Put That S**T On Blast

Recently, I learned about BLAST which can be found at https://www.blastmusic247.com – It immediately sparked my interest as, I’m always on the lookout for ways that artists can promote themselves and, their music. BLAST provides a wide variety of ways for artists to do promotions but, also encourages artists to be pro-active in making their music their career.

After signing up to the site and taking a self tour, I found that the ease of navigation and, availability of information was on point. Creating a profile is an easy 1-2-3 process and anyone new will be able to navigate the site with ease.

I had the opportunity for a Q & A With The founders of blastmusic247.com –

Hey guys, glad to chat with you. Please introduce yourselves for everyone.

Troy Saha, the VP of BLAST, Elliott Jackson President, CEO of BLAST. Thanks for having us.

One thing that I personally find interesting, as I’m sure most artists will too, is the live streaming events that can be done on the platform. Give us a bit of a deeper dive inside that.

Troy: Well the purpose of the live streaming is for the artist may be at a place where they just feel like performing and they can hit the “go live” button and fans and other artists can check them out and enjoy the show. The beautiful thing of it is is that it can be a monetary opportunity where the artists can sell tickets for a live showing and those that pay can get to view the show. And 97% of all sales go directly to the artist.

Are you guys musicians yourselves? What prompted you to start up such a platform for musicians?

[Troy and Elliott shake heads.] We were both in a rap group back in the 90s, those were some very fun years for us. We have always loved music and I have always had a love for indie music. I understand the industry and I realized that Artist were constantly getting the short end of the stick. There was no creative control, the labels basically owned the artist. They own the masters, publishing and had last word on if and when a project would drop. I knew there had to be a better way.

Today an artist doesn’t need to sign with a label to get noticed, all they need is the right tools to allow them to do it themselves. That’s why we created BLAST, to provide artists, that are driven, with the tools necessary to promote themselves on multiple platforms, while maintaining full control of their art. We also wanted a platform to not only help artists showcase their talent but, also help them operate as a business.

Artists that want to sell their music, merchandise and, tickets to live streaming events have to create a bank account and a Stripe Account so money can be automatically deposited whenever anything is sold. They have their own Dashboard where they can change their stage to swap out new material and, a reporting module to track how their songs and videos are doing. Most people would have to pay thousands of dollars just to have their own site to house their music. BLAST gives them everything they need except the drive to succeed. That’s what separates the pretenders from the contenders.

Where do you see blast in the next year?

Troy: Next year I see BLAST hopefully in 22+ different countries, music of all types, and just how people would say Google it, I want people to say BLAST it!

Elliott Jackson: I see BLAST as the premier option for independent artists to get noticed and paid by doing what they love to do. We know who our competitors are and so do the artists that continue to spend money with them… only to get paid pennies on the dollar with no promotion. We aim to change the Industry One Artist at a Time.

What, personally, do either of you feel is the strongest point of blastmusic247.com?

Troy : The strongest point that I see BLAST is that music and technology form synergy to help promote the artist with a quicker means to the social media. Not only that, they can monetize their business and put money in their pocket. I think there’s nothing better than to get paid for doing what you love and it doesn’t feel like a job.

Elliott: The strongest point of BLAST is that it exists to make a change in how the Music Business currently operates. The business is changing and we want BLAST to be the catalyst. BLAST gives artist the opportunity to create their own Brand, run their OWN BUSINESS, by harnessing all the different promotional avenues through one dynamic platform without costing the Artist an arm and a leg to do so.

With the distance between the both of you, do find there’s times when it’s difficult getting points across to one another?

Troy : Distance has never been an issue for us and even more so, during that time Covid had us locked in, we were able to lock in on BLAST and focus on it, form it and make it the way we wanted it to be. With Virtual meetings and abilities, we were able to build a plan with no hesitations or difficulties.

Elliott: Nah, if anything we are closer than ever. We locked in on what we wanted for the artist and set a goal to get it created and make it work. We speak multiple times a day on multiple platforms. I we have an idea in the middle of the night we just leave a text and discuss it first thing the next morning.

What I find interesting is, that you guys are giving each artist the opportunity to be the main artist on the site. What prompted that idea?

Elliott: Yeah, each artist has the chance to set themselves apart by creating their own stage. The stage is where an artist performs, where they are most comfortable, so we want them to think of their BLAST Stage in the same way. Artists get to add images, music and video without have their audience looking and listening to other artists at the same time. It’s their own musical hub and artistic sanctuary.

I have found that, as a musician myself, it’s really difficult to advertise your music. In todays age, with social media at the fingertips. How do you feel that blastmusic247.com differs from that of the major social media outlets available?

BLAST is not a social media platform as we know those platforms to be in this day and age. We see the value of social media and we use those outlets to help artists multiply their audiences. We like to say we are social media marketing done right. On FB, Twitter, IG and other platforms I constantly see artist posting links and either hoping that someone finds their music or asking people to check out their music. We take away the randomness of that and give artists a more targeted approach to promoting on social media.

Tell me more about “Blast Connectz”

Troy: BLAST Connectz is actually the merging of music and social media. We are eliminating the gap between the fan and the artist, but also allow other artists to talk and network with other artist. Fans can also socialize with other fans, create groups, chat, share photos, and make new friends in the process. We’re trying to put the social back in social media by using the love of music as the bond.

Are there any plans to possibly do concerts let’s say, on YouTube?

Troy: Yes! Corporately we just added on what we call BLASTCast that allows us to do our podcast speak to business as well as artist and we will be doing an upcoming concert celebration at the end of this month and we will be multi streaming on platforms like Facebook YouTube and Twitter. We have a lot of idea that we will openly share with the public in due time. Stay Tuned.

Elliott: Live Performances are at the core of every successful musical endeavor. We have big plans in the months to come to bring live venue concerts and virtual concerts to our audience.

Do you have dedicated customer service If artists were to have any issues with the site?

Troy: We do. It is email based at this moment and, if ever you have an issue email support@blastmusic247.com and someone will get to you quickly; dare I say, within an hour to assist you.

Thank you guys for this interview. Are there any closing thoughts?

Troy: Yes we want to encourage all… not just artists but, fans of music to sign up to http://www.blastmusic247.com. We are doing some special gifts to random signees who join us within the month of June to July I believe. We do ask that we did launch on the first and some surprise technical gremlins are giving us some challenges but we will get this platform running smooth as butter so stay tuned and thank you.

Elliot: Just that, If you are a musical artist looking for a way to get your music heard, promoted, showcased and, monetized you should run, not walk, to blastmusic247.com. Let us help you grow by growing with us.

Find out more on BLAST at the links provided below.

Please feel free to follow us on:

https://www.facebook.com/BLASTMUSIC247

https://www.instagram.com/blastmusic247/

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