Monday, April 30, 2012

Interested Users - Online Updates, Interaction

Are you a fellow musician that wants better sheet music software?  You can help direct us in giving it to you.  There are multiple ways to keep updated with our progress or provide feedback on what you see.

Twitter
G+
Facebook user group

Feel free to introduce yourself by telling everyone what you make and what software you use to make it!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Understanding Early Adopters

For our first project, we're targeting musicians that write sheet music.  Potential users (on facebook and G+) described how they create without our software.  From these artists, two general groupings emerged.

Our excited future users described what they currently do.

Sheet Music Composers (9)

The first common intention is the creation of sheet music.  Sheet Music Composers described creating sheet music arrangements for distribution among bands with multiple instruments, a Capella groups, for remembering musical ideas, or for other performers in general.

9 of the 13 respondents described this intention.  Of those 9, 6 respondents said they are not currently using software for their sheet music -- they either use paper and pencil or no longer use past software.

Software for this intention follows.
- Finale
- Sibelius
- MuseScore

For when they did use software, those that no longer use software for their sheet music described the following applications.
- Encore
- Noteworthy Composer


Digital Recording Artists (10)

The second common intention is the recording, mixing, and production of audio.  Digital Recording Artists described recording audio for mixing within software, and then for distribution in online services or usage within other software such as video games.

10 of the 13 respondents described this intention.  7 of these 10 also had the intention of creating sheet music, leaving only 3 respondents that were exclusively interested in audio recording.

Software for this intention follows.
- Logic
- Ableton
- FL Studio
- Cubase
- "Cakewalk", a company that was used in descriptions as a product. They make Sonar and Music Creator.
- Garage Band
- Sonar
- Pro Tools
- Audacity
- Reaper

Devices for recording follow.
- Android tablet, phone (Xoom, Nexus S)
- Apple tablet, phone
- Boss BR 1200 12 track digital recorder


Other Input

2 individuals expressed the creation and distribution of guitar tabs.


Useful Information for Trivial Software


1. Even in our small sample of early adopters, there is a plethora of sound recording, sound mixing, and general sound production software.
2. There is a much smaller availability, or cognizance, of notation software.
3. After investigating the software described by these practicing artists, we confirmed that none of these companies yet provide what we hope to, or that company has just not gained enough notoriety to become globally used.

Trivial Software thanks the respondents from our smart and interested future users.  If you are a new visitor excited to stop writing your sheet music in a centuries-old manner, you can join them in our facebook group, Google+ Page, or twitter.  We have no doubt you'll continue to lead us to lucrative next steps!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Trivial Software Information

Progress can be seen at http://dfavela.com/composertool.
This is not a complete product.  Press QWERTY keys for input handling.
facebook group
twitter feed 
Google+


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USC's Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is running a fantastic summer program to help startups.  Below are Trivial Software's responses for their survey, beginning with the last question, to best inform them on updates about our software.

If you are an interested user or fellow entrepreneur, you are welcome to contribute with your own feedback or participation as a user.

Please describe current progress or traction, include customers, users, mentors, revenue, or any indication of progress if applicable. 

Current Progress or Traction

- Progress can be seen at http://dfavela.com/composertool.
This is not a complete product.  Press QWERTY keys for input handling.
- User stories have been created to form a minimal backlog.
- Some user stories have been completed, allowing for the aforementioned viewing.


Customers, Users

- A collection of personas (similar to that described in "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum") is being created, based on individuals expressly demanding the product.
- These individuals are waiting on minimally viable development.


Mentors

Trivial Software does not have mentors at this time.  Guidance is being driven by experience in the video game industry and books like The Lean Startup.

Revenue

Trivial Software does not currently accumulate any revenue.

Revenue from the service will begin once monetization is implemented in the service.  The current plan is to use Google Wallet for this purpose.

Any Indication Of Progress

This website will provide updates on the business end of the product.  

Our new twitter feed has been created for the purpose of updates to be consumed by interested parties.  
Our new Google+ page has been created for the purpose of interacting with our users, such that we can better refine personas, observe results from our development, and ask for user input.
Our new facebook group has been created also for the purpose of interacting with our users -- specifically those not using Google+ -- such that we can better refine personas, observe results from our development, and ask for user input.

At this time, we have no real following.  We invite you to check against this nonexistent following now that you've discovered this site, as it will validate or disprove any assumptions about interest in our product.  You, along with us, will also get to observe how these different mediums serve the organization and product.