The relationship between the music industry and the internet has been love/hate for a long time. But as artists and execs become increasingly savvy with the wealth of tech at their fingertips, the world wide web is now proving to be far more enabling than anything else.
While much has been achieved in distribution, marketing and communication online, artist, DJ, producer and record label owner Jon Skinner wants to empower the music industry at a much earlier stage in the process with his new music collaboration venture Music Gateway.
Inspired by a range of successful online solutions including social networks and file transfer mechanisms, Music Gateway is a business network for artists, producers and more. It?s a place where individuals can find each other, advertise jobs from session work to mastering and even pay fees remotely with a range of collaborative tools. We sat down with Skinner to find out more??
Tell us what Music Gateway is all about?
It's a business platform that allows people to find talent, find session work and collaborate worldwide. That?s the main purpose.
It's done on a project-by-project basis. If you're a producer, you can get work and do production or a remix or whatever it is that you offer. We are a one-stop solution for collaboration with three currencies ? Euros, US Dollars and Pounds - and people can make transactions via an internal account.
Rather than having to worry about going off and using third-party sites to pay people and there being issues, it offers protection via an online process. We can then act if there is an issue as a non-biased intermediary party.
The music industry is embracing new technology more than ever. Do you think working remotely could become commonplace in the future?
Absolutely. We?re not trying to put off people from working locally - there are some great benefits to being in the same room together - but, once people are connected, we share their information, so that they can then go away and start using tools. They can obviously use our tools, but there are other tools out there as well. These days, you can be in a different country and even jam using online tools.?
The world is such a small place now. We?re trying to encourage people to think a little bit bigger. If you're a session musician or a session singer, there's no reason why you can't be working with someone in France, in Europe, in Russia, or LA. It doesn't make a difference.
You don?t have to jump on a plane anymore. You can work very effectively remotely, and still have those close relationships with people, with these communication tools.
So yes, absolutely I think this is going to be commonplace, and technology is going to give us even better tools in years to come, which will make it even easier. Hopefully we will be part of that as we develop Music Gateway.
Is this just a connector for artists or could industry executives find it valuable as well...
We want publishers and artist management on board, as an example, because you could be on Music Gateway and represent a roster.
One of our project types is for mastering and studios, so we're connecting anyone that?s looking to get something mastered or needs a studio for a particular use. Rather than getting on Google and searching, you can actually use this. And because there?s a tender process, you can really review what studios match your needs. From the studio?s perspective, we're providing them with work.
We really want people to get in contact with us, we?re looking to get more partners on board. We?re really putting ourselves out there to try to make a difference to the industry.
But it's not just about supporting the industry, it?s about actually physically doing things together in a very proactive way. While you can share and promote your profile, you?re not just making random connections like you might do on a social network, which can be frustrating.
What?s the message to the rest of the industry at this point?
The site is live and we?ve partnered with a number of different industry people and organisations. What we're looking to do now is really work in conjunction with a lot of labels, because we feel that we have a platform that can help them from an A&R perspective to really develop their own artists and tap into other talent that?s out there. So, if you?re a Bristol label, you don't have to confine yourself to the southwest of England.
Hospital Records have come on board and are a prime example: they?ve got some artists in Europe, they?ve got some artists in the UK. They get inundated with demos, most of which are either not good enough or not relevant. With Music Gateway, we can save time and money targeted at getting people connected to the right talent. ?
bks new dark knight rises trailer khloe and lamar oklahoma city thunder sunoco titanic ii babe ruth
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.