Indie Music Universe

Virtually out of nowhere, independent R&B producer and artist Stevie Hoang rose to Internet fame following the release of his debut album, This Is Me, in December 2007.

This well written and critically acclaimed album reached number 1 on the MySpace charts and topped the Japanese Itunes charts ahead of Rhianna, Chris Brown and Alicia keys quickly after its release. The success of This Is Me landed Hoang a supporting spot on Omarion’s UK tour.

This talented UK artist began his musical journey at the young age of 11, after his parents forced him to take piano lessons. This proved to be a good thing for Hoang as he quickly realized his musical talent and became hooked on R&B, especially music by Boyz 2 men, R Kelly, Joe, Usher, Dru Hill and Brian McKnight.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 24% [?]

One indie band, Officer Roseland, has decided to go against the grain and actually pay fans $1 to download their latest album, My Stimulus Package.

The band claims to already have over 1000 downloaders take them up on their offer. Upon arriving at the band’s site, www.mystimuluspackage.org, fans can choose to either take the dollar as a paypal payment or donate it to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a charity of the group’s choice.

With all the talk about music piracy issues and artists not making any money from album sales, this is definitely an interesting change of pace.  Didn’t think anything could beat free album downloads, did you?

Here’s a short video from one of the band members:

Popularity: 10% [?]