Independent Music Network GigHive Launches

The online music directory, operating on a Web 2.0 social networking database, connects independent artists to their “supporting cast” of promoters, producers, distributors, songwriters, singers, engineers, instructors and musicians

Kenosha, Wisconsin (May 9, 2008) – While technology has been radically changing the business of music in recent years, it’s also giving artists new outlets to create, produce and promote their music. Launching today is one of the most innovative new outlets: GigHive, an online directory of talent and technical resources, is designed to offer independent musicians the same kind of network that major record companies have relied on for decades.

Founded by musician and producer Duane Charles (a.k.a. Charles D. Johnson) of KafeSol Productions, GigHive will connect independent artists and bands to a global network of promoters, distributors, concert bookers, attorneys, engineers, producers, songwriters, singers, instructors, and of course, other musicians.

The idea grew out of necessity for Duane Charles, who formed KafeSol, (along with producer/songwriter David Niari)  a small production company, in 2006 as a way to find and assemble a serious, talented network of professionals involved in the music creative process. “As I was looking around, I couldn’t believe how many people were advertising their needs: everything from an artist looking for a cello player to a band needing a sound engineer,” explains Charles. “I wasn’t alone. Everyone needs a supporting cast.”

Word of mouth led to connections on MySpace, a popular social networking site, which quickly evolved into the idea for GigHive, which Johnson likens to the buzz of activity in a bee hive, where individuals like bees work together for the greater good of the community.

More than just a place to connect, GigHive will provide the necessary infrastructure for independent artists that, its founder hopes, will one day rival the resources widely available inside the recording industry. Duane Charles, like many independent artists, is frustrated by the predominance of monolithic corporate entities that largely control what music gets produced, and who gets heard. As Alan Light, former editor of Spin magazine, noted in USA Today[1],

“The obligation of a multimedia corporation is to generate money for stockholders, not to make the best records, and it's naive to pretend otherwise.”

Light concludes, "You need new machinery to get music out there, maybe the emergence of something not tied to the major labels. We'll see a shift when someone cracks that end of it.”

For Charles, GigHive is an attempt to create that shift. “Times have changed and technology has changed how we acquire, create, promote and listen to music. I’m just trying to give the indie community a voice in the process, and hopefully force the industry to change.”

About GigHive and KafeSol Productions

GigHive is an online directory of talent and technical resources, designed to offer independent musicians and artists the same kind of network that major record companies rely on. With a Web 2.0 social networking site as its database, GigHive will connect independent artists to a global network of promoters, distributors, concert bookers, attorneys, engineers, producers, instructors, songwriters, singers and other musicians. Founded by Duane Charles of KafeSol Productions, GigHive made its debut in May 2008.

Visit GigHive online at www.gighive.com.

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