narrow profit margins. It has forced a lot of companies to cut costs across all departments. We believe that live DJ entertainment are at the very least, recession-proof, and at most, thrive during times of economic downturn. People will revert to their most primal and satisfactory urges when financial times are bad, and will often attend night clubs, bars, and parties to help them forget their troubles. Fortunately, market forces indicate that in 2011, we will see an upswing in consumer spending and aggregate demand for consumer products and services. We hope this optimism will help fuel our operations as we capitalize on peoples propensity to celebrate their own good fortunes, as well as feeling a sense of community through online avenues and public forums of assembly. Dub City Sound will exploit this demand as a client-driven networking effect takes hold in the greater Philadelphia area and the internet.

3.4

Market Research

We have decided to include in our initial market for disc jockey services, the following counties for census research and target market demographics: Chester, Delaware,

Montgomery, and Philadelphia. Additionally, we will generate a list of companies who represent competition towards our live DJ enterprise and gather data on potential nightlife establishments to target. Finally, we will attempt to analyze all of the data and describe a brief summary as we list the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors and target market (which will be used as backing data for Section 5.2, SWOT Analysis). Initially, for the Q2, Q3, and Q4 for fiscal year 2011, we will concentrate our marketing efforts in select cities, including all of Chester County, as well as Ardmore, Manayunk, All of the following data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 2005-2009): Chester County Total Population: 486,301 Population of People with Household Income Greater than $75,000: 64,107 Median Age: 38.6 Population of People (Age 20-44): 156,246 Population of People (21+): 342,654 Number of Owner-Occupied Homes: 137,104 Median Value of Owner-Occupied Homes: $328,900 Population of People Renting: 36,189 Median Monthly Rent: $1,042 Delaware County Total Population: 555,018 Population of People with Household Income Greater than $75,000: 83,670 Median Age: 38.3 Population of People (Age 20-44): 180,140 Population of People (21+): 395,636 Number of Owner-Occupied Homes: 147,561 Median Value of Owner-Occupied Homes: $224,400 Population of People Renting: 54,341 Median Monthly Rent: $881 Montgomery County Total Population: 776,306 Population of People with Household Income Greater than $75,000:

Major Competitors Schaffer Sound Productions

Crater Brothers DJ Service Ryan Rhythm DJs Silver Sound Steve & Company John Scibello

3.5

Market Segmentation

Our focused market segmentation will include residents of Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia County. More specifically, our DJ entertainment market will include people 20-40, or those who frequent the bar scene in surrounding areas. We will also be catering to private parties, including formals, graduations, birthdays, etc. This demographic, essentially, will be anyone who wants to some sort of event, and at this stage of Dub City Sound, has no boundaries in regards to customer demographics. Our web content, remixes of the month, and social networking conversations will likely engage fans of all ages, who appreciate music, especially people in the greater Philadelphia area, who already consider themselves fans of the local music scene. Advertising on the website will be segmented on a broader, more global scale pertaining to related websites and sponsors.

3.6

Strategic Relationships

A business of this nature requires strong relationship building, between our clients, customers, and online fans. We strive to uphold the best in professional and courteous customer service when making deals with establishments and private clients. Dub City Sound will also cultivate a strong sense of community among like-minded DJs, producers, and musicians/bands in which we remix and promote, both online and during live events. It is pertinent that we develop a long-term relationship with a graphic design artist and web developer in which we can stay in contact with when adding new visual content to mixtapes and the website. Another important relationship, more in the long term, would be with a recording studio engineer, as well as a mastering engineer, when we plan on producing more original music.

3.7

Intellectual Property

All content on the website, unless explicitly stated, will belong to Dub City Sound, LLC. Audio content that is originally produced by DCS will be reserved under a legal copyright. Furthermore, the logo, as well as any other visual and textual media, will be reserved under a U.S. Trademark agreement.

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4.1

Management Summary
Management Team

The management team will consist, initially, Dane Shoemaker and Jon Taylor. They will be in charge of the following departmental tasks, as described in Section 3.1 (Company Description). Dane Shoemaker Marketing (Promotion, Sales, New Accounts) Operations (Disc Jockey, Remixes) Legal, Tax Jon Taylor Operations (Disc Jockey, Webmaster, Musical Inventory) Marketing (New Accounts) Legal, Tax

4.2

Organization Structure

The structure of Dub City Sound will be positioned in a horizontal manner, where communication and efficiency of information exchanges are valued over a bureaucratic chain of command. In the event of hiring new personnel, we wish to maintain this structure as a free-flow of information is a core competency to our success.

4.3

Internal Communication

This section will outline in detail, the manner in which we communicate internally, which at this time is not available. Specifically, it will discuss contingents in the event of a customer request, an unforeseen problem, or means of communication that will increase business efficiency (such as uploading content, organizing music, etc.)

4.4

Personnel Plan

Presently, the only personnel are Dub City Sounds limited partners, Dane Shoemaker and Jon Taylor. However, in the future it is likely we would bring on additional limited partners, someone who is capable of producing music, doing live disc jockey, or handling some other business aspect. This would be someone who brings synergy to the DCS team, or someone who possesses skills, intelligence, resources, or some other valued component that would

benefit the company. Furthermore, it is likely in the event of the companys success, that we would bring in employees. These employees would represent younger, less experienced DJs in which we would be charged with training, and providing a contracted amount of work. In exchange for the expanded business they would provide for us, we would compensate the DJs an amount of money that is agreed upon in contract.

