James Fontana from SongVote was kind enough to sit through the MusicKO interview in full. Thanks a bunch, James! You will find the first part of the interview below, and the second is here.

James Fontana (Co-founder of SongVote)

Full Name: James Fontana
Age: 33
Startup: SongVote
Position:  Co-Founder

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

A few years back I put a pool in my back yard.  Every weekend people would come over and swim and there would be 5-7 iPods around the docking station.  No matter what, the music always became an issues.  Someone was always taking out someone else’s iPod and putting their own in.  For me I saw an opportunity for a solution that involved musical democracy.  I wanted to create a way that we could all come together based on our similarity and diversity of musical taste.

In my opinion the most distinctive feature is the ability to create one playlist based on the opinions of a group.

What was the original launch date?

Feb. 2010

What are the main uses people are putting SongVote to? In which countries has it been more successful?

We are noticing people having fun on SongVote by expressing their musical opinion in different public contest.  We also saw someone create a playlist that was moving from Dallas to Boston and was going to be in the car for three days.  They had a playlist built on song that reminded friends of the good time they spent together.  This person was able to listen to a playlist built by close friends during their long drive.

We launched in America (Dallas, Texas) but are noticing other countries picking up on our story.  This is very exciting for us!

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

In the future you will see a section dedicated to YouTube artist and new artist.  You will see how SongVote can integrate into users land communities  and  overall you will see us creating new features and functions that will engage our audience while making SongVote even more useful.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?

When it comes to music the Internet allows us to discover, explore and be exposed to new sounds, beats and artist.  How could that ever be negative?

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

Be patient and do what’s right for your potential users.  We are still learning what to avoid.

Click here to proceed to Part 2.