TastemakerX：像炒股一样炒明星

    但雷斯尼科夫对在硅谷以外地区落户的风险也发出了警告，尤其是与投资方打交道而言更是如此，因为投资方往往必须就自己是否要继续向初创公司提供投资资金这个问题作出各种艰难的决定。雷斯尼科夫说，初创公司规模庞大、运营分散自然也改变不了什么。目前，该公司已筹集了180万美元资金，其中包括著名音乐杂志《公告牌》杂志（Billboard）的母公司之一——古根海姆合伙公司（Guggenheim Partners）的一笔投资资金。

    鲁辛希望通过如下方式来赚钱：收集用户在音乐活动方面的数据，然后把这些信息卖给艺人及唱片公司。其另一个收入来源是在玩家的虚拟货币“notes”用完时向他们出售更多的“notes”。然而，还有一个收入来源是更为统一地建立广告收入，比如向玩家发起各种挑战（比如，让他们购买特定类型艺人的股票等）。鲁辛认为，他可以建立一个“品味图谱”（taste graph）——类似于更加风行的社会图谱。Facebook首次公开募股的惨淡结果已经证明，在社交图谱上做广告业务也面临巨大挑战。很难估量音乐搜索服务的市场规模，但其中最成熟的平台潘多拉（Pandora）上一财年已经实现了2.74亿美元的营收。（当然，潘多拉同时还可以作为音乐播放器，而TastemakerX则想主要把重点放在发现艺人之上。）

    译者:ido98

    But Resnikoff also warns of the risks of setting up shop outside of Silicon Valley, particularly when dealing with financiers, who often have to make difficult decisions early on about whether or not they want to continue funding startups. Having a sprawling, non-centralized company doesn't make it easier, says Resnikoff. The company has raised $1.8 million in funding, including an investment from Guggenheim Partners, one of Billboard's parent companies.

    Ruxin hopes to monetize by collecting data on how users are engaging with music and making that information available to artists and labels. Another stream is selling players more "notes" if they run out. Yet another is building in advertising more organically, such as having sponsored challenges for players, like having them buy the stock of specific types of artists. Ruxin believes he can build a "taste graph," akin to the buzzier social graph. The fallout from Facebook's IPO has proved it challenging to advertise on the social graph as well. It's difficult to gauge the market for music discovery services, but Pandora -- the most mature of the bunch -- had revenue of $274 million last fiscal year. (Pandora, of course, also serves as a music player, while TastemakerX wants to focus mainly on discovery.)