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5.1

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Goals & Objectives

We see Dub City Sound positioning itself as a friendly company that exudes a great deal of value on its customers and fans. We hope to maintain a strong sense of community through our music and website. We hope to generate: 1,000 Facebook fans 1,000 Twitter followers 200 Newsletter subscribers 1,000 Downloads 10,000 YouTube Views 10,000 Website Hits $0 Net Income (break-even) 2 Creative Live Events (produced, or in planning) 5 Private Customer Events 5 Residency/Temporary positions at local bars, clubs, etc.

We hope to accomplish these items by the end of the fiscal year. By the end of fiscal year 2, we hope to accomplish three-times (plus net $1000) the objectives listed above. We believe this is somewhat realistic, as growth is expected to be rapid in the first year. The objectives listed above serve as a benchmark for continued success. Quantifying these terms allows us to objectively evaluate our market presence.

5.2

Marketing Strategy

We will begin our marketing strategy in an organized and precise manner, as well as utilizing some guerrilla tactics. The main goal of our marketing strategy is to generate as much traffic as we can to the website. First, our strategy depends on online marketing efforts, working the systems gaining increased exposure, covered in detail below: 5.2.1 Twitter Routinely follow between 25-50 entities every 24-48 hours. They must share a similar interest or piece of metadata, including key words contained in their account name or background information: music, dub, house, electro, DJ, disc jockey, ableton, ableton live, live, serato, behringer, technics, denon, philadelphia, philly, pennsylvania, chester, chester county, west chester, dub-c, yellow, gold, golden, golden rams, rams. Next, unfollow any twitter followers, that have not chosen to follow you back. Repeat this

every 2-3 days for a few weeks. In theory this method is proven to generate 1,000s of followers as being part one of the online marketing strategy. 5.2.2 Facebook Use facebook as the extension of the website, utilizing its vast array of profile data and overall user metrics. Facebook is a step up in visual stimuli from twitter, and allows for a continuous experience in navigating friendship networks. We will utilize Facebooks advertising platform, driving users who fit our target market, to the website and Facebook page. Additionally, we will use locational check-ins to notify fans of what bar or event we will be playing music at. 5.2.4 Guerrilla This will involve sending out as much marketing material into the general public as possible, and through a numbers game, generating some interested clients, both public and private. First, flyers for our DJ services can be put up on any bulletin in any type of establishment, as a way of adversiting the overall company. These flyers can also be put up on abandoned buildings, telephone poles, parks, etc. Next, place stickers in discrete places, such as bar bathrooms, as to generate some curiosity for the website. The cost of these flyers and stickers will be outlined in the financial section (6.0). QR Codes - We plan on utilizing this technology heavily in the initial guerilla marketing campaign. We will create stickers with a qr code and a brief, catchy tag line hoping to incite curiosity. 5.2.5 Private Club Soliciting We will put together a packet of information, and send this to a strategic list of bars and clubs in Chester County, as we deem necessary. The packet will consist of: A well written One-sheet, outlining our services and overall concept of Dub City Sound, as well as contact information and links to the website and social networks. A collection of mixtapes (probably 2-3, upwards of 6 hours of music). This will feature a list of tomorrows hottest singles. The mixtape collection should feature music, mixed together as if it was done live, in a way that will intrigue managers.

5.3

SWOT Analysis

Strengths We believe our strengths will be focused on: 1) our ability to implement digital technology with traditional analog methods of audio reproduction, in both the physical set-up of DJ equipment during live sessions, and the utilization of online marketing tools and methods of distribution, 2) our strong, cohesive brand identity, with a smart looking graphic, intuitive website, marketing materials, mixtapes, and positive emotional reaction, and 3) the manner in which we cooperate with our customers - we are a service-oriented company and therefore it is the utmost importance that we continually strive to satisfy their every need. Weaknesses We believe our weaknesses are: 1) Lack of business management and DJ experience in comparison to mature industry competitors, 2) Lack of Opportunities We see opportunities in: 1) The increased utilization of social networking and location-based blogging platforms, 2) Our competitors lack of presence on these platforms, where their customers have no personal glimpse of the company, with a holistic focus on the user experience, including

media content such as downloadable mixtapes, remixes, and music videos. 3) The current state of the economy allows for an unconventional approach to traditional business models, and at this time, small businesses are celebrated and rewarded for their hard work, and we need to take advantage of this optimism. Threats We see minimal threats to our business plan: 1) Tax increases could potentially hurt us in the long run 2) Our success relies on the propensity of people to spend money at drinking establishments. If the economic climate of Chester County was to suddenly shift away from people attempting to have a good time (however highly unlikely), our business would ultimately suffer.

5.4

Promotional Tools

Some promotional tools that are likely to drive traffic to the website, accrue a devoted following, and ultimately drive growth. Contests We could award people monetary or non-monetary consolation prizes based on their help in spreading the word by suggesting the facebook page to friends, promoting the company at similar industry events, and handing out flyers or postcards. Some of these prizes could include free t-shirts, mixtapes, or concert/event tickets in the local area.

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Financial Plan
Important Assumptions Break-Even Analysis Projected Profit & Loss Projected Cash Flow Projected Balance Sheet Business Ratios