Crazy Pellas, A Music Community That Needs You! (Interview)
Recently I reached out to Iain Meddicks, the founder of Crazy Pellas.net, for an interview. I believe that this interview will help you understand the psyche behind someone who is goal driven. Crazy Pellas is an incredible Music Resource and Community with over 50,000 music enthusiasts (including DJs, Producers, Artists, Designers, and Promoters), who actively participate in this community on a regular basis.
I created a blog post about the importance of message boards back in October 2012. I stated that hip hop message boards provided me with the ability to build up my skill set, interact with other artists, connect with graphic designers and more. Crazy Pellas is a music community that thrives on interaction.
Please take the time to read the interview below with Iain as he shares the idea behind Crazy Pellas.
First and foremost, who is Iain Meddicks?
I am a 25 years old self employed internet marketer/web developer from Glasgow, Scotland with a beautiful wife and an awesome 4 month old son. I am vegetarian and a lover of music and of body modifications (piercings, tattoos, branding, scarring, suspension etc).
How long have you been interested in music?
I have been interested in music all my life but got into more when I was around 13 years old when I started going to gigs almost every weekend until I was about 16 years old. Some time in there I also started learning to play guitar but I gave that up after a while too to focus on developing websites and making money online. To make it not sound like the Internet is my only thing these days I should say that I have been attending gigs regularly in recent years.
When did you come up with the idea for CrazyPellas.net?
The idea of Crazy Pellas came because my older brother had started a similar site (LLMental4Pellas) and I wanted to beat him… and in the long run I have!
But Crazy Pellas has become much more since then, as before it was purely just a download site for acapellas, instrumentals, samples and vst's... now it's evolved into a full on music community with everyone letting each other know how they can better their music.
How does your website differ from other sites?
I think it’s safe to say that the main feature that makes Crazy Pellas different from other sites is the Talent section where we have a points system that ensures members get feedback on their music. This is done by using a points system that we call “Talent Points”, you need 3 points to upload your own music which you earn by leaving feedback on others music.
Some websites are here today and gone tomorrow yet CrazyPellas.net has been around for years. What is the key to your websites longevity?
Most websites are built for profit. I didn’t build Crazy Pellas for profit, in-fact, for many years I was paying all the costs out of my own pocket. So, I guess what I’m saying is Crazy Pellas is a passion for me.
I have made many mistakes over the years with Crazy Pellas, but I take them as learning experiences.
I really love the free membership that the massive music community promotes. The ability to receive feedback is also huge. Why should upcoming artists, beatmakers, etc sign up for the forum?
Upcoming artists, beat makers, djs should join Crazy Pellas for the opportunity to get feedback on their music from their peers. You also have excellent opportunities to network and collab with people on and above their level.
Many Crazy Pellas members have became close friends in real life.
Every month you have the chance to be nominated as Dj/Producer/Artist of the Month which gets you featured in an interview on our homepage and blasted out to the email list. New charts are published every month too of the top beats, top remixes and top tracks.
We’ve also got an extensive learning center with music production tutorials, dj tutorials and information on getting into the music business to help you advance your career that bit further.
The music community also is a global unifier. Did you ever fathom CrazyPellas.net having members from all over the world?
I always knew there would be audience in the US, Canada, UK and mainland Europe but its crazy to have members from places/countries that I haven’t even heard of before.
Quite recently I've been working closely with a team from South Africa, shouts to @iamSANhedrin, @AudibleBraile.
What are some misconceptions about message boards?
People tend to think that message boards are a thing of the past when really if you stripped them down they could easily be turned into Facebook, Twitter or any of your other favorite social networks. Message boards are the original social networks.
I think because of the popularity of Facebook, Twitter etc. people are scared of getting used to a “new interface” of message boards, but they are just as easy to use once you’ve signed up and are looking to make your first post/thread.
The CP Beats Store gives beatmakers the opportunity to...
The CP Beats Store was launched in early June last year to give beatmakers a place where they could sell their music and keep 100% of their earnings without having to pay a recurring subscription fee.
Another benefit of listing your beats for sale in the CP Beats Store is that Crazy Pellas already has traffic of people who buy beats.
We also wanted to give artists a place to buy beats and download beats and know exactly what they are getting as other beat selling websites don’t have a standard. Each beat and file is manually approved before being made available for download / purchase. When you download a free beat you get a 320kbps MP3 file, when you lease a beat you get a 320kbps MP3 file + 16bit Stereo WAV and when you buy an exclusive beat you get the MP3, WAV as well as the trackouts in WAV format.
You can find out more selling your beats on Crazy Pellas HERE
At the moment all the spots are sold out, but they’ll be opening up again soon.
CrazyPellas.net has received some press here in the States. How does it feel to be recognized from all over the word?
It feels great to be appreciated and recognized for helping artists, djs and producers get a start in their career.
What motivates you on a daily basis?
My drive to succeed. I am a strong believer in you get out of this world what you put into it, so if you want to succeed you need to work hard at it. If you just sit around all day complaining or saying you’re going to do something without actually doing anything then you can’t expect great things.
