Growing Money

Money Making Idea #8 - Send A Tune

I called my friend on Friday to wish her a happy birthday and I thought... I wish there's a way I can play the Happy Birthday song over the phone. Maybe there should be a service where people can select a song and play it over someone's voicemail. For instance, I could just call a company, select a song, and record my personal message. "Hey, I want to wish you a happy birthday. [Music beings and the song plays]." This idea can expand to beyond just a birthday song -- to any song. You can pick a song for a girlfriend, a wife, a best friend, or a niece for graduation. How does it work? You call a company that hosts the service, SEND-A-TUNE (for example). You pick a song from the selection. The selection should include a wide range of music, genre, and artists. You enter the destination voicemail number. You are allowed to record a personal message before and after the song. You make a payment. The payment can be done with a credit card or you can open a membership account that speeds up the process. The song and message gets delivered to the target. Why send a song? Sometimes a song can express your feelings and thoughts. Send a song to confess your love. Send an apology. Send a congratulation message. There are many reasons.

• Example #1: John had feelings for Rebecca but never had the courage to tell her. He sends the song, "Nobody Knows."

• Example #2: Maggie appreciates the five years she's been with her boyfriend. On her anniversary, she picks "Thank God I Found You" and sends that to him.

• Example #3: Jimmy just graduated high school. He picks "That's What Friends Are For" and sends them to two of his best friends.

Who would pay for this service? Mostly teens and young adults, but people of any age can be a customer. I imagine mostly lovebirds and people who like music. But parents can send songs to kids to express their love and care. That gives parents another way to tighten the gap with their kids. How much would it cost for users? The service has to be inexpensive for people to use it. One-time payment and memberships are available as well. Great expansion idea for existing music stations. I think this would be a great opportunity for existing music stations like Yahoo! Music to implement. They already have all the licensing and it would be a great thing to add to their services. Added 10/8/2005: Easy Payment One easy way for customers to pay is to have it charged to their phone bill. The music company can talk to the phone company about this. If the customer doesn't like adding to their phone bill, they can sign up for a charge-card where they enter their account # and a pin#.

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Note: Don't mind my lame selection of songs above. Substitute those songs with great ones you have in mind.

posted by Sean @ 6/27/2005 10:00:00 AM