Music PAL (Publishing And Licensing) Forum is an online networking group for music publishers, licensing buyers and related music industry professionals to network and develop their business/career opportunities. Founded in April, 2008, by Michael Borges, Music PAL "lives" on the Groupsite.com and LinkedIN platforms and rapidly grew to represent 1,200+ members from 40 countries in their Groupsite today.
In founding Music PAL, Michael wanted to provide the music industry with a networking platform that offered a professional focus, and with the benefit of discussion forums and ability to make new contacts and develop relationships. The platform also needed to be easy to use, low-maintenance and allow managers and members to share ideas with one another.
"I had actually managed to set up a popular free forum board. But, it would have taken many hours (or days, weeks and months) to learn how to use and manage - not to mention my having to keep up with the technology. So after a few days, I thought I'd try a Groupsite. (A business partner had mentioned Groupsites to me after reading about them in TechCrunch). I'm glad I did. I got a lot done on the first day and within a couple of days really had things organized and ‘cranking.'
Just by using a free Groupsite, we were able to get great features and options, integrated email communication, simplicity of use, good navigation - as well as excellent customer service and an active discussion forum (Groupsite.com Champions) where we could trade ideas with other Groupsite owners and get further assistance."
Another important factor was ensuring that the Music PAL attracted and maintained a high quality and growing membership base. Michael uses LinkedIN as his primary recruiting/staging area, from which come members' referrals. He then selectively allows a subset of this group to join his Groupsite, where members can communicate, share and network to make things happen. Michael uses his Grousite's abilty to restrict membership by "Invitation" and "Approved Request Only" to help.
"Deciding who should be a member is probably the most important and dynamic factor.
When we first started, I sent a number of carefully selected invitations from my own contact list. These were people that knew me; we had worked on projects together, or I had called by phone to talk about some aspect of the music business. I also set our group's visibility to "semi-private" although about 5 months into it tried the "private" setting. Turns out we had just as much growth rate, but the quality got better and we kept out people that were not really going to contribute anything of value.
Now that we have a large, growing group of real contributors, I am able to use my past experience to get a better feel for people that will best match our group culture."
In addition to his Groupsite, Michael identifies these factors as contributors to his group's success:
• A unique name and keyword descriptions. "Music PAL" was available in both LinkedIN and Groupsites; keywords in his group's description help match the people looking for them with Music PAL.
• Experience. Michael had about 7 years of online forum posting experience with nearly 5,000 posts in other forums, and previously participated in many online projects.
• Help. Formal and informal volunteers helped him organize and contributed to his project.
• Refinement. Keeping the invitation list organized and regularly updated, and providing a deeper introduction and feedback to the community about their resources.
Michael's success with Music PAL is also due to a better understanding of his audience.
"I realized that publishers need to network and collaborate, but also needed to have meaningful interaction with our potential client base. This is exactly what has developed on our GroupSite.
Other music industry groups are not quite as focused as our Music PAL group. We are now the 3rd largest music business/industry group on LinkedIN, and are number one in several specialty searches, such as music licensing, music buyers, music publishing and other phrases. We don't try to be "one size fits all," and instead are much more specialized and focused. As a result, we're able to attract a higher level of quality participants, 30% of whom have joined our Groupsite to do more than network."
Michael's plans for Music PAL include rolling out our own Music Publishing And Licensing solutions service. When they do, he'll consider using a subgroup in his Groupsite (or a new one all together) as a users community for the service. He'll also be networking, growing his group slowly to keep quality above quantity, and maintaining a good balance between music buyers and sellers around the globe.
A true networking and music professional, Michael is available for questions or discussion in our Groupsite.com Champion's community.
"Even if you have no knowledge or interest about the music business, I can share the principals of what I've been doing and learning to help you apply them to your own industry. I think Groupsite.com ROCKS and I look forward to staying and growing with them! Hope to meet some of you! -- Michael Borges - Music PAL Forum owner/manager"
Thanks, Michael - for sharing this story and great work! It's incredibly rewarding for us to see Groupsites help people make real things happen.