There are plenty of ways to discover new music, but for Jake Kerber, who struggles with Top 40 radio and finds joy in the sounds of his community, there wasn’t an option for local music. So Kerber started Locusic to help users find the beats in their own backyard.
Locusic is one of seven entries in the Dream Big Des Moines contest, which seeks the top tech-based business ideas in central Iowa. The top vote-getter in an online poll of those seven entries wins a $5,000 prize and a spot in the statewide Dream Big Grow Here contest, which has a $10,000 prize. Votes for Dream Big Des Moines can be submitted until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31 at Dream Big Des Moines’ polling page.
Locusic, short for local music, is a free music-streaming application for music specifically from bands that are based within 50 miles of the listener’s location. Like with Pandora, listeners pick a genre and control the quality of content through positive or negative feedback on the music selected by Locusic, which was launched at Startup Weekend Des Moines in March. User preference information is taken into account for future tracks the service will generate for the user.
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“When I go to see a local band perform or listen to their CD, I’m often blown away by the quality of their music and performance,” Kerber (left, photo from twitter.com) said in an email interview. “I think many of the local bands in the Des Moines area could be much bigger if more people only knew about them.”
Local bands can use this service as a fan-finder to bring their tunes to new ears and strengthen audiences at shows in the area. All music is submitted to Locusic by artists, who must agree to Locusic’s terms of use. Users can offer suggestions for other musicians for Locusic to include in the mix.
Locusic is set to enter in private beta in the next few weeks and launch live in Des Moines later this year. There are plans for the service to extend to Austin, Texas in time for South by Southwest in March 2012, and continue to add cities from there.
“I’m looking forward to taking a road trip across the country, listening to Locusic, with it automatically updating as I drive and playing music from the bands around me at the time,” Kerber said.
For more from Kerber on Locusic, check out his Aug. 9 appearance on PrairieCast, “PrairieCast with Jake Kerber and Chris Conetzkey (Video).”
Note: Silicon Prairie News is a media sponsor of Dream Big Des Moines
