Have Music, Will Travel

Spike Wilner, owner of Smalls Jazz Club in New York City, understands how hard it can be to manage record keeping, marketing, and e-commerce. “We have three bands per night, seven nights a week, and we’re very concerned about archiving and properly organizing [appearances], while making sure the artists get credit for the nights that they perform.”

So Wilner connected with Dennis Jeter, owner and founder of A Sound Strategy Inc., who built a custom database system to solve Wilner’s problem.

Jeter founded ASSi in 2004 and built a software program called siteMaster, which gives non-tech-savvy clients like Wilner a less

intimidating way to manage the content on their websites, along with the ability to manage their inventory via a user-friendly online platform. Now, ASSi services more than 400 clients, which have included jazz musicians Wynton Marsalis, and Chick Corea; Jazz at Lincoln Center, a local Budget Inn and Suites; and radio personality Michael Baisden.

For Wilner, ASSi used siteMaster to generate an event management system on their website that was much more than a scheduling calendar. It was also a database, listing every musician in each band, including all of their personal info, bio, and website; it cross-referenced this with an audio archive of every performance. “I put in all of the data myself, it’s pretty simple,”says Wilner. In addition, Wilner’s siteMaster license included a

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multimedia event managing system and a membership management module so visitors can buy monthly subscriptions to view live streaming video. In 2010, ASSi generated $1 million in revenues. In 2011, Jeter decided to build an actual brick-and-mortar store, YourWebsite2Go, and repositioned the company.  While financing everything himself, it still made $750,000 in revenues for 2011. In essence, clients can walk in off the street with an idea and walk out with a business.

Jeter, a

musician who holds a degree in classical trumpet, started programming computers when he was 12. While attending the Duke Ellington High School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., he met Wynton Marsalis after a concert. Jeter eventually became Marsalis’ director of touring and special projects, and in 1996 Jeter created Jazz World, an online portal for jazz artists.  “I just loved his spirit. He came from a soulful family; he was serious and intelligent–a genius actually, an innovator,” shares Marsalis.

ASSi’s siteMaster is completely cloud-based and runs from its server. Hosting fees start at $75 a month and all upgrades are included in

the monthly license. The average price of a website built on siteMaster runs from $3,500 to $7,500, but for a site like Wilner’s it could range between $35,000 to $50,000, which includes a one-time $20,000 licensing fee and annual fees, in order for a company to deploy siteMaster from its own network.

Jeter also developed the touchFolio app, which will give clients the ability to manage all business on their iPads, Android tablets, and Kindle Fire devices, reducing the need for paper. “In the past, we’ve been service—oriented; now we’re looking to be a full-on software company with products,” says Jeter.