Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
I’m Stuart, CEO and founder of Clowdy, a new tech start-up based in the UK. I try to get involved in as many aspects of Clowdy as possible, from watching bands live to helping coding some of our new features.
What is the idea behind Clowdy?
I’ve always found it frustrating that the most common service to find music is YouTube. It’s not really designed for that, it’s only designed for video. So then, why don’t we create an audio-only website? That’s not solving the problem either, it’s making another one. Many artists have music videos, gig photos, artwork and documentaries alongside their songs. There should be a service that is designed with this in mind.
What makes Clowdy different from other social media sites?
We support any media type and we are aimed at independent musicians and filmmakers. We want to be a breeding ground for creativity and art, not for lolcats or rickrolling. We hope the feeling radiated from our website and app will make this clear so we are a better service for artists and fans alike. Any artists can upload their songs, music videos or gig photos and share them through your social networks, on your own website or only on Clowdy.
When will Clowdy come out of Beta?
Bah, never! On a more serious note, we might drop that term at some point in the near future, but I do believe that Clowdy will never be a finished product. It is always evolving and changing. The music and tech industries change so quickly, and we have to too. I want to instil to everyone working at Clowdy that we can always improve and always innovate further.
What is the ambition for Clowdy?
We want to be a global service to help creative people connect and share.
What role can Clowdy play for unsigned bands and independent artists?
There is so much professional music and art out there, that smaller independent artists just get lost in a quagmire. Other services believe tweaking algorithms to “improve discovery” will solve this. We don’t think so. It has to be in the core of the product from the beginning. We love independent musicians, filmmakers and artists and want to help them gain fans and grow into the future.
Who are your favourite artists on Clowdy?
That is a hard one, as there really are some great musicians on there now. The Big V from Exeter, UK are an epic indie band that have a soulful edge and catch riffs. Sarah de Warren has the most graceful voice that is completely captivating and I was lucky enough to see her live last week in Manchester, UK. Finally, I really love the excellent folk singer-songwriter Cavan Moran who has some brilliantly emotional and moving lyrics that are refreshingly honest.
