MuckWork – Derek Sivers' Outsourcing Service for Bands

Screw "DIY" (do-it-yourself).  It’s time for "SEDI" (someone-else-does-it).

Derek Sivers, the legend behind CD Baby, is apparently launching a new service for bands called Muckwork that will enable the outsourcing of tasks no band member wants to do, so bands can focus on writing and playing.

How will it work?  It’s hard to say exactly, since the Muckwork site is virtually bare at the moment, but Derek explains that the service will work in a way similar to the outsourcing and virtual assistant services described in the article "Outsource Your Life: Sites Allow You to Create Army of Virtual Assistants."  Derek further explains:

"MuckWork will have a big network of people around the world that are great at helping musicians with the boring stuff that can be done from anywhere.

Because we’ll have a huge network of people available to help, you never have to worry about someone flaking on you. MuckWork will take reponsibility to get your job done, whatever it may be"

In fact, he’s already hiring his virtual army of band aides (or muckworkers).  They are:

Professional musician who now wants to stay home
    * Under $20/hr, 5-20 hrs/wk
    * You have already made a living as a musician
    * You’ve booked your own tour, promoted your own album, etc.
    * Now you’d rather stay at home helping others instead.

Experienced Virtual Assistant
    * Under $10/hr, 5-20 hrs/wk
    * You already have successful experience as a virtual assistant
    * You would prefer to work for musicians instead of more-generic VA work

Pretty interesting.  I can definitely think of some tasks that would be worth outsourcing:

• Music submission (plus follow-up) to internet radio stations, podcasts, review sites, mp3 blogs, etc.
• Social network profile updates (gig calendars, music portfolio, responding to comments, etc).
• PR distribution (plus follow-up) to online and offline publications.
• Forum mentions of music related to forum topics.
• Price comparison for and scheduling of CD, t-shirt, merchandise print runs.

What else? It’s a pretty cool idea, considering how DIY-weary some DIY-ers can become over time.  Keep your eyes on Muckwork’s muck work.

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