The Corporation for Public Broadcasting today announced a $750,000 grant for a historic collaboration between five public media stations to build a new, national, online music video showcase featuring exclusive live performances of new and emerging bands.
Code named the “Music X Project,” this service plans to launch by the end of 2014. The five founding stations are KCRW in Los Angeles, KTBG in Kansas City, KUTX in Austin, WFUV in New York City, and WXPN in Philadelphia.
Public radio stations are often the first stop for new artists and pioneering performers. They provide both a powerful platform and a deep relationship with a music-loving audience. Joining forces and sharing music video content in one place will be a better service to both the audience and the artists.
“As the arts and cultural voice of their communities, public media stations have always been discovery channels for emerging talent,” said Kansas City Public Television and KTBG CEO Kliff Kuehl, who is the fiscal agent of the CPB grant and a founding partner station of the Music X Project. “By showcasing our local artists on Music X, we can create a continual and curated source of never-before-seen music performances for national audiences.”
What is the Music X Project?
Music X is a consortium of public media organizations from across the country that film emerging and established artists playing live sets of music in studio and on location.
How will Music X work?
The live performance music videos – featuring local, national and international artists – will be aggregated on a national website and mobile app. The member stations will also have their own locally branded and curated video channel, which can be shared with audiences over web, mobile and social media platforms, with some content broadcast on local public television stations.
Members upload their in-studio performance videos into the Music X archive and then download from this exclusive database to populate their station’s video channel. The national website will be a curated site showcasing the best videos from around the country. The Wyncote and MacArthur Foundations have generously funded the content management system powering the video platform, Channel X.
“The number of stations participating will grow over time,” said Erik Langner, managing director of Public Media Company, the organization that is leading the strategic collaboration of Music X. “Together, partner stations will be submitting new videos on a weekly basis, helping music lovers and other stations discover local artists while attracting new and younger audiences to public media programming.”
Mike Henry, CEO of Paragon Media Strategies, is senior creative advisor and leading efforts to design the Music X audience experience. The name of the new music discovery service, along with station partnership details, will be announced when the site officially launches later this year. To find out more about the Music X Project and sign up for project updates, please visit www.themusicxproject.com.
