CustomSong.com is a new service that makes custom music attainable for everyone. Basically, how it works is that you share the details, your feelings and fun memories about a special event or person and they will turn it into an original song.
I’m sure you have experienced those times where it is impossible to find a gift that has staying power and really means something for the big milestone events in life like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations and more. A Custom Song is the perfect way to say ‘I love you’ on Mother’s Day, ‘We are meant to be together forever’ on a wedding day, or even ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done’ to a grandparent on their birthday. A custom song changes the meaning of a personal and custom gift.
Mike: Where did the idea for CustomSong.com come about?
Heather: I love music and the way it can hold memories of a special moment or person in my life. You know the way a certain song can remind you of your first date? Or of the day you graduated from high school? I always wished that I could have a soundtrack that was unique to me. One day it hit me that I COULD have my own soundtrack and that really anyone can with personalized music!
Thus CustomSong.com was born, a website showcasing talented musicians that allows customers to choose an artist who will create an original song for their big events and loved ones.
Mike: Tell me how you came to own the domain name. Were you the first to register it or did you purchase it from a third party?
Heather: I purchased the domain name from a third party. Our service is something fairly new to the market and I wanted to have an obvious domain name that tells customers exactly what we do.
I checked out this domain and there was another person using it for what appeared to be a music lessons site. I had attempted to contact the owner to ask if they would be interested in selling the domain. Although I never heard directly back from the registered owner, the domain coincidentally appeared on a domain auction a short while later. After a few rounds of negotiation, CustomSong.com was mine and ready to be the future home of custom music services.
Mike: Explain why a generic keyword name is important to your business? Why not a brandable name?
Heather: Our business offers a highly creative product, so a fun and creative name would have been great but we felt we needed customers to be able to easily find us. When customers think of the perfect anniversary gift or are trying to find the right song for the first dance at their wedding, they are probably not thinking about a custom song. It is important for us to brand the concept of a custom song as much as branding our business.
Mike: How well are the artists able to capture the story or message of a complete stranger? Do you have a link to a favorite that we could share?
Heather: The process for selecting the artists we work with is quite rigorous. Our artists are talented songwriters, musicians and friendly, reliable people. Even though we know how great the artists are, I am still always inspired and in awe of how they can turn personal stories, funny memories and personality traits into a catchy, emotional and memorable song.
One of our favorites is “Daddy’s Little Girl” by artist Dean Palya. It’s a song one of our customers had created for her father daughter wedding dance. If you listen to the words he pulls ultra-specific memories that the customer provided while still making a song that everyone at the wedding could relate to. We got chills the first time we heard this one! You can listen to this song and some others here.
Mike: You have a creative business. Are you doing anything creative to promote it? What means are you using to promote your business online?
Heather: Absolutely. Being creative with our marketing is a must since we have to let people know we are here as an option for the ultimate personal gift or to add that special touch to life’s big moments. We have been testing a variety of creative online and offline marketing campaigns.
One of our most notable campaign efforts was creating a custom song for a nationally syndicated radio show. We are fans of their show and had noticed that they will sometimes mention small creative businesses. They have one segment that they run about once a week and so we wrote a custom song about the segment. They loved it so much, they played it on air and talked about our business. It got even better when later in the show they said many of their listeners loved the song and requested they post it online. We were able to maximize the results through social media.
Mike: What is your vision of the company 5 years from now?
Heather: We aim to make custom music attainable to everyone. We plan to evolve CustomSong.com to meet the style and voice of all kinds of individuals by growing our artist selection and expanding into new music genres and languages.
