COLORADO, USA — A Colorado musician has designed an app that helps artists gain recognition within the music industry.
FanFair LLC was launched on March 31. Founder Micheal Ude came up with the idea when he went through his own experience trying to break into the business and "make it big." He was told by a record label that it no longer mattered how good his music was – now the bigger factor that matters is the number of digital fans following his music.
"What we are really trying to do is to keep people who are supposed to be in the industry by giving them a myriad of opportunities of success in it," Ude said.
The app works by connecting artists that have a similar sound and musical interests. In theory, those artists would have a similar fan base. The app uses an algorithm to decide which artists should connect with each other, and gives them an opportunity to network and bolster each other's fan bases.
"Exposure equals currency. So then I started thinking about how can I grow that exposure," Ude said.
The app itself is private. Before the launch, Ude and his team were using private artist mixers to promote the app and its launch, including a March event held in Denver.
Artists were invited to play their music, including Kaitlyn Williams and Bunny Blake.
Williams said the app gives her an opportunity to connect with other artists who have similar goals.
"It means a lot because being able to connect with people that I don’t already know is something I love about being a human, much less a musician," said Williams, who just released new music in April.
Williams and Blake became friends because of their involvement in the music industry, and the two have been working on boosting each other's social media engagement and sharing music. Together, they have been doing what the app will do on a smaller scale.
"I think it’s cool because that’s what Bunny and I are doing for each other already," Williams said. "It’s super cool to hear about an app that is going to do what we are already doing and could go even beyond. It’s very exciting, truly."
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