Ode to the musicians

Visitors to the website can search the music uploaded to the site by genre or specific artists and buy any song for only $1. What distinguishes McLain's website from any other online music outlet is that it hosts only unsigned artists, most of whom are students. Artists can create accounts and upload songs for free. The unsigned artists on TheOdes get a greater percentage of what their listeners buy than they would from similar sites. Furthermore, the focus on students allows artists to reach the members of their school's community and allows students to learn about musicians on their campuses. As McLain explained, "It connects people and allows people to get their music out there in an easy and practical way."

Though the site is a quick and easy tool for musicians and their listeners, turning his idea into reality was no facile task for McLain. "I came up with the idea last summer ... But to actually create the site, I had to get the help of private investors, web designers and friends," McLain said. "It took a lot of work."

One friend who helped with the effort was Felipe Cabrera '10. "I heard about the idea from Cam, and I knew he'd been working on it. It seemed really interesting to me, so I asked him if I could get involved," Cabrera explained. Now the accountant and a talent scout for the website, Cabrera works side by side with McLain. "He's manic about this," Cabrera said of McLain. "He does stuff for the site every day."

McLain's dedication would make it difficult to maintain a normal adult lifestyle, let alone a career as a Princeton student. "It's quite hard," McLain said of his life as both an entrepreneur and a student. "I have to sacrifice a lot of things. I want to work on the site a lot, but I have a lot of schoolwork, too, so I have to balance that out. " At the same time, however, running his company from his dorm room has had its benefits as well. "It's also been kind of easy because you can get a lot of good advice on campus, if you ask," McLain noted. Addressing the availability of talented artists on campus, McLain added that "it's been kind of easy getting artists on the site because there are a lot of good musicians on campus."

One interesting aspect of McLain's business is that through TheOdes, one student is promoting the business and artistic affairs of many others. TheOdes has already sold more than 300 songs and is home to the music of nearly 40 artists, the vast majority of whom identify themselves as students. At present, nine Princeton student-artists and groups have music uploaded on TheOdes. Whether you prefer acoustic or pop artists like Ellen Adams '10, Jason Harper '09, Phyllis Heitjan '10 and McLain himself, or you enjoy electronic and rock artists Altitude Sickness, Anthony D'Amato '10 and Andrew Gross '10, or even the a cappella group "The Footnotes," through McLain's site, students can search for the artists and groups on campus with whom they've become familiar.

One such artist, Adams, described what the site has meant to her. "I've put out quite a few albums, but I've never had a digital distribution. Putting out a physical CD is really time-consuming. [TheOdes] is a really helpful avenue," she said, adding that working closely with McLain made the experience especially efficient. "He's a really motivated person. He helped me set up my account and all that. He's a really great guy," she explained.

McLain's motivation is evident in that his site has only been up for short time and yet he already has a clear idea of the direction in which he wants the company to go. "TheOdes promises to be more than just a website," McLain explained. "We want to get into the promotional sector and start promoting live gigs and concerts for our more popular artists."

Cabrera echoed McLain's thoughts. "Soon we want to have a more live-music sense and start promoting shows," he said. Even McLain's satisfied customers - the artists who sell their music through the site - seem like they have great visions for the future of TheOdes. Adams, for one, said that "TheOdes holds a lot of promise."