Visibility, new fans, possible CD sales, fair percentage, accurate door count, a world tour in one night and at most it takes thirty minutes. Stageit.com is a site that gives artists a platform for concerts reaching fans in real time on-line.
Launched in March of 2011 at the SXSW Music Festival the idea was to create an online video platform that would allow artists to stream and monetize concert-like live performances while interacting with their fans in real time.
Sign up for artist and fan is quick and easy. It’s all about the music. Performers choose to either perform for free or offer their performance at minimal cost usually around $5.00 and can put a cap on how many can attend. Artist like Jackson Browne, Indigo Girls and Jason Mraz have given performances on Stageit though most performances are just singers and a guitar. Stageit handles billing, ensures that there’s enough bandwidth and includes a chat feature so fans can ask questions or make requests. The service also includes a tip jar for those who want to give the performer a little extra sugar in their bowl. Napster founder Sean Parker invested in Stageit last year and Philadelphia is tied into this because Jimmy Buffet also an investor gave a test performance to Stageit employees in California while he was on tour in Philadelphia.
Founder Evan Lowenstein relies on his nearly twenty years of experience in the music industry to oversee all aspects of Stageit. With experience as a recording artist, award-winning writer and executive. Prior to Stageit, Lowenstein founded and served as President
of HookUp Feed, a premier social networking and mobile marketing company whose clients include The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, American Airlines, Domino’s Pizza and Cold Stone Creamery. Lowenstein still remains involved with the company as a senior advisor. Previously, he hosted USA Network’s Character Road Trip, a weekly series providing viewers with a peek into the greatest "characters" the country has to offer. Lowenstein was also a recording and touring artist with pop/rock band Evan and Jaron who scored three Top 40 hits, including the Top 10 song Crazy For This Girl. This has by no means been a quick revenue source for Lowenstein. Having been ripped off by programers, using up all his money to the point of having to borrow money to make payroll, Lowenstein held tight to make this dream come to fruition.
Currently Stageit is moving to a new design that will better organize the shows and allow fans to better browse shows based on genre, as well as creating avenues for comedians, cooks ans athletes. I will be taking advantage of this great opportunity with concert scheduled for March 24, 2013 at 7:30PM. You can find my profile at: www.stageit.com/guitarpoint I hope that many classical musicians will take advantage of this service. It wasn’t that long ago in the scheme of things that classical music was part of popular culture in America. That is evidenced by the classical artists that sat on the couches of the evening talk show, were mystery guests on game shows and the reason for the advances of the recording industry that lead to the development of the LP. The case need not be argued that classical has fallen in the shadows. Here is a format we can easily give presence on in the early stages. We the musicians of classical music are the carriers of the torch with the advances of social media not the marketers, managers or publicists.
Comments