Alumni Open Music Cloud Service

BY: .

Former UKZN students have launched a Music Cloud service, tuneHost.net, aimed at helping independent musicians track the impact of their releases by offering unparalleled download tracking capabilities plus insight in the form of a feedback report.

The service offers artists insight on how their music is being shared online and where their traffic is coming from to assist them optimise their marketing tactics.

Co-founder and former UKZN Maths and Statistics student, Mr Mpendulo Chiliza, said: ‘African artists have benefited from the arrival of the digital age in music but up until now they haven’t had a platform that is by them and for them that provides strategic insight on how their music is being received online. We built this platform to help the passionate kid making music on his laptop hoping to get noticed some-day. That day is today.’

Co-Founder of tuneHost.net, Mr Nhlanhla Ndwandwe, said: ‘Coming from a music background myself, I have to say that this is a wonderful time for up and coming artists in Africa. Insight is king in optimising your reach. Two years from now, tuneHost will be a must in every indie artist’s arsenal.’

Another member of the team, Mr Themba Zwane, said tuneHost.net was basically a website allowing users to add their music to its list for downloads as well as promotion. ‘Putting songs in a form of MP3s on tuneHost will provide exposure not available previously. Musicians can direct people to the site to listen to their music and also benefit from traffic that the site itself, other musicians, and the site’s fans generate.’

Nhlanhla ndwandwe