Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

This is what Associated Content does. And they are in Denver, just next to CU-Colorado. AC is currently looking for cool algorithms for discovering unsatisfied demand for content.

1. Bluetooth analytics. A lot of people are broadcasting their BD_ADDR and don't know it. Give shop owners some way to see recurring visitors - or perhaps even track how they move around the shop.

2. P2P file distribution for businesses. Your users install a client and get paid a small amount per hour (which changes depending on demand). Businesses needing to distribute a large file pay you to host it on your 'botnet'. I don't think ISPs would like this an awful lot.

I have an entire database of music industry listings. These types of databases usually cost lots of money and therefore independent artists have been excluded from using them. We're talking 50,000 listings spanning across the united states and canada. Lots of independent labels and artists I've spoken to are excited by the prospect of having the most comprehensive music industry contact database available for free, to anyone, any age, anywhere in the world.

The database is legit and put together by myself and a friend who is music industry major.

THE PROBLEM:

The programming behind it sucks. It should be re-built from the ground up, using the database as the starting point. The search is horrible and doesn't pull the results that users expect (even though the results exist!). There should be more community features. The best way for this type of database to stay up to date and accurate is for users to contribute. Users can also talk to each other about what works and begin to talk about their experiences with different contacts.

Business prospects: - advertising - premium accounts

There's always advertising, in this case the ads are to a very niche crowd, so that always helps. There's also reasons why a business with money, like an indie label, might want a premium account.

To be honest, this probably doesn't have a big chance of making a lot of money. My hope has always been to make it simply sustainable. The upside is that you are literally helping out every independent musician and label in the united states and canada that wants to be heard. You're helping the underdog expose their music to the world.

If community participation grows, it's easy to start allowing people to post listings from countries other than US/Canada. And that would be awesome.

There's quite a few interesting technical challenges this site is facing and currently no one is stepping up to face them. The code, project, and database is yours if you want it. Maybe we put it all under an open license? I'll even continue to help with design/front-end development (photoshop/html/css/js) as that is my strong point. Programming is my weak point.

http://www.indiedirectory.net