Post by mannieb on Dec 16, 2008 15:04:21 GMT -6
Kerchoonz.com - the much anticipated answer to the music industry's current downloading problem - is to scrap its artist sign-up fee for Christmas.
The groundbreaking new website, swamped by over 8 million hits and 80,000 unique visitors in November, is scrapping its £12.50 fee to mark the start of Kerchoonz Live - a month long competition to find the hardest working unsigned acts on the circuit.
Bands and artists have until the end of December to use Kerchoonz.com to promote themselves and earn money in a bid to bag a recording session at a famous Glasgow studio. As well as being able to record three tracks at the hands of top producer Ian Morrow (Wet Wet Wet, Rod Stewart, Seal), acts will get to keep all money earned from plays and downloads on Kerchoonz.com.
"I can imagine it's going to be huge and why not?" says former Stereophonics star Stuart Cable. "Becoming a professional musician in a band is the hardest job in the world - so to do it this way is great."
The social media platform lets registered artists and songwriters share their music and videos with fans while getting paid for every stream and download through a combination of the ISRC and play counts by utilizing unique coding and encryption within the application. Kerchoonz pays unsigned acts half a penny for every play and up to 10p for every download - by far the largest payments available to any act choosing to give away their music online.
Artists can even earn money by recommending other musicians to the site and, with no limit on the number of people you can recommend, it's the hardest working acts that will reap the greatest rewards.
"Kerchoonz.com takes the world of online music to a completely different dimension by allowing musicians to earn money from their work without being exploited" says Co-Founder, Indiana Gregg.
Kerchoonz.com is currently locked in talks with both independent and major record labels to bring further content to the site, providing a comprehensive music catalogue for fans.
"If bands and artists use the promotional tools we provide for them, Kerchoonz.com will act just like a record company. Artists can effectively ‘sell' their music without charging their fans anything for it," says Gregg.
Kerchoonz is a place where musicians, artists, film makers, fans, business people, and technologists can meet and exchange in a free and open environment. Our mission is to provide a social platform that enables all of us to explore and create, listen and be heard, give. receive, and discover. Kerchoonz was founded by musicians who believe that artists and musicians should be encouraged and also compensated for their work.
www.kerchoonz.com