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Music tech venture Bandbox gets seed round

Nashville’s Bandbox has received a round of seed funding from a Franklin-based angel investor to help propel the company’s music marketplace for Facebook. Company co-founder and CEO Brian Peterson told NashvillePost.com the recent round has allowed the company to move out of incubator space at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center into its own office and hire a development team to build and test the first iteration of its new product. He declined to ballpark the investment amount or name the angel investor. Essentially, Bandbox is building a system that “makes the process of buying and selling music social,” Peterson said. It will allow Facebook users to share music from a catalog of 15 million songs — comparable in size to the iTunes catalog — much like they post links or photos. When those songs appear in their friends’ news feeds, those individuals will be able to listen to and purchase the song without having to leave the social networking site. “Last month there were 30 billion pieces of content that were shared on Facebook, and zero of that was music that was playable, searchable, shareable and purchaseable within the news feed,” Peterson explained. This tool is designed to help consumers more easily identify new music — because their friends recommend it — and streamline the process of buying it. Peterson expects the system to launch in early 2011.

Dec 8, 2010 7:06 AM

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Who needs face-to-face conversation?

A survey conducted by local blog WhyMomsRule.com found that Generation Y moms communicate with their children more with technology than in person:

"Gen Y moms, the youngest group studied, said in-person conversation accounted for only 48 percent of their total household communication. The majority was a combination of phone (21 percent), text (14 percent), Facebook (10 percent) and email (7 percent)," said David Bohan, chairman and CEO of BOHAN Advertising | Marketing in Nashville, which publishes WhyMomsRule.

The survey polled 600 women 18 and older with at least one child at home to gauge differences in opinions and behaviors between Gen Y, Gen X and baby boomer mothers. Sixty-two percent of boomer mothers' communication was in person and 58 percent of Gen X moms' was face-to-face.

Sep 22, 2010 1:47 PM

Did Facebook's value more than double since November?

That's what recent secondary-market purchases by Elevation Partners suggest. The private-equity firm has acquired $120 million worth of shares in deals that value the social networking site at more than $23 billion versus "just" $9 billion around Thanksgiving. Another eye-popping number: The deals put Facebook's price-sales ratio at almost 30, which is 50 percent higher than where Google traded in its mid-decade heyday.

Jun 30, 2010 9:03 AM

A niche strategy, but an effective one

Jeff Cornwall passes on the basics of a new Harvard Business Review article detailing one retailer's positive results from a FaceBook marketing push.

Mar 2, 2010 9:32 AM

Now those links will get you somewhere

A few months after first discussing plans for their ROI-focused social media conference in Nashville, the folks at Vaco have launched the Big South Social Media Summit's website with information on tickets and speakers.

Jan 22, 2010 11:38 AM

Backyard goes social

Downtown-based Back Yard Burgers has teamed with the marketers at Paramore|Redd to refresh its online presence and launch a social media strategy.

Jan 21, 2010 10:27 AM

Republican John Farmer Enters Race For Tanner Congressional Seat

Rep. John Tanner's last significant opponent has decided to make another run at the 8th District congressional seat now that Tanner has retired. John Farmer, who received 27 percent of the vote against the longtime incumbent in 2006, has announced on Facebook that he will be adding his name to the cavalcade of Republicans pursuing the nomination. The difference between 2006 and this year's campaign will be quite simple, according to Farmer. "In 2006, I won the Republican nomination. In 2010, I will win the congressional seat," Farmer tells Post Politics. Farmer says the decision to reenter the fray was not an easy one, but he ultimately decided to run after the National Republican Campaign Committee seemed to be anointing one of the Republican candidates, Stephen Fincher, over the others in the race. "The NRCC support for Fincher was the impetus for my entering the race. Another candidate, Donn Janes, has been actively campaigning for the District 8 seat for almost a year now. He has been putting in the shoe leather and raising support long before Tanner announced a retirement," says Farmer, who subsequently soured on James' candidacy after the involvement of a controversial activist in his campaign. "Tanner announced his retirement and the NRCC and agri-business big money threw their name into the fray with Fincher.... My uncle was one of those who lost the family farm when agri-business pushed the family farm into oblivion. So it is the powerful seeking to retain power, and in the process the taxpayer gets left behind." Farmer's online presence was one of the highlights of his campaign in 2006 and ultimately morphed into a blog called BlueCollarRepublican.com. And, from the looks of it, this campaign is as blue collar as the last one. "Northwest Tennessee is my home, and our family roots go back almost two centuries in the district. Generations of hard-working, God-fearing folks turned a wilderness into a home. The district sent out into American folklore the likes of Sam Houston and Davy Crockett, the stuff of legends. To aspire to represent such an area behind such legendary men has me feeling somewhat diminutive." Farmer says of his district pride. Farmer is the third candidate to announce in the Republican primary along with Fincher and James and Dr. Rod Kirkland. State Sen. Roy Herron is the frontrunner on the Democratic side. Luther Mercer and law student William Godwin will also be running in the Democratic primary.

Jan 5, 2010 2:59 PM

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Gordian Health Solutions now Onlife Health

Health coaching company and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee subsidiary Gordian Health Solutions has rebranded itself as Onlife Health. The change was made to reflect the evolution of the company from its roots as a telephonic coaching business to a multi-modality health company, said CEO Chris Hunter. Concurrent with the rebranding, Gordian announced its Positive Living Programs and Web 2.0 member site that, when launched later this year, will allow participants to post their health goals and interact with other community members through social media tools like Facebook and Twitter.

“One of the things we found from our experience with customers is there’s a higher likelihood of positive long term sustained behavior change if communities are involved and groups of people are working together…so the next generation of our portal is to tie together social media with some of your traditional services."

See Also: More proof Facebook is aging

Jan 5, 2010 2:47 PM

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More proof Facebook is aging

Medicare health plan provider HealthSpring (Ticker: HS) today said it's created a Facebook page, making it the first major Medicare Advantage plan to set up shop on the popular social media site.

"Our research tells us that many Medicare beneficiaries - and even more of their children or younger individuals soon becoming eligible for Medicare - use the Internet regularly and are looking to the Web for information about key decisions such as choosing a Medicare plan," HealthSpring Vice President of Marketing Mark Tinsey said.

Though the 55+ set has a smaller number of Facebook users than its younger counterparts, it is by far the fastest-growing user segment. Check out HealthSpring's Facebook page here. So far the fan count is 22. SEE ALSO: Gordian Health Solutions now Onlife Health

Jan 5, 2010 2:27 PM

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Execs split on local economy

Nashville public relations agency Lovell Communications last week sent an e-mail blast survey to business people, asking for their opinions about the economy. Most notably, only 48 percent of the 194 respondents think the economy will improve in the next six months, compared to 55 percent who answered Lovell’s survey last May. About 12 percent think the economy will get worse within the next six months. Asking a more general audience — 168 people reached through Twitter and Facebook — only 29 percent said they think the economy will remain about the same during the next six months. Twenty-five percent think it will get worse. The full results are on the firm’s blog.

Dec 11, 2009 9:43 AM

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