Musocrat, LLC

423-202-1218

Feature Story
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stephen Carpenter, Public Relations
October 2, 2013 Musocrat
423-202-1218
carpenters@goldmail.etsu.edu

Creator of Musocrat strives for success

Do you love a good success story? Andrew Carpenter does. He also loves watching movies. It was while
watching the film “The Social Network,” which tells the success story of Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg, that Andrew became inspired to create his own success story.

Fast forward three years and the website that was inspired by Zuckerberg’s story is about to launch.
Musocrat.com has been a labor of love for Andrew, but it hasn’t always been easy getting an internet
startup company off the ground.

Andrew Carpenter, co-owner and founder of Musocrat

Andrew first looked into financing a large-scale retail website, but the cost was very high and he
realized it would need many investors. Thanks to his background in music, however, he came up with a
plan for a community-driven website.

The website will produce music uploaded by a network of users all over the country. But the music
won’t be uploaded by bands; instead it will be uploaded by individual musicians. Through online
collaboration, individual pieces will be used to form cohesive songs. Community members will then
weigh in on the songs.

Starting from scratch

Launching his website seemed like a reasonable task, but the idea that became Musocrat would take a
lot more time and money to come to fruition.

Along with his business partner, Lucas Pendleton, Andrew hired an outside developer to help build the
website. Over time, he began learning how to use the tools he would need to build the website
himself, and he took on most of site-building work himself.

Meanwhile, Lucas raised money for what was becoming a costlier venture by the day. When asked
what the hardest part of starting your own company is, Andrew laughs and says, “Time and money.”
The time was the hardest part he says — two years of working and waiting.

Waiting isn’t easy. However, while the website was being built, the pair were able to narrow down the
focus of the site. Musocrat will be what they call “a crowdsourced music website.” Rather than being a
social network, the site will have a goal of linking musicians to create a song.

A new creative outlet set to launch

Musicians who join the Musocrat will contribute a single piece to a song each week, each piece from a
different instrument. After the month or so it takes to put the songs together, users will vote on the
one they love best and the song will then be released as a single via online outlets.

Screenshot from Musocrat.com

Although it took a lot of time and effort, the wait is almost over for Andrew. On Oct. 1, Musocrat will
launch and begin adding its first users. Memberships will be limited for the testing phase, but he
believes the site will move to a larger “beta test” phase by the end of the year.

Andrew says all that time and money he and Pendleton put in will show when users see the site.
“Musocrat is going to democratize music,” he says.

While he knows the odds are against success with internet startups, Andrew feels like people will
embrace the site.

Why not? After all, everybody loves a good success story.

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