Method and system for an online talent business

#The invention relates generally to online business methods, and more specifically to a method for implementing an online record business whereby large numbers of unknown artists can have their music made available to the public and wherein the public votes on which artists they like and whereby the online record business enters into recording contracts based on the public voting.

#Music is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world, but it is also a big business. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, domestic sales of recorded music were $13.7 billion in 1998, or more than one-third of worldwide revenue.

#Of the $13.7 billion in revenue, “rock” remained the dominant genre, with 25.7% of the market in 1998. The next most popular category was “country,” with 14.1%. Rhythm and blues (“R&B”) came in next at 12.8%, with “pop” and “rap” coming in at 10.0% and 9.7%, respectively. As can be seen, these five categories of music are responsible for over 72% of all sales, and it is these genres to which the present application is directed. Moreover, the buyers of these categories of music are also the most Internet-aware.

#Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a method of an online business that recruits artistic talent world-wide using the Internet and also which utilizes consumer feedback to determine which artists are preferred by the consuming public;

#FIG. 2 is a is a block diagram of a method of an online record business that recruits artistic talent world-wide using the Internet and also which utilizes consumer feedback to determine which artists are preferred by the consuming public;

#Referring now in detail to the various figures of the drawing wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, there is shown at 10 in FIG. 1, a block diagram of a method of an online business 11 that recruits artistic talent 12 world-wide using the Internet and that also utilizes consumer feedback to determine which artists are preferred by the consuming public 13 so that a contract can be awarded from a contracting entity 14 to the preferred artists. The online business 11 basically comprises a web site 15 and the support entity 16 that runs the online business 11 and operates the web site 15. Artists from around the world, can upload representations of their respective works, as well as personal information, to the web site 15. The online business 11 then organizes the artist information and artistic works via artist profiles (to be discussed in detail later) that are available to the consuming public 13 at the web site 15. The consuming public can then review any artist and his/her respective artistic works. In addition, the consuming public can provide input (e.g., where the online business 11 is an online record label, the consuming public can “rate an artist's band” or post a message about the artist/band) via the artist profile (see FIG. 6).

#Furthermore, to obtain consuming public 13 feedback regarding those artists preferred by the consuming public 13, an interactive investment simulation game 30 (as will be discussed in detail later) is available via the web site. In particular, all of the unsigned artists/artistic works are pre-selected by talent representatives of the online business (e.g., in the record business, the online record business uses artist and repetoire (A&R) representatives; see FIG. 3B; similarly, in the modeling business or story-scripting business analogous pre-selecting personnel are used) to determine their eligibility for the interactive simulation game 30. Those artists considered eligible to participate in the interactive investment simulation game 30 can be “voted on” by the consuming public 13 through virtual stock bought and sold by the consuming public 13, as will be discussed in detail later. Based on those artist(s) preferred by the consuming public, the online business 11 then awards those artists contracts and implements the contracts.

#It should be understood that the method 10 set forth above has applications in many types of businesses, such as the record business, the modeling business, the story-scripting business, etc. When applied to the record business (as will be discussed in detail below), the support entity 16 is a record label and the artists/work 12 are musicians that want to promote their music/video; when applied to the modeling industry, the support entity 16 may be an online modeling agency seeking models to promote their clients' products or operation/services and the models send pertinent information (e.g., images, photographs, etc.) to the modeling agency 16 for consideration; when applied to the story scripting business, the support entity 16 may be a publisher or movie production company seeking a story line for a new book or movie. One of the key features of the method 10 is that it provides an artist, anywhere in the world, with the ability to have his/her talent presented to the consuming public for their consideration, thereby avoiding the current hurdles of not being able to even “get a foot in the door.” Another key feature of the method 10 is that it lets the consuming public 13 decide who should be promoted to the next stage, i.e., contract, of bringing a new work of art to the world, thereby avoiding the support agency 16 always making that determination for the consuming public 13. For example, in the record industry, the record labels alone make the decision of which artists will be promoted.