Remember when every artist looking for a record deal put their music on MySpace and waited for A&R folks to stumble across said site to discover their awesome new songs and make them the next big thing but really all that happened was five friends listened to the songs and then MySpace died and now no songs get heard anywhere? Whew.
Well, Chartburst wants to change that.
Chartburst is a new service that sounds pretty promising. Independent artists upload one song at a time (every two weeks), and site users up-vote the songs they like, similar to the way popular posts make it to the front page of Reddit. But here’s the kicker that sets this service apart from other sites that have tried similar tactics: at the end of every two week period, the highest voted songs are forwarded to talent scouts at around 30 record labels – including the major labels.
Working With the Labels
Of course, the labels are making no promises about what they will do with the music they hear other than provide email feedback to the artist. And the founder of the site realizes that the success of the site depends not on this feedback, but on record contracts.
“The site can’t last unless people get signed,” co-founder Francis Gane told Mashable. “That’s what they’re paying their money for, and that’s what the A&R signed up for.”
Artists pay a monthly fee to submit their music to the charts. After a two-month free trial period, subscriptions cost $5 a month, though subscribers to the just launched beta launch can get this discounted to $2.50 per month.
All About the Fans
And though the site does need record contracts, it will be the fans that will ultimately make or break the concept in the long run, as they are responsible for choosing the music that gets to the ears of those at the labels. If there are not enough users on the site voting, some artists will likely be able to exert too much control over the site if they can encourage their existing fans (likely through social media) to sign up and vote.
However, if the site gains enough users to overcome this problem and really creates a democracy that consistently chooses the best indie music to send to labels, Chartburst could become a real industry influencer.
Gane points out that the allure of fans to sign up should not be about getting artists record contracts, but about being able to discover music they would not otherwise hear.
Gane started the company with his father, who is a lifelong music industry veteran that owns a recording studio in Wales, which is likely where the label connections come from. The younger Gane says he hopes to release a mobile app to provide users the ability to vote on the go, though this will depend on the performance of the site.
“We’re a bootstrap father-and-son operation,” Gane said. “Assuming we get an investor on board or we start getting some income from the site, it will all be plowed back into the development of a nice shiny app.”
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
