Hello Music, trying to glue together the online music industry

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I like to pretend that the years I spent trying to be a rock star in the 1980s were the best times of my life, but in truth, the laughs were far outnumbered by the howls of frustration. My pal David Givens, a.k.a. Rapmaster D Luxx, spent more time trying to land gigs and attract a record deal than he did writing his cruelly underappreciated lyrics. And the expenses I rang up on equipment were more than two orders of magnitude larger than our royalties from LP sales. Had I spent that money on bonds, I think I’d have paid off my mortgage by now.

The situation for indie bands is easier in some ways today, given the profusion of inexpensive tools to record and distribute music, connect with fans and promote yourself online. But it’s no easier to stand out in the (increasingly dense) crowd of wanna-be Radioheads and Taylor Swifts. Artists may not need a record label as desperately as before, but they still could use some help. That’s the role Los Angeles-based Hello Music wants to play. The company, which made its official debut today at the Midem music conference in Cannes, considers itself an ‘opportunity engine for artists.’ To read more about its approach and its partners, click over to the Times’ Technology blog.

-- Jon Healey

Healey writes editorials for The Times’ Opinion Manufacturing Division. Follow him on Twitter: @jcahealey