Live & Touring

DigiTour 2012 Brings YouTube Music Stars To Stage

Digitour-2012DigiTour is getting set for its second season, a five week tour of musical acts made popular on YouTube. DigiTour has been described by one of its cofounders, Meridith Valiando, as "bridging the gap between new media and traditional media." With seven headlining acts and eighteen shows in as many cities, DigiTour 2012 also gives YouTube stars the chance to build a bridge between their video presence and their live appearances.

DigiTour cofounder Meridith Valiando recently discussed the project and a bit of her own backstory that included work at Columbia Records, Spirit Music, and Capitol Records:

"I had my background in traditional music, and learned some painful lessons there. There was an act I got signed to a major label and the label put over $500,000 in promo into the project and it didn’t work, it was then I realized that the industry was changing and the traditional methods of breaking talent didn’t apply in the new landscape of the music business…"

"The new paradigm is direct to fan, fan sourcing, and allowing the audience to be the A&R and CEO of the project. We take a temperature when we release new music or content and we’ll know immediately if it is reacting. This is the major difference from when I learned the lesson that spending over $500k in promo didn’t guarantee success and the smartest way to build a brand in the new music industry is to utilize the Internet to create, promote, and distribute."

Digitour-2012-scheduleShe also discussed the emerging shift from traditional record labels to new entities:

"They move slowly and that hurts them…The power dynamic is shifting a lot, and I think the future is just seeking out a roster of talent to manage and building and representing influencers and brands. At this point for a lot of acts, labels are just a means to distribution."

"But unless they make some real shifts, they’re going to lose out to the companies embracing new media, online distribution, and touring. The only real missing link in the new music paradigm is getting radio air time, but we’re working on that."

Meridith Valiando sees the future of money making in music as "advertising and branding." DigiTour sponsors Neuro will be woven throughout DigiTour's on and offline presence.

The DigiTour 2012 schedule kicks off March 7th in Los Angeles, includes Oakland, Dallas, Houston, Boston, New York, Chicago and Toronto, and closes April 4th in Lawrence, Kansas. Check the site for additional dates and click on the pic for a closer look at the current tour schedule.

DigiTour 2012 Headliners include:

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and music industry resources at Music Biz Blogs. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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