I've been halfheartedly following Imeem for the last few months, hearing about their big user base and whatnot. Yesterday, I finally took the time to check them out.
Imeem is a massive. Think of a YouTube for songs, in which every song is available for export via widget. According to TechCrunch, Imeem's database now boasts 5M songs - just 1M fewer than iTunes.
Even more amazing is that they have each of the four major record labels on board: EMI, Warner Music, Sony-BMG, and now Universal. This means Imeem is a legal and stable source of adding music to your profiles or other social media sites.
In terms of hub and spoke, distributed business models, Imeem is looking formidable. It's a great example of a central database working in tandem with a distributed footprint. Home base provides the community and the tools for users to upload their music tracks. This content is pushed out to the edge via Flash widgets, which in turn acquires more users and builds more community (each track's user comments are highlighted in the widget).
I think other UGC sites should take note of this model. Use a central hub to provide community tools, monetize, and aggregate content. Use widgets and apps to push that content out in small chunks to acquire more users (and more content). Gorgeous.
Here's an example of the Imeem widget playing a great track from the now defunct SF band Beulah.
more of imeem here - http://rapid4me.com/?q=imeem
Posted by: inareta | April 23, 2009 at 01:45 AM