The reason why I’ve been neglecting updating the blog a little lately is because I’ve been really involved in yet another website venture. However, unlike the ‘to be launched in summer’ sites that I’ve been talking about recently, this one is going live THIS WEEKEND. I can hardly believe how quick the development stage has been, but everything is on track for a very speedy launch. Only 4 days ago I was in a lecture sketching down some layout ideas, and now we’re almost ready to go live!

Some information about the site might be useful I’m sure. Basically the site started as a coursework project for my friend at music college. However, he wanted to get me involved with the online side of things and after a few nights brainstorming DiscoverUnsigned.com was born! We figured that there is a HUGE market of both unsigned bands, and people interested in discovering said bands. Whilst there are a few options to cater for this market (namely Myspace.com) people seem to be growing very tired of them. Bands seem to pour endless hours into improving their Myspace page, yet it doesn’t seem to get them any more listens, and their play count remains depressingly low. Similarly those people looking for bands generally have to go through pages of CRAP before they find anything worth listening to. The main concept behind DiscoverUnsigned is to promote the BEST unsigned bands. This takes all of the effort out of both parties. Bands get free promotion to thousands, and they don’t have to do a thing. Music lovers get only the very best bands recommended to them, and don’t have to deal with all the rubbish out there.

Now, the really cool part of this project is that conceptually it has grown far beyond being a simple blog. We have plans for backstage videos (think Blogotheque), band interviews, and the coolest thing of all - MAKING OUR OWN ALBUMS. That’s right, we’ll be hand selecting the 10 best tracks at the end of each month and making them into a DiscoverUnsigned Album! The artists will of course receive generous royalties to help them pursue fame (or just afford more beers down the pub!). It will be really great to help out so many bands and we’re hoping that on top of our detailed marketing plans the site will spread virally.

I’ll post the next update when we go live, so look out for all the excitement this weekend! For now, here is a screenshot of the sites design (it looks a lot sexier full size):