Music Tech

Creating New Music Content Revenue Streams With Decksi Digital Trading Cards

Decksi-logoDecksi is the first product from Creative D, a company that declares, "We create platforms that engage audiences and make money." Employing a trading card deck metaphor, Decksi creates a game context for collecting digital content from music to graphics to video. It's a potentially powerful platform for monetizing content and Decksi CEO Richard Kanee says they love working with indie artists.

Decksi came to my attention as a Music Tech Startup Finalist for MidemLab 2013. Yesterday I spoke with CEO and Co-Founder Richard Kanee who told me that after months of stealthy labor, he and his Co-Founders established Creative D in Toronto about a year ago.

From his own background at Much Music, a company Kanee says launched the ringtone market in Canada, he was well aware that music fans would buy small pieces of content based on the particular context. He explained that the trading deck was a "natural place to start" since people know what to do with them and that the idea is to move fans from consuming to collecting.

Decksi-board

Decksi UI in Action, See Decksi for UI Diagram

Their first product, Decksi, launched in Canada and then in the U.S. last year in the form of both a Facebook and an iOS app. It features a digital deck of trading cards with which one interacts in the interface shown above. Cards of content that a player has collected are interspersed with cards that are available for purchase or trade to complete that player's collection.

Each card in the Victoria Duffield deck I checked out had either a music video, a slideshow with 5 pics or a music track. Given that career-oriented musicians typically create such content as a matter of course, Decksi allows for additional uses as well as the opportunity to provide something unique and special.

Decksi is well designed with a nice looking video player and carousel each of which can go full screen.

The Facebook connection allows Decksi to encourage players to involve their friends but Decksi can also be played alone with random card trades and purchases of digital goods.

Decksi for Musicians

Decksi can be monetized with the exchange of cards for credits which are purchased by the players (microtransactions) and by the exchange of cards for viewing of video ads (third party ads).

Kanee explained that musicians who create Decksi content collections can decide what content to give away in the Starter Deck, what content to give away in exchange for viewing video ads and what content to offer in cards that are either purchased or traded.

Decksi works with artists on a straight rev share or a fee based on engagement.

Decksi has a lot of potential for building fan relationships and for content monetization. In an email Kanee stated:

"We'd love to work with artists at all ends of the spectrum. The platform is self serve after a simple on boarding process so artists publish and manage their own decks. In fact, smaller acts are often easier to work with as they tend to control more of their own rights as opposed to having to get alignment between label and managment."

So if you're ready to turn your content into a trading deck for an interested fanbase, contact Decksi.

More: MidemLab 2013 Names 30 Music Tech Startup Finalists

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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2 Comments

  1. Seems like an “extra” rather than an essential for an artist.
    It is very easy to replicate, but I think there could be potential.
    Great share.

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