Last week we told you that local radio station WXPN and Weathervane Music Organization were teaming up for a special project to promote independent artists.
And now, we have a few more details about this musical partnership.
Both organizations have announced the launch of Shaking Through, an online music and video series that will use the production resources of Weathervane and the distribution resources of WXPN.
Over the next two years, artists will be chosen by guest curators, acclaimed artists and producers as well as an Artist Selection Committee. Guest curators will be responsible for selecting 60 percent of the artists and the Artist Selection Committee will name the remaining 40 percent of artists. The 2010 Shaking Through guest curators include Daniel Smith of Danielson and Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog.
Brian McTear, Weathervane Music Executive Director, said: "There is currently no incentive for record labels to invest in unknown artists because they typically don’t sell records and labels simply cannot make money off of them. What we’ve done at Weathervane is come up with a new model to support and promote independent music by providing high quality production resources to artists that would normally not receive attention from for-profit record labels. We then teamed up with WXPN to expose these artists’ work to a larger audience.”
The first three Shaking Through artists are Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten, Chicago folk-pop group Sonoi and Philadelphia’s own Strapping Field Hands.
New projects will be released on the third Tuesday of each month so make sure to check out the progress on the WXPN and Weathervane Web sites.
And don't forget that there is a launch event happening today (Tuesday, January 26) at the World Cafe Live. It begins at 2 pm and will features a performance by Sharon Van Etten. Stop by if you have a chance and support this exciting new project!
