Music Arsenal Blog

We've been doing a lot of work under the hood in Music Arsenal but we also wanted to let you know about some of the visual and functional updates we've made recently to make MA easier to use. Click on the image to view a bigger version

Tagging is here!

Lots of Music Arsenal users requested we add tagging to our contact system to make searching and navigation easier... so we did just that! On any contact page you can click the 'Add Tags' link to add a tag to a contact right then and there. After you add a tag it is searchable from the 'Tag Search' box located on the left of almost every page of the application.

Paging

We admit, it used to be hard find all of the contacts in our music industry contact directories.... but no more! We've added paging to the contact lists so you can see every contact we have. This will make cruising through the directories faster and easier for everyone.

Navigation

Another update we're very proud of is the retooled site navigation. We've ditched the dropdown menus in favor of a faster tabbed based navigation. The feedback for this feature in particular is resounding as the overall experience with Music Arsenal is much improved.

Redesigned Contact Page

We released a new design for a contact page awhile back and now we're getting around to writing about it. Its MUCH easier to read and find information on a contact page and if a contact has an address a map of that location is also displayed. You can also add notes and communications for a contact without refreshing the page. What a relief!!

We are hard at work making more updates available in the near future and as always we'd love to hear what you think or if you have any ideas. Just e-mail us at info@musicarsenal.com or fill out the suggesting form in the application.

After lots of work and lots of data we're proud to launch RockDex! RockDex is a site we've developed where artists can see the amount of "internet chatter" about them and learn new ways to increase the buzz. RockDex scours the internet to find current trends about an artist and scores a band based on data from other bands on their level. We generated our algorithm by looking at over 20,000 datasets for artists large and small. Everything from Green Day and Coldplay, to my roommates bands Son Ambulance and Nick Carl to the newest band on the street.

Think of it as the Nielsen Ratings for an artist's internet activity.

It was an idea I first had a few years ago but we never have had the chance to develop. With the wide range of APIs available now it made development rapid and the data much more accurate than it ever could have been.

The charts are based on the most recent data we have on artists for the past week. It will be a changing barometer of who's hot, who's not and who's rising quickly. Data is gathered and artists are reranked every couple of days so the information is fresh.

Building the site was no small feat and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the amazing talent at DownsDesign. Wait till you hear this. They took scribbled ideas we had for a design and turned it into the beautiful masterpiece we have now in A WEEKS TIME. THATS INCREDIBLE! If you're looking for a hot and crisp design, look no further!

We have big plans for where the site is going, yadda yadda yadda, we'll reveal more soon.

On another note, we're going to be at SXSW Music if you wanna talk about RockDex, share your ideas or even have a beer. (Here's my personal tentative, incomplete music schedule) Also, at SXSW we're hosting a party with Music Arsenal partners Indie Extreme on March 19th from 4 to 8pm at the Blind Pig Rooftop. Stop by and say whats up!

Follow us on Twitter and keep an eye on this blog to hear about updates and improvements to RockDex and Music Arsenal!

Silicon Prairie News, an Omaha based blog, sat down and interviewed me a couple of weeks about about the history of Music Arsenal and where its going.

If you'd like to take a moment you can check out the Music Arsenal interview on their site. If you pay close attention you can catch a glimpse into the future of Music Arsenal and some new tools we're working on.

Also, check out the Silicon Prairie News site! Its great to see website that recognizes cool new companies and entrepreneurship here in Omaha. We're a lot more than a cool indie music scene, home of Warren Buffet and steaks!

We're keeping things moving here at Music Arsenal HQ and have a nice bag of Halloween goodies for you.

First, we're happy to announce a new user plan. This plan is $16/month and offers full access to our contact directories. After hearing back from our users that a lot of one person shops don't need 5 users but they still want full data.... we created this! Now, for the price of a tour t-shirt you get the full Music Arsenal Directory.

Mailing Labels
We've been working on and testing this for awhile and now its live! After you add contacts to a project you can quickly print mailing labels for everyone. To do this, open a project --> click the contacts link --> click the 'Create Mailing Labels' link. From this screen you can select which type of Avery mailing labels you want to create (five types) as well as the format.

Tour Details
Not only did we revamp how you add and view a concert but now you can quickly see all the retail, press and radio contacts near that concert. This is really useful knowing who in the area you can contact about your show. Take a look at the screenshot below!

Like always, we're working hard to add the features you request and we'll have more soon!

Hey everyone! We're staying busy here but wanted to give you a quick update on whats going on...

We've just made a big update to the Music Arsenal directory by adding more than 900 new contacts. This includes 500 new venues to play shows at and more than 350 new record stores to carry your releases. These contacts were all carefully researched and gathered so you know you're getting the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Beyond that we also redesign the dashboard page to help you quickly get started with the features available in Music Arsenal. A little deeper in the program you'll also see we've added guides to nearly every page of the site. These will help you easily understand how each section of Music Arsenal can benefit your band or company.

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for updates!