Dan Swinimer helped gather a tribe to launch a new app he hopes will disrupt the world of social media and websites where things are bought and sold.
Currently beta-tested for public launch, the platform counts Nickelback singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger among its four sa国际传媒渇ounders/angels,sa国际传媒� along with Swinimer, his father Bill and fellow Surrey-area musician/construction company boss Felipe Freig.
sa国际传媒淲e set out to try and monetize social media, while making it a safer and more positive experience,sa国际传媒� said Swinimer, who lives in the Clayton area of Surrey. sa国际传媒淲e felt it unfair that social media users do all the work, provide all the content but make none of the profits.sa国际传媒�
Trybe is based on an award system that sends as little as 10 cents per sa国际传媒渓ike,sa国际传媒� coupled with a built-in sa国际传媒渨in-winsa国际传媒� for users, as Swinimer describes it.
sa国际传媒淓very time you award someone elsesa国际传媒檚 post, you get exposure for your own post which gives you a better chance of your post being seen and also making money in awards,sa国际传媒� he told the Now-Leader.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 turned into a thing, it really has,sa国际传媒� added the Ontario-raised Swinimer. sa国际传媒淲e sold shares and raised almost $2 million, we have head offices in Toronto, a CEO (Thomas Jankowski) and staff of 10 coders. Itsa国际传媒檚 turned into so much more than we originally conceived.sa国际传媒�
In the late-2000s, Swinimer and Freig were members of the rock band when they met Kroeger, who shared a manager at the time.
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Today, Swinimer is a songwriter/producer with his own , and Frieg runs Langley-based .
A couple of years ago, Frieg told Swinimer about an issue involving his teen son, Jadis, whosa国际传媒檇 been posting video of his scooter-riding tricks to social media.
sa国际传媒淵ou cansa国际传媒檛 even believe the tricks that this kid can do on the scooter, itsa国际传媒檚 amazing,sa国际传媒� Swinimer said. sa国际传媒淗is son didnsa国际传媒檛 have any sponsors at that point, but he was spending hours and hours every day practicing, getting really, really good, and then he spent his own money buying all this video equipment and editing software. So hesa国际传媒檇 spend four or five hours a day practicing, learning tricks, videoing them from multiple angles, then hesa国际传媒檇 edit these videos just so that he could post them on social media. And what does he get for that? The sa国际传媒榣ikes,sa国际传媒� and thatsa国际传媒檚 it. Hesa国际传媒檇 been doing this for a while, and we realized that with the social media model, everyone is providing the product and getting nothing in return.sa国际传媒�
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After Swinimer and Freig talked some more, they clicked on the idea for Trybe as a way to monetize social media.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a platform where if you post something, you have a chance to make money on that post,sa国际传媒� Swinimer elaborated. sa国际传媒淲hen people post to social media, the most important thing is content, connecting with people and receiving validation from others. So imagine if you mixed in the possibility of making money and also having complete control over how many people will see your posts.sa国际传媒� The more people I reward, the more people will see my posts, and the more chance I have of making money on my posts. If the content is good and views-to-engagement ratio is high, it also drives exposure to the post, so that lights a little fire under the post.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒� RELATED STORY, from May 2020: .
Out of the gate, Kroeger had the level of celebrity pull sought by Swinimer and Freig for Trybe.
sa国际传媒淲e discussed it with Chad and right away, he was excited about it because he could see how it could transform the music business,sa国际传媒� Swinimer recalled. sa国际传媒淚t could completely disrupt the entire distribution chain, because itsa国际传媒檚 a pain in the ass going through iTunes, which takes a lot of the proceeds. So what about a world where you post new music on Trybe? You give a download code to anyone who rewards this post with a dollar or more, and now yousa国际传媒檙e keeping all the money that comes in.sa国际传媒�
Right now, to get early access to the app, users join a waitlist by downloading the iOS or Android app from .
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Nickelback raved about Trybesa国际传媒檚 launch to the bandsa国际传媒檚 738,000 followers on the rival Twitter platform: sa国际传媒淣o more giving away your creativity and time to social media giants. The new way sa国际传媒� Social. Be yourself, be with your people, get rewards. See you on there.sa国际传媒� A day later, for her 21 million followers on Twitter.
Swinimer says Kroeger is sa国际传媒渧ery involvedsa国际传媒� in the project, and likes to be in the meetings when and where he can, including the time when the four Trybe founders flew in Kroegersa国际传媒檚 private jet to Silicon Valley.
sa国际传媒淲e didnsa国际传媒檛 tour with Nickelback (with Jet Black Stare) back then, but toured with a lot of their friends, like 3 Doors Down, Hinder and Staind,sa国际传媒� Swinimer recalled. sa国际传媒淔or someone of his level of recognition, Chad is very accessible to musicians. Hesa国际传媒檚 not hard to find and hesa国际传媒檚 happy to talk to people. One night he took us out to celebrate our record deal when we first signed it, so that was kind of our first foray. He took us out to the Commodore Ballroom because Kid Rock was doing a special invite-only show there. So wesa国际传媒檙e in his little VIP section, and then we went to some penthouse suite afterwards to hang out. It was weird, man, because up to that point it was all independent music, never getting anywhere, and all the sudden wesa国际传媒檙e partying with Kid Rock. It was a wild ride.sa国际传媒�
In the decade since those rock-band days, after Jet Black Staresa国际传媒檚 record deal with Island Def Jam had collapsed, Swinimer turned his attention to country music and launching the careers of musicians including Madeline Merlo and Jojo Mason. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e been living in Surrey for 20 years,sa国际传媒� he noted. sa国际传媒淚 built my production company here and have written/produced upwards of 40 hit songs since starting.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒� RELATED STORY, from March 2020: .
As for Trybe, the appsa国际传媒檚 public release should be in a month or so, he said.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e using a system where we are making it very exclusive and making people excited about it, excited to get in early. We have multiple celebrities on board to get behind this new idea once we are public. Itsa国际传媒檚 very exciting.sa国际传媒�
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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