SONG CONTEST BLOG

Next Big Sound have changed their tune.

I first heard about the startup through a New York Times article a colleague forwarded to me back in December last year.  At the time, Next Big Sound had developed an interesting role-play model where fans could take the A&R hot seat and pick “the next big sound” from a music discovery platform of independent all-sorts.  I wrote about it here.

Last week, Techcrunch published a post about the company revealing a brand new look and approach.  Next Big Sound overhauled every aspect of its website to deliver a sterling business intelligence platform for fans and music pros.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am a stout supporter of business intelligence solutions for music ? there is no shortage of marketing services for musicians yet very few accessible tools for artists to perform their due diligence before attempting to promote their message.

This move brings Next Big Sound to the starting line with two other players I’ve been following, BandMetrics and RockDex.  All three have developed similar products but Next Big Sound stands out with a super clean interface and clear call-to-action: free weekly email digests with statistics on any artist/band you wish to track.

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Next Big Sound, a site developed by four students at Northwestern University and described as a cross between MySpace and American Idol by The New York Times, has come to fruition last August as yet another platform for independent artists and fans to come together in a digital environment of discovery and competition.  Better described as another player in the realm of Sellaband and OurStage, The Next Big Sound looks great and promises adventure in role-play A&R for music fans and, with any luck, an opportunity for independent artists to raise their profile.

The site boasts 2000 “moguls” that have “signed” 9000 acts to date.  The business model surrounding the idea is not yet clear but, if it takes off, I imagine that there will be plenty of opportunities for the company, participating artists and, of course, moguls (music fans) to monetize a piece of the proverbial action.