Rockstar Motel Set To Unveil Social Platform For Promoting Artists And Fans

Rockstar Motel is a social networking site focused on building a platform for publicizing both artists and fans emphasizing indie and unsigned musicians. Its initial version, set for public unveiling on October 4, is somewhat like a sports fantasy league with player participation. But the longterm vision is quite a bit larger.

I spoke this week with Rockstar Motel Founder and CEO Luca Sacchetti who is a very impassioned advocate for musicians, in part, because he is one. VentureBeat has more of his story but the short version is that he backed off the professional music scene to start a family. Being away from the music biz and having a son gave him a new perspective and, once he'd envisioned Rockstar Motel, he moved back to Seattle to put things in motion which took a few years.

I checked out the site, which is still in development, and it's very similar to a fantasy sports league in that it allows fans to "sign" artists, like building a roster, but then it takes the process to another level. Fans promote their roster with what are called "promo packs" that live on Rockstar Motel. These promo packs are multimedia vignettes of individual acts that fans then promote to their contacts on Rockstar Motel.

Fans earn points for various activities, from signing an artist to inviting friends, and a rewards system is in place for recognition and the possiblity of future goodies from the artists themselves.

The platform is also designed for artist involvement with a current focus on content and future features that will include music sales and promotional tools. Unfortunately I can't share more about future features but you can find out some additional details via their faq and can register for an invite for October 4, if you're in the US, UK or Canada, via their homepage.

What convinced me that Rockstar Motel was not simply a variation on similar sites that I've seen fail was not just the details of future plans, though I think they're on a really interesting path, but the passion that entered Sacchetti's voice when he'd talk about the current difficulties facing musicians, especially indie and unsigned artists. He also seemed genuinely excited about the fact that they're launching in Seattle during the 20th anniversary year of the release of Nevermind and struck me as a real fan as well.

I'm a true skeptic when it comes to talking to people in the industry but homie's either a great actor or one of the most impassioned supporters of fellow musicians that I've encountered to date.

The truth is, you can care about something with your whole heart and still watch it fail but, given that they have a strong team, real funding ($700,000 to date), a solid longterm vision and an impassioned articulate founder, I think RockStar Motel is off to a strong start and I'm looking forward to seeing this story unfold!

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He is currently relaunching Flux Research to pursue his long-standing obsession with web business models. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.