Tradiio is the latest startup trying to turn music discovery into a virtual stock-exchange style game, where players listen to new music and invest virtual money in an effort to make a digital killing. It was released this week as an iOS and Android app, and is hoping to attract players with the promise of real-life rewards if their song investments do well: festival tickets, download vouchers and music gadgets.
Artists uploading their music can also win festival slots, studio time and other prizes if their tunes become popular. We’ve been here before numerous times with this kind of thing: first in 2008 with website Thesixtyone, where people bet points on songs (Bulletin, 21-Jan-08). Later that year, TheNextBigSound had players running virtual labels (Bulletin, 11-Nov-08). iPhone game HitMaker used the artists-as-stocks idea in 2010 (Bulletin, 26-May-10) as did TasteMakerX in 2012 (Bulletin, 12-Mar-12). None of these startups were successful, which may not bode well for Tradiio, even with its rewards.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…