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Twenty-five years of music know-how, now a platform.

Indie Band Guru, Independent music / music PR and artist development.

Partner

Oct 2026

Partner

Indie Band Guru

Industry

Independent music / music PR and artist development

Service

Partner

Headquarters

Timeline

Aug 2026 - Oct 2026

Stack

Next.js, React, TypeScript, Supabase, Stripe, Vercel, Resend, OpenAI gpt-4o-mini

Indie Band Guru now takes paid review orders from independent artists on its own platform, with every song, bio and photo arriving in one organized packet, and offers artists a personal career roadmap and a career simulation built on its founder's own playbook.

What Kodeful did

Kodeful partnered with Indie Band Guru to turn its review service and its founder's career playbook into one platform, funding the build in exchange for a share of revenue. We designed, built and run the product, from the artist's order and payment through the editor's workflow to the roadmap and career simulation.

The problem

Indie Band Guru places reviews and coverage for independent artists who cannot afford a full PR campaign. Every order started with emails back and forth to collect music links, a bio, artwork and the story behind the release, which ate the founder's hours before any writing began. His years of advice on building an independent career sat in an unfinished book and a set of notes, so it could only reach the artists he spoke to personally.

Where they are now

The submission platform is live on the partner's own domain and taking real payments since October 2026. The roadmap and the career simulation are finished and in the partner's hands for testing before they open to artists.

The partner: Indie Band Guru

Indie Band Guru is a music publication and service for independent artists. It publishes reviews of new independent music every day and, together with a network of partner sites and playlists, places reviews and coverage for artists who want real listeners without paying for a full-scale PR campaign. Its founder has spent about twenty-five years in the music industry, running live shows, managing bands and developing artists.

“I put in way too many hours to get to that point when it can be automated so easily”

Keith Profeta

How Kodeful helped

What Indie Band Guru brought

Twenty-five years in the music industry, a daily review publication with a network of partner sites, the review packages and pricing, the editorial standards, and the written career playbook that the roadmap and simulation are built on.

What Kodeful brought

Product design, development, payments, hosting and ongoing running of the platform, plus the AI-assisted drafting that turns the editor's own listening notes into a first draft.

The product today

An artist picks a review package, pays securely, and sends everything the editor needs in one guided form, then follows the order from submitted to published. On the partner side, the editor listens, writes notes, and gets a first review draft in the house style to edit, with the paid-coverage disclosure already attached. Artists can also answer three questions to get a step-by-step roadmap built from the founder's nine-phase playbook, and play a career simulation where every choice shows what it gains, what it costs, and what it locks later.

Module 01

Release submission and checkout

Artists choose one of four review packages, pay securely, and hand over music, bio, artwork and story in one guided form. They then follow their order through listening, writing and publication, and answer the editor's questions in the same place.

Release submission and checkout
Module 02

Editorial review desk

The editor sees the whole release packet on one screen, writes listening notes, and gets a first review draft in the publication's style to edit. The draft only uses the editor's own opinions, and the paid-coverage disclosure is attached automatically.

Editorial review desk
Module 03

Artist roadmap

Three questions turn the founder's nine-phase playbook into a personal plan with a clear next action and further reading. Each answer that changes the plan says why, and the founder can edit the phases, steps and rules himself.

Artist roadmap
Module 04

Career simulation

A choose-your-path game across thirteen real career decisions. Every option shows what it gains and what it costs, skipped foundations lock later options, and the founder's own recommendation appears after the artist decides.

Career simulation
Module 05

Founder's content editor

The founder edits every situation, option, tradeoff and recommendation in the simulation without a developer, so the game always says what he would say.

Founder's content editor
Kodeful product delivery
Deliverables

What was delivered

Four review packages from $30 to $500 with secure card payment on the partner's own domain

One guided form that collects music, bio, artwork, photos, links and the release story

Order tracking for artists from submitted to published, with questions and answers in one thread

An editor's desk that turns listening notes into a first review draft with the disclosure attached

A personal career roadmap built from a nine-phase playbook, with progress saved between visits

A career simulation with thirteen decisions, thirty-three options and choices that lock later paths

Editors for the roadmap and the simulation, so the founder changes the advice himself

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