After crushing experiences in the music industry, one Denver-based artist is creating a "dating service for musicians."
Michael Ude had been an active musician for about a decade before he saw his big chance.
At a live show a few years ago, a representative from Def Jam Records sat and watched Ude perform. The Denver-based artist had dreamt about the interaction, envisioning the opportunity to sign with a label.
The reality was much less glowing.
The Def Jam representative shot down Ude’s dreams, cautioning him that talent no longer mattered in the music industry and, instead, that your following was the key.
“That’s when the lightbulb went off for me. The reason is that record labels and intermediaries only offer a seat the table for someone who’s already trending,” Ude said in a recent interview. “They’re no longer interested in taking a chance on if someone is marketable. They can see that now with the technological revolution and social media, they can see that at a glance. I realized there’s an issue in the industry.”
Realizing the gap in the industry for upcoming talent with small fanbases, Ude got to work designing a next-generation social media platform that would drive more eyeballs to the best little-known musicians.
After one failed iteration and a year spent connecting with artists over their biggest hurdles, Ude is preparing to launch Fan Fair this spring to help artists boost their exposure.
Ude compared Fan Fair to a dating service because it allows musicians to connect with other musicians outside of their geographical region and mutually share digital followings.
So, a folk artist in Los Angeles can connect with another folk artist in Nashville on Fan Fair, share creative content and post that to their individual social media sites in a way that drives additional exposure to both. The primary aim is to introduce fans of one artist to another similar artist through social media channels.
Ude said artists have long been doing this in an analogue way by bringing on local openers at their shows to attract fans. With Fan Fair, he’s taking the process digital.
“There’s never been a better time to remove all the noise, doubt and fear that surrounds your turning your passion into your livelihood,” he said. “Exposure equals currency.”
The early-stage startup is planning to launch its application in March and recently brought on the lead investor in its upcoming seed investment round, Brown Venture Group. The Minneapolis-based venture capital fund is focused exclusively on investing in Black, Latinx and indigenous tech startups.
"Breaking in the music industry has always been hard to do," said Paul Campbell, managing partner of Brown Venture Group, in a statement. “The team at Fan Fair is looking to bring fresh innovate thinking to an industry that has long been ripe for disruption."
That capital will help Fan Fair build out its technology and gain traction in its first four target cities: Nashville, Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, and New York City.
In an industry that Ude said has done a great job of pitting artists against each other, Fan Fair is trying to help lead a music revolution.
“This is a new way for people to control their own exposure,” he said. “We are a movement; we just so happen to need a company to do it.”
