This week MTV came through this week with their Artists.MTV site they announced back at SXSW earlier this year.  The public beta is now live as of 8/15/12. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical when hearing the news at the conference where everyone wants to launch the “next big thing.”  Although, if anyone can do it, I knew MTV could give it a serious go because pushing MySpace (which is pretty much irrelevant) out of this space isn’t a monumental task.  While there are a ton of tools (as you can see from this old post)  and solutions out there for bands these days, there isn’t any one big platform that has both fan’s and artist’s best interest in mind.

So, what does this mean for the artists? Here are my top 3 wins for the them:

1. More advertising revenue share across a level playing field.  Anyone who is on the platform gets a 50/50 cut of the advertising revenue.
2. Direct sales to the fans for both digital and physical goods.
3. Plans to have over 1 million bands on the platform.  Indie artists welcome, not just the Biebers and Beyonces of the world.

And here are the top 3 wins for the fans:

1. Easy access to artists and all of their content.  The UI is really slick, allowing for search anywhere on the screen.
2. Direct access to make donations to the artists, cutting out the middle-man.
3. New artist discovery. They have a very intuitive interface to discover new music that makes MySpace look like OldSpace.

In the world of too many choices this may seem like another pipe in a big spaghetti plate full of pipes servicing artists and fans.  I think it’s time for a new leader in this space.  The Viacom machine certainly has the muscle to launch this properly.  Hopefully they will keep the experience innovative for both artists and the fans. Let me know what you think about the new site, one of my personal favorites is the artist page for The Black Keys.

Breathe In & Smile Out,

Chris