On March 15, the Cincinnati Music Accelerator launched a new music series called LaunchPad, with a goal of showcasing and supporting burgeoning musicians.
Kick Lee, the founder of CMA, explained in more straightforward terms: “The focus of the shows — the series — is to help the acts get access to spaces and places around Cincinnati,” he said. “One of the best ways to do that is to create residencies in locations that we partner with.”
The first of these partners is 3 Points Urban Brewery in the Pendleton Neighborhood, where the idea for the series was initially born.
“They came along and said, ‘Hey, what can we do to be a part of this initiative to help out our community?’” Lee said. 3 Points added that it appreciated CMA's mission: to "put an end to starving artists."
This perspective has fueled another element of the series: making sure artists get paid for their performances. 3 Points helps support that by providing compensation for the artists performing in the series at its brewery. CMA also receives a matching portion of funds.
As for the shows themselves, the first kicked off on March 15 at 3 Points. Each month, the free events will include five acts, with new artists from a host of genres.
Participants are all graduates from the Cincinnati Music Accelerator. Founded in 2017, CMA supplies artists with the tools to make a living creating art and music. The program lasts four weeks and teaches students marketing and branding skills, content development, press and media insights, finance, entertainment law, monetization basics and booking.
In addition to its work with 3 Points and Launchpad, CMA is looking to expand to other cities.
