LN Connects Unsigned Acts

Live Nation UK is supporting unsigned artists by helping them reach fans and package themselves for the music industry.

The company will help give UK acts a leg up by providing the facilities for audio and video recordings and distributing the results via various consumer channels and social networks.

Live Connection, which launched Oct. 10, will hand pick unsigned artists to make audio and video recordings of three tracks, which can then be used for self-promotion.

It will also help distribute the material by partnering with streaming service We7, which claims 3 million users per month, and using Live Nation UK, Ticketmaster UK and Academy Music Group’s content channels.

The material will also be available via various social media and Sub TV, the multi-platform marketing agency that directly targets the UK’s 18- to 24-year-olds. It packages programmes for 1.76 million students across Students’ Union venues nationwide.

Live Nation chief operating officer Paul Latham described Live Connection as “the perfect exposure model for new and emerging acts” because it not only showcases their talent for the right industry contacts but also helps them share their output with millions of music fans.

“We’ll also be pushing these artists towards publishing and distribution deals as well as looking to add live exposure and experience through our venue estate and festival output,” he said.

The initiative started when Pete Webber, a sound engineer at London’s IndigO2, approached Latham with his ideas for supporting new and unsigned artists in the UK.

Having spent years listening to unsigned artists who had invested time and money pressing CDs and sending countless emails to venues and labels, Webber saw the opportunity for artists to record music in a professional environment, achieve direct relationships with the industry and gain maximum exposure to music fans.

Live Connection will also produce regular news and updates on new and emerging acts, which will be edited by Webber and made available via a new online portal and email subscription service at live-connection.co.uk.