
Today we are talking with Juan Cross of SongClash.com, a new community all about empowering fans to find new music through competitions. The site is starting to take off with over 400 indie musicians all over the world and has even been featured over at CSS Elite as one of the Best of the Best CSS websites.
Greg: So first, tell us a little about the why? What was the need in the market and what are you doing to serve it?
SongClash: There is a lot of music out there. The web has created a massive sea of music. The why for us is also a question. How does a music fan find songs that mean something to them throughout that sea of music? It’s more than finding a needle in a haystack out there.
The need is a music filtering platform that allows music fans to find these songs, or band/artists. SongClash does just that for the music fan and our platform allows direct fan to artist connection. Music fans want to know who these bands/artists are. What are they doing…a virtual friendship.
Greg: What can bands expect from the platform?
SongClash:Bands/Artists can expect the best at our site. Our platform is easy to use, easy to navigate and completely user friendly. Our platform concepts are determined by the need of our members.
On SongClash, is very easy to upload and add music to the ongoing monthly battles, users can “Tweet†songs from the bands/artists profile or from the battle sections and more. We are also working on a streaming service that will reward bands/artists. Soon after, we will launch our SongClash iPhone app and Facebook app as well.
Artists Services – for serious bands/artists we are implementing artists marketing services from Social Media to good ole Grassroots networking.
The platform is continuously expanding with new features and strategic partnerships.
Greg: How important is competition to an upcoming act? For me, feedback is key. Most just get feedback from friends, so really seeing what others think of your music is crucial. If you are in this business to make money, you are playing for your fans.
SongClash: For every band/artists, this is an extremely important part of what they do. How else can they know that their music career direction is headed the right way? Music fans and users on SongClash are always welcome to speak the truth, being a positive truth. Besides SongClash lending an ear to bands/artists out there, we have artist reviews by well know industry professionals.
Bands/artists need to know where they stand against their competition and most importantly, against those who will ultimately support their careers – music fans.
Greg: What are some of the prizes and incentives to getting involved in the battles and the site?
SongClash: The incentives will include cash, gift cards, record studio opportunities, artist reviews by industry pros, premium opportunities give a ways, video promotions, live event opportunities and plenty more…and the ultimate goal, our very own Music Label opportunity.
We are more than a website, so our brand will expand into external regional, national and annual festival events.
Greg: How does the site integrate with other social networks? Are there ways to share on other networks, grow virally, vote through widgets, etc.
SongClash: We are integrated with Twitter. Since Twitter is being integrated through Facebook and other networks, we thought using Twitter would be the most ideal network to use.
Our monthly battles artist preview pages provide every band/artists with song badges. These badges can be placed on personal sites or editable HTML networking sites like Myspace and other sites.
Greg: As you guys just went live, what can we expect as you grow?
SongClash: We just partnered with Ping Pong Music to start the SongClash & Ping Pong Music label. We will be on the look out for bands/artists that rise on SongClash. We have a tremendous team behind the label that, once we discover the “diamond in the ruffâ€. We have an incredible array of artist development, marketing and management services. Details to that will soon be here.
We have other amazing partnerships in the works that will enhance the user experience at SongClash greatly.
Greg: Where can we find you online to connect?
SongClash: Besides googling SongClash, all of our networks include the SongClash name.
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I’d love for you to check out SongClash if you are looking for feedback on your music, trying to build a fan base that is engaged with indie music or have another outlet for your music. You can signup here as a fan, as a musician or check out their premium levels to get more exposure on the site and throughout their network.
These guys have been working on the site for about 2 years now and I am really proud of what Juan and his team have been able to do in that time frame. They have a great vision and a heart for indie music as they are indie musicians themselves.
If you have questions about the platform, leave them below in the comments and I’ll make sure to pass them onto Juan and the SG team.
-Greg


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